Day 12 Sunday October 30th Buxton

 Today again looked like a mixed bag of weather but we were excited as we had planned to meet with Alexander and Keren Martin and their three young children, the youngest we had never met.  After breakfast we got all our gear together and left about 1015 in order to be in good time for our 1100ish rendezvous.  The drive to Buxton was easy with very scenic views, 

Buxton Pavilions

We found the Buxton Pavilions gardens and even better found a parking place.  The carpark was very busy as there seemed a lot going on today.  We waited and a bit later we caught sight of Alexander.  

We were soon all together and one of the advantages of this venue is that there is a large playpark area where children can let off steam.  There were a variety of 

fearless adventurer

things to have a go at, climb, ride and swing on.  As well as a mini football pitch for the Hammer supporters to improve their skills.  We spent some time here having great fun but after a time we had some drops of rain.  

play station!

Christine and I had left our waterproof jackets in the car but everyone else in the party had theirs'.  We carried on a little more but the rain got heavier and heavier.  We decided to head for a clump of trees for shelter.  This was much better but the rain persisted and we were becoming very wet.  We decided to head for the pub Alexander had booked a table at for lunch.  We were certainly the wettest people to arrive and out top layers were dripping.  We put them on hooks and settled down round a table to enjoy the food and company.  It was certainly a good choice of pub and we all had a good meal with some enjoying a dessert.  By the end of the food it had stopped raining and sunshine was coming through the windows.  We decided to further explore Buxton and went through arcades and saw a place where a therapeutic bath/spa once operated.  The architecture was interesting for one of us.  We were still all together when we arrived back at the pavilion gardens and then there was the thrill of seeing superhero/comic characters (some sort of enthusiasts gathering going on) which made the day for the younger ones.  It was now time to wave goodbye and after hugs and kisses we said our fond farewells.

Gardener's Cottage view

We made our way back to Bakewell and our tea was the leftover pizzas from the night before.  I took a photo which gave a good idea of the b&b setting.  We stayed in and watched television and did some blogging.  Another very good day of our holiday.     

Day 11 Saturday October 29th Milton Keynes to Bakewell

Today we moved from Milton Keynes up to Bakewell in Derbyshire.  It was overcast and not the best for driving and we were soon underway.  We stopped at several service stations along the route as we had a suspect car problem but thankfully we found no issues which was a relief.  At one stage we had a snack to keep us going and arrived at Bakewell at lunch time.

bridge over the river Wye

We could not check in until 3pm so 

the weir and waterbirds

went into town for a light lunch and to explore a bit.  We parked, had a bite and went into the town.  We crossed over the river Wye including the bridge with thousands of locks attached.  There were plenty of water birds on the river.

We sorted out somewhere to eat in the evening and went to our b&b to check in.  It is Gardener's Cottage part of the Haddon Hall estate and is in a picturesque position and came with good reviews.  We settled in and soon it was time to go out for the meal   It is a ten minute walk from the town and as it had been raining we went by car.  The meal proved to be a pizza each and we could not eat it all and were able to take some away.  We went back to the b&b and totally unpacked in the spacious accommodation.     

misty around Bakewell

 

Day 10 Friday October 28th Bletchley Park

the mansion

  This is one of the many days I was looking forward to as we approached this holiday.  Christine had bought us a trip to Bletchley Park with a cream tea in the mansion dining room as a birthday present last year.  I had chosen the nearest Premier Inn to the Park (3.5 miles) which also turned out to be a good choice.  We breakfasted in the windmill and soon set out for the venue.  We had booked the tea for 1430 and wanted to go on a guided tour and see as many of the huts as possible.

We arrived at 1030 and the next tour was 1120 so we had time to visit some of the huts and exhibitions.  There was plenty to see including a memorial to the contribution of Polish scientists who had gone a very long way 

Polish memorial

in decrypting the enigma machine coding.  It was soon time to assemble for the guided tour.  We had an interesting introduction and brief history of the unlikely story of the site which involved making careful decisions at each stage.  The outside tour lasted about an hour and our guide told us about the development of each hut and each stage of the work as it rapidly expanded during the war.  There were the breakthroughs on deciphering enigma messages, the making of the process like a production line and 

reconstructed Bombe

the development of the computer aids (Bombe and Colussus) which rapidly improved the production speed of this process.  

Alan Turing's office

By the end of the war Bletchley had found where every German unit was in France and where all planes and ships, including U-boats, were.  Incredible that the Germans had no idea how much the English knew. Fascinating and afterwards we were able to see where some of these incredibly clever people worked.  

It came round to our teatime and we went

our tea!

 to the mansion dining room for a classic, sumptuous afternoon tea.  It was so much we had to ask for a doggy bag to take some home for later.  We both enjoyed it!

office where some 1st work was done

After tea we saw more of the mansion and then to see more exhibits including a reinforced container which was used as a mobile cipher unit in Afghanistan. During the war many dispatch riders came with encrypted messages to  Bletchley from all over the world.  Most of the riders were women who maintained their own motorbikes.  Most of the people at the establishment were ladies and one feature of the way they worked was that everything was secret and hardly anyone knew of their work until the 1970s.

dispatch motorbike

Afghan mobile unit

A thoroughly interesting and absorbing day which flew past far too quickly.  We had to leave and went back to the Premier Inn for a snack after such a huge tea. It was so instructive and explained what a huge debt we owed these genius' in saving lives and shortening the war.  What a day and we were not disappointed.  So much to absorb and so little will be retained.  So much to admire and such incredible brainpower. So much to be thankful for and they kept it so secret.

 

Day 9 Thursday October 27th Cotswolds to Milton Keynes

A day to move on, we left the hotel after breakfast and packing and were soon on the road.  Our first destination was to meet my cousin Barbara and her husband John.  They live in Marcham which is roughly on the way to Milton Keynes (our next destination).  It was too good an opportunity to miss as we hadn't met for some time.  The traffic was quite light and we arrived within about 50 minutes.  We were so pleased to meet each other, they were both quite well and there was a lot of catching up and reminiscing.  We talked about our families and the times they had spent on St Martin's.  We stayed about 90 minutes and then had to carry on.  

Premier Inn and pub

This was fresh territory for us and we just

windmill tower

 followed the satnav.  We went round Oxford which was very busy and travelled a short distance on the M40.  It took 70 minutes and we rolled up at the Premier Inn we had booked.  We settled into our room and as it was still warm and daylight we decided to go for a walk as the hotel was on the shores of a lake.  We were pleasantly surprised at the setting as the lake included Canada geese, swans, coots, seagulls and some shags.   The hotel and the adjacent pub/restaurant also included 

Canada geese

an old windmill in the fabric.  Certainly it was the most impressive looking Premier Inn we have stayed in.  Having walked a good part of the lake shore we decided to return to the room to unpack etc. 

shags on an island

 We did this and then went for a meal at the next door pub.  It was the first time either of had dined in the tower of a windmill and a very pleasant experience it was.   After this it was time to relax, watch some tv and go to bed.

 

swans and other birds

Day 8 Wednesday October 26th Cirencester and a meal out

 

Our room overlooks the lake and quite often our near neighbours are the swans.

Today was planned as a different day to yesterday.  It was time to visit a laundrette and Christine had identified one of this dying breed still existing in Cirencester.  We looked on Google maps and found there was a car park nearby.  After breakfast we made the short journey to the character town and parked.  We were able to use a card to pay for parking - a big relief.  Using a phone we tried to walk to the laundrette, we eventually found it after seemingly going round in circles.  This establishment was very busy and seemed to be prospering.  The washing was soon loaded and after a hiccup all went well, this was followed by drying.  Again the machines accepted cards which makes life easier.  We asked a lady at the laundrette for the best way back to the car park and she showed us a route which took two minutes instead of ten.  

The clean washing was loaded back in the car and we had a quick walk around the town, buying a snack lunch as well.  We had time to eat/drink before going to our next destination - the giant Dobbies garden centre on the outskirts of Cirencester.  We split as Christine wanted to view various franchises and present buying opportunities, I preferred to look at the garden plants and equipment.  We paid for our purchases (nil in my case) and went back to the car.  We drove back to the hotel and sorted ourselves out.  

We then went to Val and Brenda's house in Watchfield where we had been invited for an evening meal.   Val was at home preparing the meal and we waited for Brenda to arrive from work.  We saw some more of the work they have been doing with their house and garden.  One wall of one room is a rogue's gallery of past and present family members.  Brenda arrived home and we enjoyed the meal Val had prepared.  We conversed talking about all sorts of things but soon it was time to say our goodbyes and return to the hotel.  A different day! 

Day 7 Tuesday October 25th Family in the Cotswolds

 

Dyrham Hall

A more exciting day today hopefully.  After breakfast we had arranged to meet Val, Brenda, Carolyn, Samuel and Thomas;  we were all going to National Trust Dyrham Park near Bath.  Rich was working and so we didn’t meet him later.  I travelled with Carolyn and the boys which was entertaining and Christine went with Val and Brenda.

scarecrows found!

We were soon there, parked, paid and ready for action.  We discovered there was a special scarecrow competition in the grounds of the hall with prizes for those finding all the answers.  We wound our way through and found 7 scarecrows and kept the answers for where the prizes could be claimed.  We then ended up at a playpark/coffee shop area and the younger ones played on and some of the older ones queued for refreshments.  That all eventually came together and we went on to find the house and gardens.  

some of the rear gardens

the church

Initially we went to the rear gardens where there were pools and some formal laid out plantings.  There was also a very old church adjacent to the hall which some of us visited.  We then walked passed stables and had another refreshment break and some of us visited the National Trust shop.  Suitably recharged we decided to make our way back to the top using the smart electric bus now in use.  Whilst waiting some of us visited the orangery - gaining entrance by one route or another! (Thomas through a window at ground level!).  Our party made up one bus load so that was 

electric bus for us

good and we were soon back to where the car park is.  We then had to go to the place to collect the scarecrow prizes which were carvings on discs of wood.  A good way to end the visit, we returned to the cars and had an uneventful journey back to Highworth.  Rich arrived home from work (someone has to!) and we all made our way to a local Italian restaurant for a good meal.  It was soon time to say goodbye after a brilliant day and we returned to our hotel. 

Day 6 Monday October 24th Tavistock to Cotswolds

 

Today we left Tavistock and made our way to the Cotswold Water Park.  So we packed up and had our last quick shopping trip around Tavistock.  We bought some supplies and we were away.  The weather forecast was not good but it was dry as we left and we were soon saying farewell to Dartmoor.  The travelling was good although going through patchy rain.  We stopped at Gordano service area near Bristol for a break and coffee.  We carried on with the satnav guiding us and as we were going round Bristol the heavens opened, all the traffic slowed and viewing ahead was reduced!  We got through that shower and soon arrived at the De Vere hotel which we knew from previous visits.  We settled in and had an evening meal in the bar.  Sorry no pictures today but nothing happened to really warrant one.

Day 5 Sunday October 23rd Tavistock and moor

The route

Following our recent days we had studied all available weather forecasts quite closely and concluded that today would be better earlier in the day than later.  We got up to quite good weather and decided to venture further into the moor.  We went as far as Two Bridges but could not see a suitable walk along the river Dart and se we carried on to Postbridge and parked in the National Trust car park there.  There was a small visitor centre and after consultation we decided to walk through Bellever forest to Bellever Tor.

towards the postbridge

Most of the route was on good tracks with good weather and excellent views all round.  The forest was pine and had the pleasant pine resin aroma as we went through.  We walked to the 

Bellever Tor

end of the track and then we had a more demanding pathway and slope to the top of the Tor.  

a view from tor

 The views from the top were exceptional in all directions and there were some young families climbing all over the peak rocks.  We spent some time gazing in all directions and then slowly made our way down.  There were some Dartmoor ponies around the top of the Tor and Christine in particular was pleased to see them.

We crossed the various streams/boggy patches we had encountered on the way up, taking in the views and appreciating how lucky we were.

 We reached the car park and had coffees, saffron buns and other delights before going back towards Tavistock.  We stopped at Pork Hill car park for a viewing/relaxing time - the heavens opened and so we had made the right decision of what to do when.  

Tavistock town hall

We went on into Tavistock, sorted ourselves out and went into the town for a hot chocolate and a toastie to keep us going.  Tavistock town hall and surrounding buildings were constructed using the rather attractive local granite.  We went back to our room before relaxing and going to a good dinner in the hotel,   A day to remember of our holiday and this has probably been the wettest of all our many stays in Tavistock but we have had a good time and tomorrow we move on.  

  

Day 4 Saturday October 22nd Tavistock and moor

 

Today arrived with dry weather and we were optimistic about getting a decent walk across the moor.  We had a quick walk into the town visiting the Saturday Farmers' market which is always a good view.  We bought some supplies (Sausage rolls and saffron buns), got our outdoor gear together and loaded the car.  The forecast was better for the morning and so we wanted to get going.

Another sheep

We parked in the familiar Pork Hill car park and found the weather was deteriorating - mist covered the tors and periods of heavy rain.  Sheep were happily grazing near the cars. We put our waterproofs and boots on, decided to go for it and ventured out for a shortish walk heading south.  You sometimes wonder why you come to places like this for a holiday in inclement weather but a few hundred yards later when you away from civilisation with only sheep and the wilderness for company then all becomes well with creation.  We 

Dew Tor

carried on, deciding to aim for Dew Tor but came across an insurmountable obstacle for us. 

The leat

 Grimstone and Sorbridge Leat was swollen by all the rain of the previous 24 hours, it was fast flowing and the stepping stones at the crossing points were under water.  We went upstream to where the Windy Post Granite Cross is positioned (Google it) and at that point gave up.  By then it was becoming misty again and we 

Windy Post Granite Cross

lost sight of Dew Tor.  It was then a fairly straightforward walk to complete the circle back to the car.  Waiting for us were mugs of coffee we had prepared at the hotel and the supplies from the farmers' market.

We sat for a while reading/browsing and watching the frequent heavy rain.  By this time an ice-cream van had arrived in the car park corner and Christine went and bought us each a 99er with clotted cream - not the right weather but we are on holiday and well deserved and very delicious.  We sat for a time, changed our shoes and drove back to the hotel through the mist.

We relaxed for a time and then went to a local pub for a good meal which rounded off an interesting if not classic Dartmoor day. 

 

Day 3 Friday October 21st Tavistock in the rain

 A very wet day in Devon!  From viewing the weather forecast last evening we knew that today was likely to be a washout.  When we woke up it did not look too promising - we could not see the moor through the mist!

We breakfasted and took our waterproofs for an initial walk round some of the rest of the town.  We went to the TIC to see if we could find the details of a short local walk we could attempt later if the weather improved.  A volunteer helper was a lady who used to lived on St Mary's and so we had a brief catchup.  From there we moved to the highly recommended indoor pannier market where we passed a few minutes in the warm and dry.  We then spent another few minutes looking in the shops along Duke Street before deciding it was time for a coffee.  I had bought a newspaper and Christine had some phone admin to complete so we had a dry interlude there.  

Cox Tor is somewhere there

looking south

We went back to the hotel lounge to have a read and discuss further plans for the day as it was now raining heavily.  We did a bit more and then decided to drive up on the moor to see how things were and have a bit of a picnic.  It was still steady/heavy rain and so stopped in the car park below Cox Tor and sat there for quite a time observing a few brave souls (not including us!) venturing out for short walks.  I did take a couple of photos the first looking north up the tor and secondly south over the rain sodden moor.  

watching the footie!

We decided eventually to return back to the hotel for a cup of tea.  Some online browsing and then it was to go to a Pizza restaurant for a prearranged meal, we had eaten here before and were not disappointed again.  We finished in time to go along to a local pub which had Skysports as an attraction and this evening the Ipswich v Derby game was being shown which I could not resist.  Christine took a photo to record the occasion!  Ipswich won😀 and so I was happy.  We then returned to the hotel for the rest of the night.  This had been the wettest day over all the years we had stayed in Tavistock - nearly an inch of rain - we didn't do much outside but the day had a happy ending for me.

Day 2 Thursday October 20th Hayle to Tavistock

 

Today dawned much better than yesterday with sun and blue skies much in evidence.  We breakfasted at the Premier Inn and our initial task was to return towards Penzance and take the car to the crash repair garage for inspection and schedule agreement.  It will be taken to them after our holiday and they will arrange for it to be returned to Penzance.  Much relief as this seems to have worked well.  We then came back to Hayle and went to M&S for Christine to look round the clothes area (thankfully without much success!).  We then had a coffee and visited the food hall which was much more successful - we bought some cheese scones, some rocky road, some biscuits and cold drink.  I took a picture of Christine outside M&S because she does not have too many opportunities to visit them.  Those of you with long memories or who take an avid interest in this blog will remember that I took a picture of Christine outside Hong Kong M&S in 2013!  We then went to the nearby Lidls and Christine was able to get some things whilst I set up our satnav.

    

We were off again travelling eastwards through Cornwall on the A30. All went well and we had a short break near Fraddon where there is also a M&S but again Christine had no shopping success.  We carried on passing places with names such as Skinners Bottom, Marazanvose and Tregedillett and eventually crossed the River Tamar on a Packhorse Bridge into Devon.  It was not far to get to our destination in Tavistock.  We checked in, sorted ourselves out a bit and then went for a walk around what is now for us a familiar town.  There have been some changes over the years but it is still an interesting place with lots of character and many individual shops.  We returned to the hotel, unpacked and settled into the room.  There is a good view from the window over the roof of the town hall and up to Dartmoor.

It was soon time to get ready for dinner and we had a good meal in the bar.  A not very exciting day with Christine having little shopping success but we did get used to issues of driving and navigating our car on the mainland.

 

Day 1 Wednesday October 19th St Martin's to Hayle

 

Monday's St Martin's sunset

The start of another holiday and cruise away from the islands aboard Scillonian III!  We are going to various places and seeing some relatives and friends on our travels.  We have been planning for some weeks but the actual journeying started last Saturday (16^th).  Our car went across to St Mary’s then as the Llyonesse Lady was out of action for a scheduled service this week.  All went well on St Martin’s but during the voyage some cargo shifted and the car suffered a knock – not too horrendous but will have to be sorted at the end of the holiday. This week started well for us with Monday being a glorious day with a wonderful sunset.

Yesterday and today have been misty with no flying.  We have travelled to St Mary’s on a jet boat with a bit of lump as well.  We joined the Scillonian which was nicely filled with Skybus passengers.  The car was safely loaded onto the ferry and we were away by 4:15. 

car loading onto Scillonian

The fairly brisk, Easterly windy conditions mean we have had an interesting crossing but we were OK with neither of us having ever suffered the mal-de-mer (hopefully that status continues).  Our luggage and vehicle were reunited with us in the darkness of Penzance quay.  We were soon away, filled up with petrol at Sainsburys and have arrived at Hayle Premier Inn.  Hopefully a good night's sleep and more adventures tomorrow.

a bumpy jet boat ride to St Mary's