Plymouth

So many famous ships and captains have set sail from this port. Of course the Mayflower is the best known and this inscription can be found on the Mayflower Steps. Other ships commemorated at the spot are The Sea Venture 1609, and the Tory 1839 which set off to colonise New Zealand.



Our hotel faced the Hoe which is the patch of grass (now extended to a public green) where Drake played his game of bowls before taking on the Armarda. The Hoe houses a Naval memorial which is flanked by a sculpture of Neptune, and the rebuilt Eddystone Lighthouse which stands as a testament to engineering.

Land's End

This is recording the third day of our tour on June 26.


We crossed the River Tamar, taking us from Devon into Cornwall. This is the railway bridge designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.


St Michael's Mount - a monastic island.


Cornwall is Daphne du Maurier country and it is very easy to imagine Mary Yellan from Jamaica Inn wandering through these parts.


Land's End is as far south as one can go on the British mainland. Apart from being a rugged coast, this is now quite a commercialised spot, popular with charity walkers who sometimes go all the way to John o'Groats - also now maintained by the same development company). Even the BBC have put a Dr Who themed exhibit here... Many of the shops quip on the fact that this is the first and last spot in England (depending on which way you are travelling)

Dartmoor

Driving through here in broad daylight, it was hard to imagine the Hounds of the Baskervilles looming through the mist with glowing jaws.
Instead the local wildlife seemed to be sheep playing red rover with the traffic.
We stopped at a tiny village called Widecombe-in-the-Moor before hurtling on along roads that it seemed impossible to get a coach through, but we made it without hitting any sheep or stray tourists.

Salisbury

Home to the tallest spire in England, Salisbury is a lovely town that we didn't actually walk through as we spent the stop whipping through the cathedral. Here are some images of the beautiful building (once again, the scaffolding trend had gone before us and as for doing a Constable shot...)

Stonehenge

Brighton

The favourite seaside town has been a place to take the sea air for centuries. George the Prince Regent built his pleasure house pavillion here. Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside, the decor was rather overwhelming and burst from the ceilings and walls in pseudo-oriental abandon. Here are some details of the outside, once again, a portion of which was in scaffolding!




Our hotel turned out to be one of the most impressive buildings on the front.


Brighton used to have two piers but one burned to just a shell. The Skylark used to take people between the piers. I wonder if we found it, or is every other boat in Brighton called Skylark...

Battle

This little town marks the spot of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. True, Hastings itself is not far away, but the battle was named for the nearest town at the time. This is where it really happened. An abbey was built on the spot and the gates dominate the town centre.