South England
June 2019
I travelled through the beautiful south of England for a fortnight with a friend. We picked up our little red Fiat 500 in London and the adventure began.
Our first stop was just north of Brighton, with relatives of Freddy’s New Zealand family. It was really nice to finally meet them in person after so many years. The next day we travelled on to Brighton. From there we followed the coast via Southampton, Exeter and Plymouth to St Ives. We then travelled back along the north coast via Bude, Exmoor Bath, the Cotswold and Oxford until we had to return our car at the airport.
Brighton
After breakfast with our friends, we drove on towards Brighton. After a nice policewoman helped us find a parking space, we made our way to the sea. We strolled along the beach towards the town centre. We passed the remains of the West Pier on the way. In Brighton, we let ourselves drift through the various streets and passed “the Lanes”. Narrow, winding alleyways with beautiful wooden shop fronts made “The Lanes” something special. We popped into lots of little shops. On the way back to the sea, we passed the Royal Pavilion. This was built by George IV and later sold to the city by Queen Victoria. From the outside, it is an imposing building in the Indian style. After a small dinner in our accommodation, we were drawn back outside to the sea. We took lots of photos at sunset and walked along the beach to Brighton Pier. We also had to see it at least once.
The Lanes
Brighton Pier with its amusement park
Royal Pavillon
West Pier
Mottifont Abbey & Exeter
Mottifont Abbey is located near Southampton. Although we were there shortly after it opened, it was already very busy. We had a National Trust Member Card issued as we wanted to visit a few more gardens and stately homes. The rose garden was beautiful. Most of the roses were already in bloom and it was very fragrant. We just let ourselves drift through the small paths. Afterwards, we took a look at the large manor house. It must be nice to live in such a large house with this huge, landscaped garden. Before we drove on, we stopped off at the café and enjoyed a cream tea (a black tea and a scone with clotted cream and jam).
On the way to Ashburton, where we spent the night in a B&B, we made a stopover in Exeter. We visited St Peter’s Cathedral, which dates back to 1112, and strolled through the shops that were still open.
We received a very friendly welcome in Ashburton.
Our B&B Gages Mill
Dartmoor & Cotehele House
Well rested, we continued the next day. We drove through Dartmoor. We stopped at Haytor Rocks and climbed up the small hill in the drizzle. The weather changed very quickly and we were rewarded with a great view over the hills of Dartmoor. Back at the car park, a couple of Dartmoor horses had arrived in the meantime. They grazed quietly next to the parked cars. We watched them for a while and took photos.
On our onward journey, we passed the miniature village of Whitecomb in the Moor, Two Bridge and saw Princetown in the valley. We made a stop in Tavistock. The Pannier Market and the town hall are housed in beautiful old buildings. I found a really great fabric shop in Tavistock. Of course I had to pick up some fabric with English motifs.
As it was still quite early in the afternoon, we decided to visit the National Trust House Cotehele. Cotehele House is a manor house built in the Tudor style, which was owned by one family for almost 600 years. It is considered to be one of the least altered medieval manor houses in England. It was interesting to see this architectural style and interior. The wall hangings, low ceilings and dark wood made the whole house look very gloomy. We had another cream tea in the National Trust café.
Church in Whitecomb
Tavistock
Fudge
Cotehele House
Saltram House & Plymouth
After two nights at Gages Mill, it was time to pack up again and move on. The weather was very rainy in the morning. Nevertheless, we made a stop in Darthmouth. There were hardly any tourists due to the weather. We warmed up with a hot chocolate in between.
Our next stop was Saltram House near Plymouth, which was built in the 16th century. With its original furnishings, the manor house is considered to be one of the best preserved houses in the early Georgian style. In two rooms, the ceiling and carpet have the same geometric patterns, creating a mirror image. Until the next downpour, we walked around the garden, which is right next to the house.
For dinner we went to a fish and chip restaurant in Plymouth. The fish was delicious. After dinner, we went to the Plymouth lighthouse and happened to pass the Tinside Lido Pool. This is built in the Art Deco style.
After an hour’s drive, we reached our next accommodation in the 6-house village of St Veep. This time we stayed in a small cottage. The roads to St Veep were the typical narrow roads where you can’t see anything.
Typical small roads in Cornwall where you can’t see anything
Our Airbnb Cottage
Lost Garens of Heligan & Mevagessy
After a good night’s sleep and a delicious breakfast, we set off for the Lost Gardens of Heligan. There was already a lot going on there, but fortunately it was easy to get round the huge area. The vegetation in the Hidden Valley reminded me a lot of New Zealand. At the end we passed through the sculpture garden.
We spent the afternoon in the small fishing village of Mevagessy. Unfortunately, Goggle Maps directed us through the narrowest street in the village with the most pedestrians. I was glad when we finally parked the car. We took a leisurely stroll through the village, taking photos and popping into the little shops. The harbour with its colourful fishing boats in the turquoise water was beautiful. We sat down in a tearoom for afternoon tea. The tea tasted very good! On the way back to the car, we passed a Cornish bakery. There we took some typical pasties with us for dinner. On the way back to the cottage, we made a little detour to the fishing village of Fowey. As all the shops were already closed, it had become very quiet here. We sat down by the water and enjoyed our delicious Cornish pasties.
The Lost Gardens of Heligan
Mevagessy
Lanhydrock House & Polperro
We left our lovely little cottage to head further south. Our first stop for the day was Lanhydrock House, which has been around since 1620, but only in its current form since 1822. Most of the house is Victorian in style and the furnishings are also Victorian. A beautiful house! There are around 50 rooms to visit. We took our time visiting the rooms. At the end of the tour is the library. It is housed in a large, light-flooded room. There was even someone sitting at the piano playing something. It created a magical atmosphere. We were completely overwhelmed by all the impressions and took a break in the park for cream tea.
We had discovered on the internet that the fudge company Buttermilk has its factory nearby. Unfortunately, we discovered in the company car park that there was no shop at the factory. A nice employee approached us and asked if we were looking for something. She took us to the sales office and the staff there took us to the small warehouse. We were allowed to stock up on buttermilk fudge there. So we had already bought our souvenirs.
Afterwards, we drove to the small fishing village of Polperro. Fortunately, it was closed to cars and we had to park a little above the village. The village is much less touristy than Mevagessy. The South-West Coast Path runs along the edge of Polperro. We walked along it for a short distance. We didn’t meet anyone else on the way. From the path, we had a beautiful view of Polperro harbour and part of the coast. With the sound of the sea and the sun shining, we sat down on a bench for a while.
The library
Tea time
Lizard Point & St Ives
We left our lovely little cottage to continue southwards. We only stopped briefly in Truro to change money. Then we continued to Lizard Point, the southernmost point of Cornwall. We had lunch in one of the two cafes with a breathtaking view of the sea. A 20-minute walk from Lizard Point is Kynance Cove, a small cove with a sandy beach. As it was high tide, the sandy beach had almost completely disappeared. A few brave people jumped into the waves. When we tested it with our feet, we realised that it was surprisingly cold.
Our last stop for the day was St Ives. We had booked another small Airbnb room there. In the evening, we had a look around the town. Our first impression was that it was a slightly chicer place with a slightly larger harbour basin compared to Polperro, for example.
St Michael`s Mount
From St Ives we drove back to the other side of the coast to visit the tidal island of St Michael’s Mount. When we got there it was raining. Equipped with rain jackets, we decided to make our way to the island anyway. The island is much smaller than Mont-Saint-Michel and so we passed through the small village very quickly. We waited briefly until the former Benedictine monastery and castle was opened. In good weather, the view from up there must be fantastic. The castle is still privately owned today. The weather had deteriorated during our visit.
We drove via Penzance to the small village with the nice name of Mousehole. Fortunately, our trousers dried again during the short car journey. We took a leisurely stroll through the village. At the harbour we sat down in a café and enjoyed a warm tea with scones. As the tide was low, we were able to walk around the harbour basin between the fishing boats and take photos. We spent the rest of the afternoon in St Ives.
Barrington Court & Bath
Today’s route is a little longer, so we set off quite early.
Our first stop was Port Isaac. The fishing village lies in a valley and also has a small harbour. There were lots of tourists here too. I somehow liked Mevagessy better than Port Isaac.
Afterwards, we drove quite a way along the motorway again. Before we got to Bath, we stopped at a National Trust house, Barrington Court. This is another Tudor house which was built between 1538 and 1550. The special thing is that this house is completely without furniture. This made the rooms, some of which were huge, really come into their own. The landscaped garden was somewhat labyrinthine and enchanted, which I really liked.
It wasn’t long to Bath. We went for a walk through the centre in the evening. We passed the cathedral, the Roman Bath and the Circus. These are houses that together form a circle with three entrances and exits. As Bath was the capital of the Druids, the Circus was also built with the same diameter as Stonehedge.
Pulteney Bridge
The Circus
Roman Bath
Tyntesfield house
Very close to Bath is Tyntesfield, another National Trust house. As we had seen pretty much everything in Bath, we spontaneously decided to take a look at this house. It is a Victorian Gothic Revival country house. The house was bought by businessman William Gibbs in 1830 and was in the Gibbs family until 2001. It was then acquired by the National Trust so that it could remain open to the public.
Cotswolds
After two nights in Bath, we set off again to continue our journey towards the Cotswolds. The first stop was very close to Bath. We visited Lacock Abbey. A former nunnery from the 13th century. It was converted into a family home in the 16th century. The church was demolished and all that remains of the abbey is the old cloister. William Henry Fox Talbot, who invented the first photographic negative, lived there in the 19th century. As we were there quite early, we were able to take photos in peace and quiet without other people around.
We continued on to the Cotswolds. Our first stop was Castle Comb, a small village. Fortunately, there weren’t too many tourists around and we were able to take photos of the pretty little houses in peace and quiet.
Lower and Upper Slaughter and Stow-on-the-Wold followed in the afternoon. All three villages were slightly larger than Castle Comb and therefore much busier. A small river flows through Lower and Upper Slaughter. This makes the village look like a miniature town, only life-size. The houses are built almost exclusively from the typical light-coloured limestone, which gives the villages such a harmonious character.
We spent another day exploring the Cotswolds and its National Trust houses. First we strolled through Burton-on-the-water, then we visited Snowshill Manor and garden. As we were there really early again, we walked around the garden, took some lovely portraits of ourselves and enjoyed the variety of flowers. The main part of the house dates back to the 16th century. However, the house is best known for its owner Charles Paget Wade. He collected all sorts of things that interested him. The house contains an exhibition of all kinds of objects, such as bicycles, prams, wardrobes, weapons, etc.
After a little refreshment, we visited Chipping Campden. Another Cotswolds village that I really liked.
At the end of the day we went to Chastleton House, built between 1607 & 1612. It was owned by the same family for over 400 years. The special thing about this house is that it was built in a village where all the important amenities, such as a wash house, were available.
Oxford
Our last day had begun. We left the Cotswolds and visited Oxford on the way to the airport. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day, so we didn’t really feel like visiting the city. We strolled through the shops and sat down in cafés to warm up. It wasn’t until the afternoon that it finally stopped raining and we were able to see some of the city. We walked past the Bodleian Library, the Radcliff Camera (reading rooms) and a few different colleges. The colleges are all housed in beautiful old buildings. Unfortunately, you had to pay an entrance fee to see the buildings from the inside.
