Just Back From… – Page 6

North Cornwall

Before we left North Devon for home (which at the time was in west Surrey) we headed on down the coast to have another look at the North Cornwall coastal towns of Boscastle, Tintagel and Port Isaac – famous for the Doc Martin series on ITV. Of course getting there involved a stop off at another beach – Sandymouth, and the return was via the coastal road and a quick stop at Widecombe Bay. Writing these travelogues makes me understand why it is that I arrive back from holiday needing a holiday. I don’t seem to do relaxing! Continue reading North Cornwall

North Devon: Gardens

Of course it wouldn’t be a holiday for me without visiting a garden or two. And North Devon has several, including one in Clovelly itself – Clovelly Court Gardens (entrance is included in the price to the village). Unfortunately the gardens closed at 4 p.m. so we were too late this time as we were still in the village. We did drive over to Marwood Hill Garden just north of Barnstaple where you will find beautiful gardens and lakes and a wonderful café which serves great cakes – we had a clotted cream tea with ginger scones! Continue reading North Devon: Gardens

Spring in North Devon

A couple of years ago we went to North Devon and stayed in a National Trust Cottage near the pebbly Peppercombe Beach.

The cottages were traditionally built out of cob in the late eighteenth century, to house the officers of what was then called the Preventive Service – tasked with policing this wild stretch of coast to prevent smuggling – and later evolved into the life saving Coastguard Service Continue reading Spring in North Devon

Just Back From… Penzance

October may seem an odd time of year to visit Cornwall – notorious for its ‘mizzle’ (mist and drizzle) and when the nights are drawing in. No late evening walks along the promenade at sunset for us then. October is, however, my birth month and this year marked a special anniversary too – ten years of marriage and a BIG birthday. The one where you used to get a free bus pass and a state pension – no longer though. So where to go and celebrate these two milestone events?

I thought about romantic Florence, I considered the northern lights of Reykjavik, I mused about South Africa and my beloved Cape Town, but on the other hand we still hadn’t found a house to buy and until we settled I felt that I was in limbo. I needed to get on with the rest of my life and my heart was still set on being near the coast so what better place to return to than Cornwall. Continue reading Just Back From… Penzance

Just Back From… Laugharne

…and some like myself, just came one day, for a day, and never left; got off the bus, and forgot to get on again…”

~ Dylan Thomas

Laugharne (pronounced Larn) is probably most famous for being the last place where renowned Welsh poet Dylan Thomas lived, wrote, drank and is laid to rest; he died in New York.

His Boathouse and Writing Shed overlooking the wide Tâf estuary draw in the crowds and you can even get a cup of tea at the Boathouse, though not when we visited as it was closed for filming a new film about Dylan Thomas’s fourth and final reading tour of America which is being made to mark next year’s centenary of his birth. The play “Under Milkwood” and “Poem on his Birthday” were written here. There is even a ‘Birthday Walk’, which if done on your birthday entitles you to a complimentary birthday gift. Climb up Sir John’s Hill for mind-blowing views across three estuaries (River Tâf, Towey and the Gwendraeth) and over the bay to the Gower Peninsula.

Dylan Thomas Grave

The Boathouse (right)

The Writing Shed

It’s not all about Dylan though, there is also a ruined castle built in the thirteenth century with more spectacular views of the estuary and out to Carmarthen Bay, an interesting clock tower on the town hall, and a unique Tin Shed Experience – a quirky 1930s – 1940s museum. It is also one of the oldest self-governing townships in Britain, presided over by the Portreeve wearing his traditional chain of gold cockleshells.

Clock tower

Tin Shed Experience

St Martin’s Church

The Taf Estuary

Laugharne Castle

Close to Laugharne is the seven mile beach known as Pendine Sands which was used to set world land speed records as it has a wide, flat and firm surface. Several generations of the Campbell family have raced there and there is a Museum of Speed. And if you travel a little further west you will discover the turquoise waters of Amroth, reminiscent of neighbouring Saundersfoot and Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

Carmarthenshire is often overlooked by people rushing through to the beautiful Pembrokeshire coastline, but it has much to offer itself with a new Coast Path which passes through a range of habitats including fresh water marshes, salt marshes, sand dunes and pine forests.