Bath

We left our hotel in Plymouth yesterday morning and had a quick look at the old area of the town known as the Barbican. This was one area that wasn’t bombed by the Germans in WW II and seems to be the equivalent of the Rocks in Sydney (except thast it is four hundred years older). Then we drove around the harbour and saw some plaques commemorating the departure of the Pilgrim Fathers to the new world and the return of the Tolpuddle Martyrs after being pardonned and returned to England. Nearby was the bowling green where Sir Francis Drake played bols whilst waiting for the Spanish Armada.

We were running about a day behind our intended schedule so we scooted across to Looe whre we took a few photos. This was a very pretty town on both sides of an estuary, connected by a small muli-span stone bridge. We then drove up to the north coast of Cornwall with a quick stop at Padstowe We stopped at a little pub along the way (The Old Wainhouse Inn) where we had Cornish pasties for lunch.

After lunch we stopped for quite a long while at the little village of Clovelly. This place is built on a very steep cliff and has a number of very quaint houises and a steep walk down to the harbour. The streets are made of rough cobblestones of sea washed pebbles and are very steep. They are more like a series o steps than a street. Deliveries such as milk are made by pulling sleds along the pathways. We had to leave the car in the car park at the top of the cliff and walked down the steep winding streets to the harbourt at the bottom. It cost 4.90 (ponds) for an entry fee and while it was good value for money, it was the first time that I have ever had to pay to enter a town!

From there we drove to the town of Lynton and found a nice B&B for the night. This place was previously full of smugglers. We had a good walk around the town before having dinner at the pub (The Crown) in the cenrtre of the village.

This morning it was raining steadily so we decided to catch up some time and drive directly to Bath. It was an interesting drive through some very pretty villages with winding streets and houses built right along the roadway. We stopped at the town of Minehead and decided to call ahead and book a room at the Best Western Hotel in Bath as this would put us right in the middle of town and we wouldn’t need to spend a lot of time checking out accommodation for the night.

We arrived in Bath in time for lunch and spent a lovely afternoon poking around this World Heritage city. The Roman Baths were very interesting to see and the description from the audio guide prevented Jill from declaring them as ‘another pile of old rocks’ as she is want to do with similar historic sites.

The city is full of impressive Georgian buildings, most of which appear to have been built around 1780. The Circus (without a ringmaster) and the Royal Crescent are spectacular examples of stylish archtecture. Here the houses create a curved line of buildings – all of an identical style and symmetry.

Dinner at the hotel tonight was a bit more genteel than the pub meals that we have been having – a lot less stodge and a lot less volume. With big breakfasts, pub lunches and more at night, we are in serious risk of becoming obese.

Tomorrow we head to Chester for two days – one to look around the town and the other to explore northern Wales..