Buckfast Abbey

Monday 30^th April 2012

Wet and windy again this morning in Dartmouth. Outside temperature was 9°.

Left Dartmouth Country Club about 10:00am and headed to Buckfast to see Buckfast Abbey, a Benedictine Monastery on the edge of Dartmoor. The first  abbey was founded on the site in 1018 and became part of the Cistercian Order in 1147. The Abbey was closed by Henry VIII and fell into ruins. In 1882 a small group of Benedictine Monks rebuilt the Abbey on the original foundations – a feat that took 30 years.

Today the Monks continue to pray and work in and around the Abbey and support themselves by many means including bee keeping, land management, wine production and hospitality. Whilst we were walking through the Abbey we got talking to one of the Monks. He was a very interesting fellow who explained a lot about how the Abbey was rebuilt. He also showed us the Cloisters, which are not usually accessible to the public.

Mevagissey Harbour

Back on the road again and heading into Cornwall across the Tamar River Bridge. First stop was Lostwithiel where we had lunch and a walk around the village. Whilst the rain had stopped it was still very windy and cold so it was time to break out the down filled coats.

Next stop was Mevagissey where we will be staying for the next 4 nights. Mevagissey is a charming, small coastal fishing village with very narrow streets. We found out just how narrow when we missed the turn into our accommodation and had to go right through the village centre in order to turn around. Although some of the streets in the village centre are one way there are also some that are two way but are still only wide enough for one car, small ones at that.

After a few anxious moments, we finally made it out of the village centre and checked into our B&B, which is lovely and only 200 yards from the harbour.

As there was still plenty of daylight we walked around the harbour and shops, and took some photos –Mevagissey is exactly what you imagine a fishing village in Cornwall to be!!

We had a lovely seafood dinner at the Fountain Inn, which is the oldest pub in Mevagissey. A great way to end our first day in Cornwall.

At The Lizard

Tuesday 1^st May 2012

Woke this morning to sunshine at last! A few showers early in the afternoon but by early evening the sun was shining again. Maximum temperature 15°.

We left our B&B just after 9:00am to drive to the Lizard, the most southerly point of the UK. The scenery is absolutely stunning. After a walk along the cliff tops we enjoyed a cup of tea and a piece of homemade apple & blackberry pie, yes, clotted cream as well, at the Polpeor café right on the Lizard.

Having recharged our batteries we drove to the very small quaint fishing village of Mullion Cove not far from the Lizard. The old harbour is absolutely picture perfect so we took a few. Mullion Harbour has been a National Trust site since 1945.

Eden Project

Next stop for the day was the Eden Project near St Austell. An absolutely amazing achievement. The site was a disused 60 metre deep clay quarry on which two giant conservatories (biomes) have been built and filled with plants from all over the world. One of the Biomes is full of tropical rainforest plants ,very hot and humid inside. The other is Mediterranean and has plants from all over that part of the world.

Final stop for the day was Charlestown Harbour for a look at 3 tall ships that were tied up in the dock. It was amazing to see the ships which we were told are used in a lot films. Decided on local seafood for dinner once again – the pan fried scallops were delicious!!!!!

Port Isaac

 Wednesday 2^nd May 2012

Weather this morning was absolutely fantastic, clear blue sky, no wind and temperature reached a maximum of 18°. Short sleeves and no big coats today.

After another excellent breakfast of fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast and a cuppa we decided to walk down to the breakwater and take some photos of Mevagissey Harbour.

Todays trip started with a drive north to see Port Isaac (Port Wenn for all you Doc Martin fans). Port Isaac is an absolutely beautiful picture post card fishing village. It was fantastic to see and recognize all the buildings in the Doc Martin series. We had our photos taken outside Doc Martins’ house. By now it was lunchtime so we had a fresh crab & salad sandwich at the Pub overlooking the harbour.

So far today we have done our quota of exercise. The walk from the carpark to Port Isaac and back was about 2kms.

Doc Martin's Surgery

Lynne's Lunch

Trebetherick was our next stop. Another walk from the car park to St Enodoc Church. The Church is in the middle of  St Enodoc golf course, which we had to walk  across. The Church was buried by sand dunes from the 16^th century to the 19^th century. In the 1860’s the sand was removed and the Church was cleaned and restored.

St Enodoc Church

As it was only mid afternoon we decided to finish a great days touring by visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan ( close to Mevagissey). The gardens were created between 1770 – 1914 by the Tremayne family on 1000 acres and featured food crops, exotic foliage, wild and garden flowers. It went into decline following WW1 and by 1990 working buildings and glasshouses were derelict and the gardens totally overgrown. A storm that year further devastated the site. Since then the Gardens have been restored and opened to the public. A lovely place!!

Dinner tonight was at the Salamander Restaurant, roast duck breast.

Mud Head Heligan Garden