Travel to West Devon and a Trip to Totnes - 20th August ‘20

Moving day and the weather has perked up a bit. Still very windy but sunny spells today.

We stripped down Brunnehilda and said good bye to The Old Orchard at about 11am. Pros and cons of the site listed below.

The 3 hour trip down the M5 was fairly incident free except for .... I left the bloody skylight open again! Luckily a nice couple flagged us down just before we got onto the motorway to let us know.

A quick stop at Taunton Dene services and we were pulling onto the Smallcombe Farm CL site at West Brent, just outside Totnes. Being Devon, we had the obligatory final couple of miles of single track road with sparse passing spaces!

We have a fabulous view looking over Dartmoor but the owner has already asked us if we mind moving tomorrow to another pitch. Not ever so thrilled but said yes. Seems a nice site - even has a shower and wc, which is unusual for a CL.

After a quick cup of tea soaking up the view, we headed across the country lanes to Totnes. It’s only 5 miles away but takes nearly 30 minutes - a Devon mile is worth about 5 normal miles!

I like Totnes. It’s very “hippy” and “new age”, which makes it quite laid back and different. We ate at the Riverside Bistro. I had a smashing fish pie and, unsurprisingly, COVID restrictions were modest and not OTT and bordering on paranoia like some places.

We had a walk through the town before filling up with fuel and returning to Brunnehilda as it was getting dark.

We’re both tired tonight. We were up at 2am last night putting down Izzy. The wind really picked up and Izzy was tugging away all evening - by 2am, we thought it best to take her down. Problem is, after that, we were wide awake! So  some chocolate and a read before back to sleep. 

However, we did manage a cup of tea and a rendezvous with the Baltimore PD before turning in. The wind is getting up again but tonight, no Izzy and we are pitched front on against the wind, so we are fairly stable and should be in for a restful night!?

The Old Orchard, Ombersley:

Pros:

1) Great views across the fields

2) Close to Ombersley which is great for eating out

3) The pitches are huge / lots of space between you and your neighbour

4) Very clean 

5) All pitches have private water supply - ironically, except ours

6) Very “hands off” and laid back owner - Dawn

7) At £14 a night, great VFM

8) Close to main road but very quiet and peaceful 

9) Fabulous for dog walking 

Cons:

1) No toilet and shower 

2) Quite exposed to wind at top of a hill

It remains one of our favourites, if not our most favourite CL site. We’ll be back!

Salcombe with the Parrott’s & Totnes- 4th Aug ‘19

A shorter blog today as I’m doing it next morning (Monday) as well, putting it bluntly, I couldn’t be stars bothered last night.

Not a great day weather wise but no wind and rain so no complaints.

After the normal Brunnehilda morning routines, we set off on the hour plus journey to Salcombe.
I had been keen to see my old Volvo buddy, Simon’s boat for years and, as he was down with his family for the weekend, it was a great opportunity to make it happen.

Kim and boats go together like sliders and socks so she was a bit apprehensive! Me, although I haven’t had much experience on the water, I love the idea of anything that floats as much as I do the sensation of being in or on water.

We had a fantastic afternoon. Simon and Justine were great nautical hosts. From the sandwiches and scones on board for lunch through to the 2 trips (either side of beer/ G&T) up and down the ria (look that one up if you want!). Firstly Jack - that’s Simon’s oldest son - skippered is up through Salcombe to the mouth of the sea and then down to as far as Kingsbridge heading in land. Simon’s boat is called the Norwegian Blue but we left her moored up and had our trips out on the water on a fun little craft called a Boston Whaler.

It was very busy on the water but, thankfully for us both, very calm. Simon did his best with the tourist commentary but he clearly has some swotting up to do?! Although he did manage to point out Wayne Rooney’s modest little pad high up on the hill overlooking the bay.

It was great to see an old Volvo friend and we managed to pass away the afternoon without mentioning the “V” word hardly at all.

We left at about 6 and made our way home via Totnes. Simon and Justine had recommended a visit and it was as interesting and “different” as they sold it as. It’s known to have an alternative / new age / Bohemian type feel - much like Daventry !!!? Although all the alternative shops were shut it was fun to walk around amongst all the ageing hippies and just enjoy it all. We even managed to have a very nice Chinese / Thai at a place called Little Asia - another recommendation from the Pitts’. http://www.totneslittleasia.co.uk/ Although their card machine was broken, so to some degree we picked our menu selection based on the cash we had to hand!

There is a bit of an ageing hippy streak in me - and my 2 sons! - so a return visit to Tones during the day would be fun.