We were told that Saturday and Sunday were going to be sunny and yes, the forecasters got it right, it was wall to wall sunshine, even though it was blowing a very cold wind from the north on Saturday! So what did we do, rush out into the garden and start trying to do all the work that we hadn’t been able to for weeks because of the torrential rain? No, we went out for the day because it was my husbands birthday during the week. Off we went to Dartmouth on the south coast of Devon, travelling by steam train and ferry. We drove to Paignton where Hercules was waiting for us, just being topped up with water.
The scenery along the way was stunning and the sea and sky were so blue, so used to them being dark grey!
As we arrived at Kingswear station, I saw that the houses were painted in ice cream colours, putting us into the holiday spirit. Time now to leave Hercules and cross the River Dart by ferry to get to Dartmouth.
From the ferry we saw these lovely old houses on the quayside and thousands of yachts and little boats.
In our dreams, maybe when we win the lottery!! It was time now to find somewhere for lunch, found a super place where I had a starter of goat’s cheese and onion tartlet, followed by Dartmouth crab and Tiger prawn linguini – delicious!
There’s Hercules on the other side of the river returning to Paignton, not to worry, he will be back later in the afternoon to take us back.
Further along the river Dart, if you look up at the top of the hill, you will see Dartmouth Naval College. This is where all our naval officers are trained, what a super setting for them to do their training. This is also where the Queen is supposed to have met Prince Philip for the first time.
A short walk in the other direction and we could see the mouth of the River Dart and out into the English Channel.
But this is how we get rid of unwanted visitors!
Time to go home unfortunately, admiring the views from the train window again, this is Goodrington Sands. Where are all the flowers, I hear you cry! I was amazed that Dartmouth didn’t have any hanging baskets, pots etc overflowing with lovely flowers for me to photograph, maybe we were too early, maybe they were caught out by the sudden change in the weather, I don’t know. We did find a greenhouse in one of the parks but it was locked!! However, from the train I managed to spot loads of valerian, bluebells, cow parsley and red campion and when we were crossing over viaducts, managed to have a sneaky peek into lots of back gardens! Also noticed that one of the stops on the railway line is called Greenway Halt, this is the stop for Agatha Christie’s house, Greenway, now run by the National Trust. Wonder where we will go for my birthday, have heard that the National Trust has been busy getting her garden up to scratch, could be worth a visit!!
That is a day spent as we would love to. He loves steam trains, and we both love England from a train window.
Mine is also a railway fanatic Diana, so we really enjoyed our day! It made such a change to see the countryside in the sunshine!
England at its best has no contenders, sadly it isn’t always at its best. I’m glad you had sucha good day; I wish you many more. Christina
We certainly had a good day Christina, wonderful scenery, weather and food, couldn’t be better!
Hi Pauline,
Glad to hear you had a nice weekend and that the weather held out for you!
I’ve stayed at Dartmouth a few times, as well as places further along such as sidmouth and lyme-regis although I haven’t been for a number of years now… In fact I think I think the last time I went to Dartmouth was during some world cup or other, back in the late 90’s, dare I hazard a guess??!! heehee. I was around 14/15 at the time anyway 🙂
Can’t believe that I’ve lived here 21 yrs Liz, and this was my first visit! My husband has been plenty of times when he was at work, it was a lot smaller than I expected. Sidmouth is very near to us, just 10 mins by car and Lyme Regis is a favourite place for most of our visitors, standing on the Cob, re-enacting “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” or hunting for fossils along the beach!
Hi Pauline! Your pictures made me feel homesick for England! I don’t have a nice memory about English railways even though I’ve never travelled in a steam train! I remember taking the train from Brighton to London and it was horrible!
Dartmouth must be beautiful it almost reminds me of Malta or some coastal town in southern Italy but with the UK chilly feeling in the weather and maybe the smell of fish and chips in the air… Ok, I’m going home and get my bags ready to leave!!!! 🙂
Alberto, couldn’t believe how blue the sky was and all the yachts reminded me of Mediterranean holidays! The wind was cold but no smell of fish and chips, thank goodness!
what a lovely outing. Happy birthday to your husband, Pauline.
Thanks Catmint, we both thoroughly enjoyed our day out!
Hi Pauline, Happy belated birthday to your dear husband! You certainly had gorgeous weather for his birthday celebration. Thanks for taking us along and the scenery was beautiful so I for one didn’t mind the lack of flower pictures.
P. S. I hope you do get to see Agatha Christie’s house and garden sometime. I would be curious to see it!
The weather couldn’t have been better Jennifer, we were so lucky. Will do my best to get to Agatha Christie’s house, it does look interesting!
What a lovely way to celebrate a special day and what a perfect month to have a birthday. My husband has just celebrated his too 🙂
Anna,we did enjoy our steam train ride, it was a fantastic day, with super weather for a change.