Not a really great day today with a forecast for rain. We thought we would visit our first coastal town of Cornwall - Falmouth. It was the perfect day to visit the National Maritime Museum which had a really diverse collection including a temporary (2 year) section on Viking Voyagers and their activities, lifestyles and inaccurate stories about them - like they did not have horns on their helmets. After the museum we had to find another car park as after our tim...

Before heading off to Truro we wandered up to Buckland Abbey, the home of Sir Francis Drake. He bought the already converted Abbey with the treasure he had plundered from the Spanish. Quite a large place for a family home as you might imagine. Enjoyed wandering through it which also included seeing a self portrait of Rembrandt. The signature on it had been misspelt and this has resulted in some controversy over its authenticity. It looks like it is now accepted b...

Before leaving Dartmouth we visited the castle at the mouth of the Dart river. This castle has been protecting Dartmouth for over 550 years. As well as having cannons of many varieties over the years it also had a chain which was attached to the bank on the other side of the river and it could be raised or lowered from the castle side. This chain was even used during the second world war to protect the harbour from subs. A really good visit and presented very wel...

Left for Dartmouth today but firstly with a short stopover at Torquay. Looks like a holiday town with arcade games, a ferris wheel and colourful beach huts. Last place we went to like this was Scarborough although Torquay does not compare. Next stop was Greenway: - Agathie Christie's home on the Dart RIver now owned and operated by the National Trust. First we had a light lunch before checking out the various buildings. Really surprised at the amount of the fam...

Arrived in London a few days ago and were met by Anne's sister Jane who was just recovering from and finishing up after the end of the school year the previous week. We did some R&R as we tried to adjust to the time zone. Picked up the rental car today. Had booked a medium class automatic vehicle for the 3 of us and received a Nissan SUV manual. We must say it has all the bells and whistles but readjusting back to the right hand drive with a manual is fun. ...