Plym Valley Trail

On Saturday we decided to dust the cobwebs of the bikes (well I dont even own one and the OH's is shiny clean as its only been used once) and go out and explore a bit more of Devon by following the Plym Valley Cycle Trail.

We planned to set off at 10am from our house and follow the 10 mile route from Plymouth to Clearbrook (near Yelverton) and back.

When Helen arrived we were all ready to set off - well no we weren't, the other half just had to sort out a couple of things on his bike first.

Finally it seemed we were ready to go.....oh no wait.... a little test ride was needed first.

YAY we were finally ready - All systems go!!

At 10:30am we left the car park and cycled along the estuary on Embankment Road to Marsh Mills Sainsbury's to stock up on some food for lunch.





After filling up our backbacks we carried on to the start of the national cycle network route 27 - Not the most scenic route out of Plymouth.....

....but soon we were into the reliable hands of the National Trust.

Posing on the bridge with the camera timer on.....

This photo nearly caused a passing cyclist to crash over his handlebars whilst screeching to a halt so he wasn't caught in the picture. He stopped just in time so unfortunately the camera (which was randomly on burst) only caught our reactions.

A couple of action shots taken while precariously balancing one handed.....

....before you say the OH's is clearer check out the first one he took...

The route is a very gentle incline all the way there, so we stopped a couple of times - just to take some photos you see, not because I needed a little break. 

About half way along the trail we bumped into the usual flash tosser....

                   

......who was just practising his wheely riding!?!?!

After passing the guy who forgot to hire a unicycle we came to the Shaugh tunnel.

It was created by Brunel by cutting straight through the rock and inside its very cold and damp and a little creepy to be honest.

While looking online after doing the route I found a webpage that explains the tunnels horrible feeling.

Eeeek - I'm so glad it was recently fitted with electric lights!

After the tunnel we reached the most difficult part of the route - a steep rocky incline...

....which called for us to get off our bikes and walk.

We weren't being lazy - we were told to see :-)

And after the steep hills we were there!!!! We arrived into Clearbrook at 1pm ready for lunch and a drink at the local pub.

After a quick rest we got back onto the bikes (I'm still sitting on every cushion I can find) and headed back. 

As it was slightly downhill all the way home we were back to the beginning of the trail in no time at all, with the wind blowing in our hair and the sun on our face :-D

The Beast of Bodmin Moor

With a sunny weekend forecast we decided to head up to Bodmin in Cornwall to stay at South Penquite Farm.

We arrived about 7pm after trying to navigate the narrow country lanes that even the sat nav didn't know (hasn't been updated for a while)

Finally pitched up - the buntings first outing.

The OH happy with his cookie.

After heating up our curry and chatting around the campfire we decided we would get up early in the morning to take on the two and a half mile farm trail - easy enough!

It's a good job we didn't want a lie in - we were woken up at 7am by the cock-a-doodle-doo of the rooster that was allowed to wander right up to the tents with the chics and turkeys.

The campsite is located on a 200 acre family run farm and its great to see the animals allowed to wander around right up to the tents.

After a quick sausage sandwich (sausages bought from the site shop, very very yummy) we set off from the farmyard heading south.

The OH and Helen were in charge of map reading...

...which might explain why we got lost at the first turning and ended up crossing a very boggy moor....

Lisa didn't quite make it unscathed....

After about 20 minutes we realised we were walking the wrong way. It appeared that we had gone right through treasured land:  'Because the terrain is so inaccessible this woodland has gained international importance as it has remained untouched for centuries' - ooooooooopppppssssss!!!!!

Back on track we headed towards on of the highlights of the walk, the De Lank quarry....

This quarry goes back to the 1840's and the silver grey granite was used to build the Eddystone Lighthouse, now on Plymouth Hoe - where I graduated.

By the quarry we took another wrong turn and ended up a little bit close to the action. So the OH consulted the map and we turned back and climbed the path uphill.

Now we had to find another highlight, the Standing Stone.  According to the leaflet this should have been easy to find: 'This imposing stone is thought perhaps to be the remains of a prehistoric kerbed Cairn which would have been a highly visible landmark in the sacred Bronze Age landscape.'

I guess things have changed a bit since the Bronze Age as it took us a while to figure out the way, but eventually we got there -  in need of a nap!

With all the sights (and many more) done it was time to walk back across all the fields to the campsite.

Only a little hurdle occurred when some cows blocked our way out of the gate.

Me and Lisa took the OH's advice of staying close to the fence while they moved out of the way. Helen however decided to make a quick phone call and have a little chit chat to a friend, much to the annoyance of the cows who refused to move for a while. 

Once the coast was clear we walked through some more fields. Spot the difference...

We were coming to the end of the walk, three hours later. If only Helen could figure out which way we had to take back to the campsite....

We got back to Mr Tenty Tent all set up and ready for us to make an a la carte lunch of chicken and mushroom pot noodle.

                     

We'd put the bed the other way this time to try to avoid falling down the hill in our sleep.

After our gourmet lunch, we headed off to Bodmin Jail. 

Just in time for the first execution of the day.

This was a re-enactment of the last man, William Hampton, to be executed at the jail in 1909.

Hampton had strangled his 16 year old girlfriend and killed her, confessing two hours later. 

Another person to be hanged at Bodmin was Selina Wadge. Here she is....

Very creepy!!! Wadge was one of four women to be hanged there. She dropped her child into a well so she could marry a different man to the father of the child.

This guy killed himself before they could execute him.

And this dude killed his child by drowning her as he couldn't afford to feed her.

Apparently this man killed his girlfriend by cutting her from ear to ear, and obviously another very graphic mannequin was needed to demonstrate it. 

This charming guy smashed his wife's face with a chair before pushing her head first into the fire.

The text panel didn't say what these three were in for...

After the jail we headed into Bodmin to check out all the little shops and have a poke around. We put 3 hours on the car as it was the cheapest ar park we had ever seen.

Turns out that's because there is sod all to do there. After sneaking into the holding cells in the of the court we had pretty much exhausted the place...

On the way back to the carpark, after about 15minutes of looking around we came across the most random memorial, now park benches for humans I get, but this.........

As Bodmin was so rubbish we headed to......Homebase!! Where they didnt have a camping aisle, not even some outside lights or anything :-(

 So we went to a furniture shop just for me...

...where the Welsh dressers (a shabby chic project I'm hoping to do soon) were much more finished than the ones at the jail.

After picking up some supplies for dinner we headed back to the campsite.

Where we were peacefully reading our magazines and cooking dinner.....

 .....when we caught site of the Bodmin Beast.......

Legend has it that this wild panther like cat lives in Cornwall and is only rarely sighted.

We must have been really lucky as he stayed to pose for some photographs....

Seems the beast took a particular liking to us and the Mr Men tent as he hung around all night and came back in the morning for breakfast.

It must be tiring slaughtering all those animals and roaming around the moors at night!