2019 UK Adventure

I have been very slack and haven't kept up to date with the blog, but have been posting many facebook pics. I'll continue to update the blog when I have time.

Today is a driving day with limited stops. We followed the Jurassic Coast road and kept off the motorway as much as possible. Again the little villages were amazing, with the buildings up close and personal to the road, and the narrow lanes and hedged roads were picturesque and scary at the same time. I think Kevin is enjoying the challenge of driving the narrow laneways and only occasionally swears at the other drivers

Below are some pics of the Devon countryside and narrow roads.

Accommodation for the next 3 nights at Duke of Cornwall, Plymouth. Time to do some laundry and have a look around Plymouth and Cornwall.

Devon countryside and villages:

Duke of Cornwall/Plymouth:

From the hotel we went into Dinton for breakfast before starting out to the Old Wardour Castle (which didn't open till 10am). The little cafe in Dinton was run by a husband and wife and they were very friendly and chatty - and the breakfast was good too. We have found that most people are very friendly - they always pick the Aussie accent and want to talk about Australia (who they know that have moved there or what they have seen/done) and where we are going in UK. It's good to get the local views of what to see and do in their country.

The Old Wardour Castle, near Tisbury is a ruin and it was interesting wandering around and reading the story of it's history - visiting places like this is exactly why we came to the UK - although Kevin will tell you he only came to drive the car and carry heavy things I came for the old stuff.

Leaving the castle we stayed on the country roads (via West Stour) to call into Yeovil. We used to live near a town called Yeoval (slightly different spelling but I'm sure this is the 'sister city' to Yeoval in NSW Australia. It is much bigger (not hard) and again people were friendly...

From Yeovil we headed south through Weymouth to our overnight stop at Portland. The hotel is ugly, but the surrounding coastal countryside makes up for it.

Overnight: Maritime Hotel, Portland.

Old Wardour Castle:

Yeovil:

Along the road:

Isle of Portland:

Quite a long day today starting with a visit to Winchester. My research showed that it would be easier to park in one of the city carparks and walk around. We walked to the Cathedral and then to the City Mill. So much history in Winchester, and beautiful old buildings (I specially liked the Guild Hall) - I could have spent more time here.... The Winchester City Mill is the oldest working Mill in England and has a history of over 1000 years. More pics below.

From Winchester we went to Mottisfont (definitely getting value for money with the National Trust and English Heritage memberships). Mottisfont is a beautiful 18th century home for stunning river gardens. We particularly liked the spring with the man-made creek flowing down to the river, and the use of water features for irrigation. More pics below.

What can I say about Stonehenge? It certainly is interesting, but very crowded - people everywhere. You park at the visitors centre and catch a shuttle to the stones. You can't get close to the stones anymore because of the sheer number of visitors damaging the ground around the stones. Our English Heritage membership also provided us with free audio tour which was very helpful to know what you are looking at. Even though it has become a major tourist attraction I am glad we came and saw It is amazing how little we know for sure - lots of theories but there is no way to know, for sure, what they were for or who placed them... More pics below.

Our overnight stop at Penruddock Arms, about 12 miles from Stonehenge.

Winchester:

Mottisfont:

Stonehenge:

Other:

We used to live at Walmer NSW, so when we saw Walmer Castle we just had to visit... Whilst there we paid for English Heritage membership - this will give us free entry (and parking) at all English Heritage properties (eg Stonehenge, Dover Castle etc). The castle was originally a tudor fortress and was then converted into a stately home for Lords Warden. The duke of Wellington resided here - it was funny to see the link (Walmer is near Wellington in NSW).

Dover Castle is huge, and you could spend all day exploring the different parts of the property. We wandered around the castle, up and down the towers and checked out the halls and rooms.

The White Cliffs of Dover was a bit disappointing. I guess if you took the long walk (2-3 hours) you might see more, but the short walk only provided a little glimpse of the cliff...

We arrived in Brighton (actually just out of Brighton, at Hove) late afternoon and had issues with parking (only a few spaces provided by the hotel and they were all full). We finally got a spot and checked into the hotel, then walked around to check out the local area (seaside and town) and find somewhere for dinner. The next morning we drove into town (found a multi-story car park) leaving early to get breakfast and walk around the city. We found that cafe's don't generally open till 8am, and the city is very dirty and crowded. After a couple of hours we decided to get back into the countryside so headed off earlier than expected (didn't wait for the rock shop to open).

Overnight at Imperial Hotel, Hove.

Walmer Castle:

Dover - White Cliffs:

Dover Castle:

Brighton: