We travelled by coach and the journey took about seven hours but we had a couple of comfort stops and stopped an hour for lunch at a garden centre in Gloucester. We arrived at the hotel with enough time to unpack and have a short rest before getting ready for dinner.
Our first full day in Torquay was a busy one as we boarded our coach to take us to Totnes, Totnes has a long recorded history, dating back to AD 907 when its first castle was built; it was already an important market town by the 12th century. Indications of its former wealth and importance are given by the number of merchants' houses built in the 16th and 17th centuries. Totnes is a quaint little town, they had an Elizabethan market and we spent about two hours exploring and taking photos, some of which I've shared with you in the slide show below.
Soon it was time to make our way to the river to board our boat for a 90 minute cruise on the River Dart to Dartmouth.
It was a cool day but it was bright and wasn't raining so views of the riverbanks were good and stunning.
One of the historical sights we saw on the cruise was Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), which is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and previous students lived in two wooden hulks moored in the River Dart. Since 1998, BRNC has been the sole centre for Royal Naval officer training.
We passed the little village of Stoke Gabriel situated on a creek of the River Dart. The village is a popular tourist destination in the South Hams and is famous for its mill pond and crab fishing (known colloquially as crabbing).
Another place of interest on the River Dart is Greenway, the holiday home of the famous author Agatha Christie and her family. You can read about it here.
Eventually we docked in Dartmouth, where we had an hour to have a look around and get some lunch. We chose a lovely little pub called The Crab and Bucket where we had delicious fresh crab sandwiches and a pint of a local ale called Devon Dumpling.
We then had a walk around the town
before climing aboard the foot ferry for the short journey over the river to Kingswear, where we boarded the steam train for the journey to Paignton, where our coach was waiting to transport us back to Torquay in time for dinner at the hotel.
We had a great day and saw a lot, hope you enjoyed it too.
I hope you'll join me next time for Torquay - Part 2.
24 comments:
What a fun post! Most enjoyable-
We have a Dartmouth in New England. YOU showed me the river Dart! Now the name has a meaning. very cool.
Aloha from Waikiki, my dear
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
Thank you foe this and I look forward to hearing about Torquay itself which I am considering visiting.
Lovely. I can wait to see more!
I remember cursing in Dartmouth because I hadn't got a decent camera so thank you for sharing yours.
Happy to help Cloudia xx
I hope you won't be disappointed with Torquay Jenny, I have to say I was unfortunately.
Glad you enjoyed it Melanie :)
I hope it brought back memories for you Valerie x
Mmmmmm. Crab sandwiches.
Totnes looks lovely. It all looks pretty good. I've not really explored much of Devon so this is a good chance to have a look round with you.
what fun .. and what a lovely part of the country .. and a train.. how perfect for your wonderful man!
Looks lovely. I miss England!
I know Totnes well andhave done that Dartmouth cruise with Pip - glad you had such a good time!
what a lovely spot to tour. very nice indeed. oh, and i might have known there would be a train in the trip! ha ha ha
smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoox
Totnes was lovely and so was Dartmouth AJ :)
Oh the train trip was a deciding factor when we booked the trip Daryl!
I can understand you missing Blighty Dumdad but you live in a lovely part of the world too. :)
We really enjoyed the cruise Flowerpot.
Of course there had to be a train to keep MWM happy Bee LOL
I love the classic train
As always, I so enjoy these pictorial posts!
I loved seeing the people dressed in the Elizabethan costumes in the first set of photos. And also Greenway, where Agatha Christie lived. How cool is that!
Thank you so much for sharing, m'
dear! Thoroughly enjoyed!
What a lovely country you live in.
Looking forward to part 2!
X
We did too Adam :)
The times of Henry VIII and Elizabeth the first are my favourite times in history ron so coming upon that Elizabethan market was so exciting for me. I count myself fortunate to live in this wonderful country, there are so many historical, interesting and beautiful places to see. :)
I loved the pictures, how lucky to be there on Market Day. I so enjoy all of your trips.
lovely post and lovely memories.
I love walking into places where writers have been It makes you feel wonderful knowing you sat on a chair someone famous once sat it.
the town is so charming!!
relaxing and pretty
loved all the photos
We have wonderful scenery in this country. It is such a pity that we do not always have the weather to show it at its' best.
Ys the market was an unexpected bonus BankerChick :)
Thanks Lady's Life.
Totnes is a really pretty town Dianne, glad you enjoyed it.
Oh I so agree with you Cheshire Wife, on both counts.
Now that was a full day of seeing the sites.
That most definitely looks like MY kind of trip - coach, train, boat and history of all kinds! Oh, and let's not forget the old castle ... A.D. 907 - wow!!
What a wonderful trip. I agree with Linda about the boat and the train and the history. Torquay and Dartmouth, both names from history which have sparked my imagination for years. I'd love to take this same trip when we visit Britain.
K
So lovely! You should do a book with all your amazing pictures!
I don't get why BR felt they had to stop running steam trains..? Why couldn't they keep the odd one going just to make Britain more of a tourist attraction?
It's not like modern British trains are ANY FASTER let's face it! The Mallard used to go 120mph which is about as rapid as any British train today... except, embarrassingly enough, the train to bloody France ~ the only true high speed line we've got!
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