Weymouth

Lots of sunshine today but still a really cold wind off the sea. Hardy souls were braving the water but not me. Kids looked like they were loving the donkey rides and there was even a Punch & Judy show on the beach.

Got the scenic local bus to Portland and had a look at the Olympic sailing village and then on the bus to the Portland Bill......a lighthouse at the end of the headland.
Enjoyed a wander around the working port of Weymouth with lots of little lanes and busy fishing boats coming and going.

Best bus ride on the south coast

From Exeter we took the local bus along the south coast to Weymouth. This is a great bus ride through all the small seaside towns, across lovely countryside and we met some great locals who gave us tips for our onward travels. The journey took about 4hrs but it was lovely. We loved Beer, Seaton, Lyme Regis, West Bay and Abbotsbury. Lots of thatched cottages and great views along the coast and  Chesil beach.

Lovely Exeter

A sunny morning after the torrential rain of yesterday. Train to Exeter. Loved the old town and the relaxed feel. One shop sign summed up the locals frustration with the weather. Found some old Alms houses being restored, really interesting place to visit.

Torquay

No pictures, torrential rain, cold cold wind off the ocean. We saw signage saying 'Riviera of the South Coast' .....yesterday was much more 'river' than Riviera. Walked into town in our raincoats but the weather was so bad we got a taxi back.  Dont go to the Bull & Bush in Belgrade road.....dirty tables that needed a good wipe down and filthy upholstry on the chairs.  Not much more to say about Torquay.

More pics from Dartmoor and Plymouth

Plymouth and Dartmoor

They say fish and family go off after three days so time to move south west to Plymouth.  Caught the national express bus from Bristol to Plymouth and were met by Gaham's cousin and husband. We had a whisle stop tour of the port and old town area and whilst it was raining and getting late it looked like a great wee town/waterfront to explore the next day.

Yay, the next morning the rain had stopped and our new intrepid guide took is up to Dartmoor via Yelverton.  We had a wonderful walk on high moore and explored the standing stones, the tors and the majestc scenery.

Very, very beautiful, would be gorgeous on a hot sunny day. We had a bit of rain and wind but  it just reminded us of some of our walks back home.  We were really impressed by the engineering of the leats, the ancient water channels all across Dartmoor.

Castle Combe

But wait,  there's more. Our wonderful host and intrepid guide took us to Castle Combe, a small English village. Its been voted 'the pettiest village in England' and you can see why, its delightful. They used this village as the village in the War Horse movie.  All sorts of rules I imagine about keeping it lovely, not hanging your washing in the front garden or having a ding dong with the neighbours. Very peacful.