Last day in South Hams

Friday 

Rained most of the day, watched Le Tour de France on telly.....

(If you had wondered what happened on Wednesday .... same, rained - watched Le Tour de France ...)

Late afternoon, mist dispersed and we set off for a walk around Slapton Ley. Had a good 5 mile walk I would say and came across the Queens Arms at Slapton village. Grabbed a bite to eat with the locals. 

Saturday 

Packed up and set off before 8am to avoid carnival traffic at Kingsbridge. Made good time and had breakfast at the Picnic Park on the A303. Pity there aren't more stop offs on the A303.

Didn't look like we had had much rain at home......  Typical.......

Saunter to Salcombe.... Well, Bus and Boat .....

Thursday

Good bright day today, early start to catch the local bus to Kingsbridge. We had in mind to catch a ferry to Salcombe, but that was a little difficult as it was low tide!

But no worries, the information centre advised us to get a  bus to Salcombe and a ferry back to Kingsbridge which we did....

Salcombe was as I remembered from years back, beautiful, a lot more boat activity but still has that charm on a bright sunny day.....

We had a wander around and had lunch at Ferry Inn. Then later caught the ferry back.

Slapton Tribute

Of course Slapton Sands was the scene of a 2nd WW disaster, involving American troops training for the D-Day landings. Some 900+ Americans were killed after being caught in heavy seas by 9 E boats. 

A local man later found a sunk Sherman DD tank on the seabed and after much difficulty arranged for it to be recovered. It sits at Torcross as a tribute to the many lives lost.

Exploring the South Hams

Monday 

We had intended to walk the coast path but unfortunately we took a path that led us onto the  beach and could only be used at low tide. It was high tide!!
A change of plan was in play and we spent a few hours sat on the beach listening to the gentle sound of the waves. 

Tuesday

All in all we found it a friendly site, especially our neighbours that we named the 'puds' 
for no other reason than that they were from Yorkshire. They had been coming to the site for years (and many of the other caravaners had too) and were very informative about the area and trails. Today, we were going to follow one of their trails across a few fields to Beesands and than onto Hallsands. Ant had checked out the weather forecast, and were prepared for rain later that day. 

We set off and followed the instructions from memory, we were doing fine until we spotted a footpath that we weren't sure was going in the right direction, fortunately a local arrived from nowhere and pointed in the right direction. From then on we were on a roll and found ourselves down on Beesands Beach. 

The sea had changed dramatically from yesterday, the waves were crashing down on the shingle. A storm was looming, but we were confident we could outwit the storm and walk on to Hallsands and return to Beesands before the rain. If we had taken the coastal path back to Beesands we probably would have, but we took the inland 1 mile track back and found that some of the path was overgrown consequently ( tut tut National Trust) we had to back track onto another path which probably turned into a 2 mile walk back!!  It started to rain up on the headland but we carried on.....

At Beesands, we took refuge under a parasol for a while and then decided to have lunch at the Cricket Inn. When we stepped inside, we realised many others had the same idea....
We were shown to the last available table and had a very good meal that reflected in the price.....

We made a unanimous decision to walk the coast path back to Torcross. Thinking the storm had passed but it was yet to come....

We had several loud crashes of thunder overhead and lightening strikes, reminded me of our recent South Downs walk!!!

Start Bay Caravan and Motorhome Club site

Sunday 16th July 2017

Packed up and headed off to our main destination in the South Hams District at Stokenham near Torcross.

We passed Blackpool Sands and followed the winding coastal road to Slapton Sands, an interesting route quite narrow at times! 

We had some time to kill before we could book in at the site, and decided to park up at the Memorial Carpark on the beach.

It's stunning, 'untouched by man beauty', the sea to one side and the freshwater lake to the other. Of course, it's not really untouched by man, there is much research carried out in the area by the Field Studies Council, whereby their aim is 'to bring environmental understanding to all'.

a view of Slapton Sands and Slapton Ley Nature Reserve from the coastal path

Checked into site early, we were fortunate to get a relatively level pitch, if we had left it any later we would have been on a very sloping grass pitch!!

Decided to use the levelling blocks for the first time, Ant had no problem reversing on to them, Spot on!! 
Two things we have noticed to date that happens if the Twin is not level. 
Water level in tank effects the water pump and we have to fill it more than 25% and the 
side sliding door slides fully open, thinking about that one, maybe we could let it sit on the first stop, something to investigate next time.....

Site OK, facilities a little tired but they offer a good cream tea....



  

Putts Corner, Sidbury and Dartmouth Camping and Caravan Club

Thursday 13th July 2017 

We have stayed  at Putts Corner before and thought we would fill up at the petrol station just off the A30 at Honiton. Well blow me, it was nowhere to be seen, gone ...... oh well, that put paid to that thought.
Luckily we were not that desperate, but a shame to miss a bargain fill up. 

On to the site, a quick check in and pitch up. We had booked into the Hare&Hounds pub on the way in. It's great value. Luckily in a way as it started to drizzle a bit. Had a great scoff. Carvery. Mhmm. Back to Twin and a quick tour round the site before settling in. Touring is tiring sometimes,  Ant up early, so took advantage of  shower. We seemed to be fortunate again as later there were a few moans about tepid water. Oh well tough. Should get up. 

Friday 

Left site, Lidls then made our way to Dartmouth, used the P&R. £5 bit steep I thought. Never mind it was nice in the town and Ant didn't really remember it from before. 

Had coffee in the station cafe and a nice stroll around. 

On to Dartmouth camping and caravan site along the coast road. Again shown to pitch but what a nice surprise. Lovely big pitch in the corner, hedges 2 sides and a bit of sun. Grilled pork and salad. Couple of beers.

Next day spent a few hours on Blackpool Sands, local beach within walking distance of the camping site.