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Wednesday, 28 October 2020

I have been to ... Tiverton, Devon ... again!

When London was put into the Tier 2 COVID-19 alert level, Sue and I decided that if there was a chance that London might be moved up to Tier 3 before Christmas, we would go away for a long weekend whilst we could still travel. Unfortunately, as it is the week when many schools are taking their half-term holidays, the choice of places we could book at short notice was limited ... but Tiverton Castle did have some room. Furthermore, because we were returning so soon after our last visit, they offered us a discount on the cost.


Friday 23rd October: Tiverton

We set off by car at 11.00am ... and finally reached Tiverton at 4.45pm. The journey should have taken about four hours (including time for a comfort break), but a combination of roadworks, bad weather (i.e. torrential rain), and heavy traffic delayed our arrival. We were greeted by the owner’s wife, who gave us our keys and a very welcome coffee and walnut cake ... which we ate with a much-needed, refreshing cup of tea.

Suitably refreshed, we unpacked and settled in to our apartment, which forms part of the Castle’s wall. Sue and I decided to go out for dinner, and after a short walk into the centre of the town, we were able to eat in the Tiverton Steakhouse. We had eaten in this restaurant during our last visit to Tiverton, and enjoyed our meals there so much that it was a no-brainer to go there again.

Saturday 24th October: Exeter and Tiverton

Overnight, the weather took a turn for the worse, and by the time we had eaten breakfast, the rain was very heavy. We had planned to go to Killerton - a National Trust property between Tiverton and Exeter - after visiting the Marsh Barton area of Exeter, but as we were driving to Killerton from Exeter, the rain became torrential. Knowing that the distance between the car park and the main building was about a quarter of a mile, we knew that we would get soaked if we persisted with our planned visit ... so we returned to Tiverton to have lunch.

We bought some readymade rolls from a local bakery, and spent the early afternoon keeping warm and dry in our apartment. By 3.00pm, the rain has stopped, and Sue and I decided to go for a walk into Tiverton town centre. we had just reached the Pannier Market when it began to rain again. we did some shopping in several of the local shops before returning the the Castle.

During our walk back, we took a short detour up Castle Street to look at the local Masonic Centre.

Almost opposite is a plaque that explained that the alley leading from Castle Street to Tiverton Castle was known locally as Hippopotamus Court. This is a corruption of its original name - Hit and Miss Alley - and was the location of the tiltyard used by the. Castle’s garrison.

Tiverton Castle was one of ‘the ruins Cromwell knocked about a bit' during the English Civil War, and it was never repaired afterwards. Instead, it became a family home, and during the Georgian era a new house was built inside the grounds. Some parts of the original castle still exist, and these can be seen in the following photographs.

It was raining so hard at 7.00pm that we drove into the centre of Tiverton to have dinner for the second night running at the Tiverton Steakhouse.

For our main courses, Sue had Dover Sole and I ate Chicken Chasseur, and we followed that with Carrot Cake and Apple Pie.

We returned home after dinner, and spent the rest of the evening reading, resting, and watching TV.

Sunday 25th October: Exmouth and Exeter

Having gained an extra hour due to the clocks going back at the end of British Summer Time, Sue and I hoped that the change would be marked by a general improvement in the weather ... and it was! We awoke to find the sun shining, and decided that we would visit Exmouth.

Sue and I set off after breakfast, and reached Exmouth at 11.20am. There was plenty of space in the town centre car park, and we spent the next hour wandering around.

We then drove to the seafront ... which was surprisingly crowded. There seemed to be more people on the beach than there had been during our last visit, and we discussed the possibility of staying in Exmouth for lunch.

Sue and I had a short walk along the Esplanade, ...

... from where we could see three cruise liners at anchor on the other side of the estuary.

During our walk, the sky began to darken quite rapidly, and it soon became apparent that it was going to rain. Rather than stay in Exmouth and get wet, Sue and I decided to go to central Exeter. The drive took about forty-five minutes, and we had no difficulty parking in the Princesshay Car Park.

We stayed in central Exeter for nearly three hours, and besides doing some serious retail therapy, we ate an excellent lunch in the local branch of the Zizzi chain of Italian restaurants. It is situated in Gandy Street, just off the High Street.

We also had the opportunity to take a look at Exeter Cathedral, which is currently undergoing some restoration work.

On our drive back to Tiverton, it began to get dark, and the rain we had avoided in Exmouth caught up with us. By the time we reached Tiverton Castle, the rain was torrential, and we had to dash from the car to our front door to ensure that we were not soaked. We then spent the rest of the afternoon reading and resting.

Because we had eaten a big lunch, Sue and I only had a snack for our evening meal. This meant that we did not have to go out to eat ... which was probably just as well, as the weather had remained wet and windy.

Monday 26th October: Tiverton and Wellington

It was sunny when we awoke, but it looked as if it had been raining. After breakfast, Sue and I paid a visit to the Pannier Market in Tiverton.

Monday is the day of the week when half of the market is turned over to the sale of second-hand and antique articles, and we had an interesting time looking at what was on sale. I considered buying a copy of WITH THE FLAG TO PRETORIA, but it was not in very good condition and I decided that it was overpriced.

It began to rain just after we left the Market, and we sheltered from the rain in several of the local shops. Once it had stopped, we explored parts of the town we had not seen before. It was whilst we were doing this that the hospital telephoned me with the results of my recent colonoscopy. I took the call whilst sitting in a small garden just off the town’s main shopping street, where there was a small memorial that had been erected by the Burma Star Association.

The news rather took the wind out of my sails, and we returned home to Tiverton Castle for a drink and a chat about what to do.

In the end, we decided that rather than sit in our apartment thinking about the results, it would be better to go out somewhere. After a quick look at a map of Devon and. Somerset, we chose to go to Wellington. We  drove there across country using mainly B-class roads ... which proved ‘interesting’! (Some of the roads were only just wide enough for one vehicle. Luckily, we did not meet any other vehicles coming in the other direction.)

Wellington was relatively deserted, and many of the businesses were closed.

Sue and I made our way to Wellington Park, where there was a rather unusual war memorial to the dead of the two World Wars.

After looking for somewhere to eat lunch, we ended up in a local pub called - appropriately - The Iron Duke.

We struggled a bit with the ‘order your food and drink using the app’, but we persisted ... and ended up with exactly what we wanted! The food was better than we expected, and we were struck by the excellent COVID-secure environment.

The sun was shining as we drove home, and after our earlier cross-country journey, we used the M5 and A361 to get back to Tiverton. We arrive back at the Castle just before 4.15pm, just as it was beginning to get dark. We stayed there reading and resting until it was time to go out for dinner. For our last night in Tiverton, we returned to the Branzino Italian Restaurant.

Sue and I both ate pizza, and then walked back to the Castle to do some packing before watching TV until it was time to go to bed.

Tuesday 27th October: Going home

We had packed our car by 10.00am, and after a short diversion to fill up with petrol at a local filling station, we set off for home. It rained almost all the way home, and this affected the time it took us to get back. (A four-hour journey took slightly more than five hours.) We managed to take a short comfort break at Weyhill Services on the A303, but the main delays were due to restricted visibility because of the heavy rain, roadworks in the Amesbury/Stonehenge area, and to heavy traffic between Junctions 3 and 2 on the M25 approach to the Dartford Crossing.

16 comments:

  1. Hi Bob,
    Excellent travel-log (Certainly enjoyed reading all your story and viewing your splendid photos)- seems as though you've had a great relaxing time away despite the torrential rain. We were in the UK around April-May of 2015 and it DID rain practically every day on our Coach Tour! Once back in London I ended up with a bad case of the Flue- Pneumonia and was taken to St Thomas Hospital by the Paramedics. I didn't feel thored out until we later arrived in sunny Budapest. Best Wishes. KEV.

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    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      When it rained, it really rained! No short showers; just downpours interspersed with periods of sunshine.

      It sounds as if you visited the UK during one of our wetter periods ... and those can occur at any time during the year. Being taken to St Thomas’s at least meant that you were dealt with by one of the UK’s best NHS hospitals. I know it well, as I was born less than a quarter of a mile from it.

      I am very envious as I hope to visit Budapest one day.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Hi Bob,
      Yes, we cruised the Rhine from Budapest to Amsterdam on board the 'Scenic Jasper'- a fabulous journey and well recommended- we were at Colone on my Birthday which was something special during the cruise. Our journey through the UK was via Coach 'Trafalgar Tours'- we visited England, Scotland and Wales over 15 Days travelling - just superb and very impressive. We saw where my 'Clan' originated at 'Loch Rannock'...very special memories there. Best Wishes. KEV.

      Delete
    3. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      We have looked at doing a river cruise, but as Sue doesn’t like flying, we have got to find one that is a combined rail/cruise holiday.

      Fifteen days to do England, Wales, and Scotland! Now that is some tour!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. Replies
    1. Jonathan Freitag,

      Cheers! I am pleased that you enjoyed my travelogue.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Certainly a nice weekend away for you both before the seemingly inevitable big lockdown hits. Here in Bristol we've gone to Tier 1+, but it is expected it will be Tier 2 come the weekend:(

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    Replies
    1. Steve J.,

      We had a great time, despite the rain!

      Coming from London, we had to maintain Tier 2 precautions whilst we were away, even though where we were staying was in Tier 1. They are irksome at times, but necessary.

      Stay safe and stay well,

      Bob

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  4. I enjoyed reading about your trip away, most interesting.

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    Replies
    1. Tradgardmastare,

      It is a very interesting part of the country to visit, even though getting there takes longer than we would like.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. An excellent travelogue as always! I think you're right that we're about to hit Tier 3 here in London.

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    Replies
    1. Alastair,

      Thanks! I’m glad that you enjoyed it.

      The problem with London going into Tier 3 is how uneven the level of infection is across the Greater London area. I live in South East London, where the level is lower than - for example - North West London.

      Stay safe and stay well,

      Bob

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  6. Hi Bob, good luck with the CT scan and fingers are crossed that the results will be clear. It must be a very worrying time for you and Sue.

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    Replies
    1. Bob The Old Painter,

      Many thanks for your best wishes. It is a worrying time for both of us, but we try not to spend all our time thinking about what the future might or might not hold. When we know, we will face it together.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. Great post - reminded me of my last trip "home" from NZ in 2015 - we spent a morning in Exeter (the Cathedral was being renovated then, too!) looked at the Roman era city walls and went down to the harbour before driving across the moors, having clotted cream and scones in the middle of nowhere, and ending up over at Port Isaac (I think) where they filmed Doc Martin. We were heading for Bristol to spend the night but had to take a detour between Tiverton and Crediton along those narrow, winding roads, bordered on each side by eight foot hedges - seemed a bit like Normandy Bocage to me. It was all a bit like "Deliverance" in a rural English setting! I had just said "All we need now is to meet a tractor coming the other way" when....we met a bloody combine harvester! After two hours trailing around in circles, we eventually re emerged...back at Tiverton! We ended up getting on the M4 to head up to Bristol and didn't reach our hotel till about 9pm - a fun experience to look back on but we were all (had our 14 year old son and 16 year old daughter with us in a Hyundai I30) pretty knackered that night. It was blazing hot weather too - a couple of days later, it was 34 deg c in Nottingham when we were there - 21 deg at 1am in the morning - not a typical English summer! Hope all goes well with your colon issues - I have had three colonoscopy's in last 5 years - next one is not scheduled for another 5 as doctor was happy with the results back in Oct.

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    Replies
    1. Rross,

      Every cathedral seems to be under constant renovation. I have a friend who is a Clerk-of-Works for a cathedral, and he had a programme of renewal planned out for years ahead.

      The roads in parts of the West County are ‘interesting’ to say the least. The high hedges and banks are very like the bocage in Normandy, which is probably why so much D-Day training took place in the area. Getting to Wellington across country took us down some very narrow lanes, some of which had no passing points. Luckily we met nothing larger than a 4 x 4 coming the other way.

      It can get hot in the UK ... and when it does, the country cannot cope. Mind you, it’s not too good at coping with the cold, wet leaves on the railways, high winds, too much rain etc.

      Three colonoscopies in five years! Do you get some sort of ‘frequent flyer’ points? It might make up for the pre-colonoscopy purge, if nothing else!

      Thanks for your encouraging comments, I’m hoping that like you, I’ll undergo a successful programme of treatment and end up being put under long term observation.

      All the best,

      Bob

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