What do Agatha Christie and Dartmoor Ponies have in common? Well, normally I would imagine the mystery writer and Dartmoor ponies would have very little in common, but yesterday they both featured in a family reunion of sorts… As you may have read, I have been tracing my ancestry and some of my distant cousins decided ever …
Glorious Steam Train Travel! Being a lover of the Victorian era, it is not surprising that I adore steam trains… Yesterday, I went via regular train from Torquay to the next stop being Paignton where I boarded the Dartmouth Railroad’s “Braveheart” steam train, bound for Kingswear, then across by ferry to Dartmouth. Lunch beside the river …
What an extraordinary day! As you may know, I have been tracing my ancestry and one of the reasons I came to stay in Devon for a couple of months is to investigate and actually (hopefully) find the grave of a particular ancestor and the church in which the family worshipped. The photo on the …
The Forgotten Torquay Pavilion Sleeping peacefully on the shore in Torquay, Devon in the United Kingdom is a once magnificent building – the Torquay Pavilion. Although it has been closed since 2015, this Sleeping Beauty has thus far had a very checkered life, first as a theatre, then an ice-skating rink, amusement park and shopping arcade… Built …
I had a most delightful conversation yesterday with a lovely waitress at one of my ‘local watering holes’ where I eat, drink and work. She is a beautiful young woman of twenty-five – and when we were joking about her being a quarter of a century, she was astonished when I told her I was …
Roma, here I come! Well, note quite yet, but my First Class rail tickets just arrived by courier today and I must admit I am very excited. This will be the first overnight rail journey I have ever taken in Europe and I will be travelling from Vienna, Austria to Rome, Italy. I finally and …
What a FABULOUS day!!! Road trip from Torquay through Paignton, Chirston, Kingsweir, Dartmouth, Slaptop, Stokeham, Chillington, Charleton, Frogmore and Salcombe.
Staying in the Prince of Wales’ own suite! Have you heard of Lillie Langtry? Perhaps if I said she was in a relationship with the Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VII and who built Langtry Manor for her – or perhaps if I told you she was the face of Pears Soap? But …
A visit to Hastings Castle is not only interesting from an historical stand-point, it is also a tribute to the people who essentially uncovered it from being largely buried for centuries. While there is not a lot left of the Castle itself, what is there, and the video that has been put together, are definitely …
