Moor to Come

Bright and early New Years Day Russ and I set out on our Devon holiday. A 3.5hr drive and we were amongst the moors, keeping an eye out for those mysterious black panthers.. We stayed in a small village called Brentor, just north east of Tavistock. A really beautiful little place, perfect for isolating yourself for a while, with no phone and no service. Though this isolation was a hot topic amongst previous visitors in the guest book of the cottage we stayed in.

The weather wasn't on our side, though we made the most of what we got - think West Coast, New Zealand. The countryside actually felt very familiar too. With the fine spells, we made sure we took a walk up to an amazing little church atop Brent Tor (hence the name of the village). The church, St. Michael's, is over 800 years old and is still used for services in the summer months, for those who don't mind the climb. It is a focal point of the area in general as it can be seen from miles away.

Dartmoor, the moor of the area, is famous for a number of things, including the Sherlock Holmes film, Hound of the Baskervilles. We set off to find the famous rock circle, and in the process came across some absolutely stunning scenery, ancient buildings, including a pub in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and wild horses... Wanting to test Russ' allergy to horses for the following day, we stopped by a group of these Dartmoor Ponies (known by Kiwis as a type of Shetland Pony). They were surprisingly friendly and apparently quite hungry, as they tried to eat the car and Russ...

Tavistock was a lovely little town. I'm still always surprised when I see a town full of ancient buildings. Not ancient by New Zealand's standards (about 200yrs), I'm talking more than 5 or 6 hundred years old! Full of quaint churches and cottages. I was also listening carefully for the West Country accent I've been told all about. I did hear a few but I think you need to go further west into Cornwall for the full-blown pirate-esque accents. In Tavistock we were doing a lap of the high street and happened across Ellis' Bakery... Funny for so many reasons... We didn't really speak to the lady inside regarding the Ellis history as I think she thought we were a bit odd hanging around the shop as we did.

Our last day Russ and I spent some time doing our own thing, mostly because of Russ' allergy to horses. I'd seen a card for some stables in a nearby town, Mary Tavy, and just had to get out there for a ride on the moors. There were about 15 of us on the horses - I was given one called Rocky - a tempermental horse I found. He wouldn't do what I wanted and he refused to get his feet wet, so would walk right around the outside of puddles where he could. We were probably quite well matched actually... :o) We were out for an hour, and although I only got to do a little bit of trotting, the staff were really helpful the whole way. I would definitely recommend a ride at the Cholwell Stables.

On our way home we decided to stop in another small village, Sourton, where we'd noticed some bizarre architecture. We stopped to take some photos of what looked like the boot of the old woman who lived in a shoe, as well as some type of carriage and house with boat-like features. Our curiosity got the better of us and we decided to look around inside. On entering we hadn't quite prepared ourselves for what we were about to see... It's called the Highwayman Inn, and is still a pub in use. There are lots of little corners and dens full of stuffed animals, lanterns, amazing shaped pieces of tree, and countless other treasures. You really do have to see it to believe it. It is the creation of a man and his wife, letting their imaginations run wild... It's a must see if you're driving down that way. Check out the link on here to find out a bit more about the Highwayman Inn... http://www.thehighwaymaninn.net/history/history.html

Now we are back in Fleet, preparing ourselves for the big move to London!