It's not often that we go away twice in quick succession; even if only for a few days each time. R's contract came to an end a couple of months ago and, whilst waiting for the paperwork to clear and the new one to start, we decided to make the most of the break. He did a few jobs around the house: taking down and repainting the iron gutters; doing some work on Bridget, and doing a bit (not nearly enough! :O) ) on the kitchen. Because he is a contractor, the cost of a holiday usually includes the amount he would have been paid if he hadn't taken that time off. If he wasn't working anyway, any holiday taken suddenly seemed cheaper, so off we went again, this time to Devon.
For a while now I had wanted to visit Agatha Christie's holiday home 'Greenway' on the River Dart near Galmpton. Our B&B was Greenway Barn, a short but picturesque walk across the fields to the estate itself. We set off bright and early on the Wednesday morning. Keeping to A and B roads, we made quite good time and decided to stop at a roadside cafe.
Brightside was a real gem of a find. Situated just outside Exeter, we initially just stopped for a coffee and to buy petrol. One look at the menu, however, and suddenly we were staying for brunch. The menu contained vegan and gluten free fare galore. R went for the full vegan breakfast and I had a vegan, GF sausage on a bun. They were delicious and, making a mental note to pop in on the way back, we set off happy and refreshed.
We arrived at the B&B in the early afternoon. We let them know that we had arrived but our room wasn't ready yet, so after a quick tour we left Bridget admiring the view, donned walking boots and set off to Greenway.
The white Georgian house was used by Christie and her husband, Max Mallowan, as a holiday home from 1938 until their deaths in 1976 and 1978. It features, under various guises, in several of her novels. I bought a copy of 'Dead Man's Folly' from the bookshop as a souvenir of our visit.
In the novel, the body is discovered in the boathouse, shown below, and the Poirot episode of the same name was filmed at Greenway.
A few photos from inside the house:
Although this looks like her writing room, Christie never actually did any writing at Greenway, treating it as a place for rest and relaxation. She would, however, read extract from her works in progress to family and friends whilst here. Apparently, her daughter, Rosalind, was always able to guess who committed the murder!
After closing time, we walked back to our B&B, stopping off en route to enjoy a picnic supper, with glorious views:
The following day, after a good night's sleep and a fortifying breakfast, we headed off for nearby Brixham, a picturesque harbour town and one of the busiest fishing ports in Britain.
The colourful houses reminded me of Bristol and we enjoyed looking at the replica of Sir Frances Drake's 'Golden Hind', although we didn't go on board.
We spent a few happy hours exploring the town. I was particularly impressed with how clean and well kempt it all was - West Berkshire Council could definitely learn a thing or two! Highlights included: a multitude of charity shops (I scored another Christie novel 'Cards on the Table' in one of them); a brilliant health food shop with cafe (excellent coffee) and a pop up yard sale, where I'm still kicking myself for not buying the small leather suitcase. I have a small collection of these that I use for storing sheet music. This one was in excellent condition and a snip at £7. I think I was concerned about having to carry it round all day ..... what on Earth was I thinking?!
We sat for a while on the harbour wall watching these small scurrying birds - are they Turnstones? Whatever they were, they were good value!
The seagull looked on in a resigned manner:
Lunch was the obligatory chippies which we ate whilst boat watching.
Dropping our stuff back in Bridget, we again put on walking boots and walked the coastal path at Berry Head:
Supper was another picnic - this time we raided the local Tesco in Brixham and bought hummus, pitta bread etc. We ate it at the picnic table in the guesthouse garden watching the sun set.
On our final day, we decided on a visit to Coleton Fishacre, an Arts and Crafts style house and garden near Kingswear. It belonged to the D'Oyly Carte family who set up a company which staged many Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
I always home in on a NT kitchen!
This was my favourite corner - a comfy armchair, surrounded by books with a handy side table for a whisk(e)y decanter!
The gardens were gorgeous and the roasted pepper soup in the cafe was delicious:
You could walk to the coastal path and lie in conveniently placed hammocks to admire the view:
We made an impulse buy of a recycled metal duck from the shop. It now sits in the garden next to a similarly made pig called Winston that we bought on a visit to Chartwell. We named her Agatha. Sorry, no photo yet.
We spent the afternoon on the beach at Man Sands. The track down was narrow, stony and quite steep. A few brave souls actually drove down, but I didn't envy them the return journey. The beach was beautiful and peaceful and I enjoyed just breathing in the sea air. I found a hag stone as a souvenir and then we climbed the mile or so back up to the carpark and set off for home.
As planned, we stopped off at the same roadside cafe that we visited on the way down. Beyond Meat burgers were enjoyed and we arrived home at about 10pm.
It was a wonderful three days and looking back, it seems like it was the end of summer. The weather has certainly taken a turn for the autumnal since then.
R has now started his new contract and the usual routine has been re-established. I'm making the most of our local lido before they close it for the winter, filling the freezer with borscht as my beetroot have gone into overdrive, and am planning a new blanket to occupy me in the forthcoming autumn evenings.
I hope things are tickety boo at your end, anything interesting to report?
Toodle pip for now. x
