We'll be arriving home in just 4 weeks - hard to believe. There was a lot of rain overnight and the wind was very strong but no signs of damage and all seemed to be OK for us to travel. Because Bruce was feeling poorly we decided to head straight for Princetown in the Dartmoor National Park so that we could both have a quiet afternoon, unfortunately Merilyn's cough also seems to be coming back. Of course it didn't work out that way. Morning tea in very busy Falmouth, lunch in not quite so busy Liskead and then on to Buckland Abbey where we learnt quite a lot about a former owner, Sir Francis Drake. It had been an abbey in the 15th Century but was another victim of King Henry's closure law in the C16 and had fallen into disrepair until it was given to a 'loyal servant' by the King, who repaired it and turned it into a home. Not long afterword's it was bought by Francis Drake who had amassed a fortune as a captain/pirate attacking Spanish ships on his boat Golden Hind. Most of the fortune went to Queen Elizabeth 1, who said thanks very much and gave Drake enough money to buy and extensively renovate Buckland Abbey. She also knighted him. We walked through many rooms, watched a video and saw many interesting historical items, including Drake's Battle Drum and a Rembrandt Painting valued at 30 million pound! Before we knew it, it was heading towards 5 o'clock, raining steadily, blowing an absolute gale and we still had to get to Princetown and find Tor Royal farm, our B&B - so much for the quiet afternoon!
And when we found the Tor Royal Farm, boy were we pleasantly surprised. It was down the end of Tor Royal Lane and although we entered by the back door it was most impressive. Just the walled courtyard where we parked 'impressed' with a tall belltower as part of the wall, guarded by two 'Hounds of the Baskervilles' statues. After signing in, beneath a high glass ceiling dome, we followed the owner upstairs, we were in an attic room of course, to our lovely furnished, quite spacious room with views across the farm to the high moors beyond. On reading the notes supplied we found out that owners are actually tenant farmers and that the owner of the land, and much more around, is none other than Prince Charles - how about that! We are wondering what we will do if the Prince and Duchess are at breakfast tomorrow.
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| Buckland Abbey |
The house was built in the late 1700 by a man who was secretary to the Duchey of Cornwall and who had a dream that the whole region could turned to agriculture. He was also the architect of Princetown and the Tor Royal property became the Devon base for the Arabian Stud of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. We will be having breakfast in the room which was originally part of the Royal Suite. Tor Royal is still a large working farm and we hope to explore it tomorrow - if it stops raining.
Sunday 22nd October
Late start, great breakfast in the lovely dining room - we are the only guests at present, and then back to our room for a quiet morning - we are both a bit below par today. Not raining but very windy and cold outside. A below par lunch in Princetown did not lift the spirits much - 25 mins to serve just warm soup of the day with cold bread and we had to ask for butter. Also a dog was sick under a nearby table - the English take dogs everywhere and I don't think inside eating places is such a good idea. In the pub tonight a man stood at the bar with 3 spaniels and the waiters had to walk around them as they moved in and out of the kitchen - Bruce being grumpy again. We learned more about the Dartmoor National Park in the excellent Information Centre and then decided to go on a circular drive to see more of the country. Because of the extremely strong cold wind we decided we would not get out of the car and should be back in our warm room in about 1.5 hours. It did not quite work out that way. Because of the poor map, many unmarked roads, and missing small signs hidden by large branches we became 'geographically embarrassed ' several times and ended up seeing much more of Dartmoor than we had anticipated. Consequently on returning to Princetown about 5.15 we decided to have an early tea at the pub so we would not have to come out again. We really did enjoy the wildness of the high country, saw lots of ponies, many granite Tors, and very deep river gullies. We were surprised at the numbers enjoying the outdoors on such a cold day. Lots of white water canoeists on the fast flowing Dart River, cyclists, and of course heaps of people walking, many with dogs, on the tracks to the Tors. It was 9C outside the car, and with the wind factor must have felt like 5C, yet there they were, some even in shorts. They are indeed a hardy lot.
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