A BRITISH ADVENTURE-CORNWALL

For our last week in England, we head to the south and Cornwall.  Our luck continued to hold with another outstanding farm B&B.    Colcharton Farm B&B is a working cattle and sheep operation run by Ed and Lowenna and their two sons.  Ed and sons handle most of the farm operations, while Lowenna handles the B&B, plus the bookkeeping responsibilities.  Being quite a large operation at 400 acres, 300 head of cattle and 600 sheep, everyone chips in as needed.  They also grow most of the feed for the animals.  The house was originally an Elizabethan longhouse, dating back to the 16th century.  It has many of it’s original features like the granite entryway and bell pulls to summon servants.  It is surrounded by the iconic patchwork of emerald green fields separated by hedgerows and storm walls so common in England.  It was a perfect locations for us to explore some of Cornwall.  As with all the B&B’s we stayed in, we were treated like royalty and each morning served a cooked to order breakfast fit for a king and queen.  It was calving season and Ed and sons worked long hours make sure the birthing went smoothly.

THIS CALF WAS A BREACH BIRTH SO IT GOT SPECIAL CARE

One night upon returning from dinner, we rounded a curve and almost hit a wayward cow.  I quickly deduced that the cow shouldn’t be where it was and pointed it the the direction of the barn by herding it with the car.  It ambled off in the correct direction.  I reported to Ed the loose cow, and he jumped up and ran out the back door.  He later told the that the cow had actually escaped by going over the hedgerow.  I told him that if he ever paid a visit to Arizona, I could show him the way cowboys there would have saddled up and lassoed the critter.  He got a big laugh out of that.

The farm is located just outside of Dartmoor National Park an area of rolling barren hills, known as moors.  With little protection from the wind, it can at time be a dangerous place to be when the fog rolls in.  Area farmers are allowed to graze their sheep in the park and there are wild horses.  Both tend to stand in the road, thus a speed limit in the park is 40MPH.  The moors are also home to His Majesty’s Prison at Dartmoor.  Opened in 1809 it is still in operation today.  Between 1813 and 1815, about 6,500 American Sailors from the War of 1812 were imprisoned at Dartmoor.  It is said that when a prisoner escaped, he usually returned on his own because of the howling winds and cold temperatures.  There is a certain beauty to the moors, especially when the weather is good.  I rained while we were there but the fog cleared.

THIS IS A CLAPPER BRIDGE, DATING BACK TO 1380

We managed to get to some of the small coastal villages that are hidden down narrow lanes and situated where narrow canyons meet the sea.  Usually one has to park outside of the town as there is no place to park in town.  One such village is Port Isaac, a small and picturesque fishing village on the Atlantic Coast.  The town is the filming location for the British comedy, Doc Martin, so it gets lots of visitors.  With it’s narrow streets and leaning buildings, it’s fun just to wander around.

We also made it to the City of Plymouth, where there is a monument where the Pilgrims of 1620 left England for the New World.  We were looking forward to walking the old town known as the Barbican.  The way it was described with it’s cobbled street made us think it was a large area.  Not so much, and it was a disappointment with just a few blocks to explore.  We managed to entertain ourselves by walking around the Royal Citadel, a old and still in use military fort.  It and the adjacent Hoe Park are on a high headland overlooking the bay.

THE MAYFLOWER RETURNS

The last two days of our trip was back in Old Windsor, where it all started.  We were ready to go home and looking forward to driving on the correct side of the road.  We managed to return our rental car without any new damage, which was pretty amazing given the narrow roads and the crazy fast British drivers.  A few days before our flight we managed to score another upgrade which gave us access to the Club Lounge at Heathrow.  Free food and drink, what’s not to like.  At the entrance to the lounge is this stupid looking horse.  Probably something the CEO picked out.

And we had to take a bus to the plane.

An uneventful on time flight home and then the excruciating 2 hour ride in the uncomfortable shuttle bus to Prescott.  The taxi from the shuttle office to home was reminiscent of taxis I’ve taken in Spain.  Scary.  But hey it’s an adventure, right?