Salcombe North Sands & Bowringsleigh House

Another varied week; Pete back in Essex working for a few days and visiting family in the evenings and Julie helping friends with their preparation for the opening of their deli (The Salcombe Deli, Fore Street, Salcombe). The Deli should open in the coming week - we wish Mark & Sue all the very best of luck with their new business venture.

Friends Jan & Pete are staying with us for a few days and yesterday we introduced them to North Sands with drinks at the Winking Prawn. In the evening we went for drinks at Dick & Will’s and, as expected, they (i.e. Richard, Julie & Will) are doing really well – the place is busy already and looks to continue that way.

Today we went to Bowringsleigh House Gardens. The gardens are only open a couple of times a year for the benefit of RNLI – a worthy cause and well worth the £2 entrance fee. Julie may be doing some charity work for the RNLI in the coming months, helping out at the Lifeboat Station shop.

After lunch at the Avon Mill Garden Centre we went for a walk along the Avon Valley following the route of the river and the Primrose Line. The line is now dead and a public footpath follows its course. The walk is flat and, as such, suitable for novices like us, but even more so for friends that are not used to walking.

South Milton & Thurlestone Sands

A varied week for the two of us. Pete's first trip to town by train for a meeting was an experience. Three hours each way and trying to do some work on the way. You have slightly more room than on a plane, but not really enough to work comfortably - maybe first class next time.

Julie had a busy week dog walking and helping friends with some last minute tweaks to their restaurant before it opened on Friday. What with keep fit and her fit walk (walking along the SW Coastal Path and stopping along the way for some exercise on the beach) she was worn out.

We went to the second opening event of the restaurant on Saturday and it was a really successful turn-out. We wish Richard, Julie and Will all the very best with Dick & Wills.

Today we followed Julie's fit walk route starting at South Milton/Thurlestone Sands and the then on the South West Coastal Path along the edge of the Thurlestone golf course. The walk will eventually lead you to Bantham Sands - near to Burgh Island. We took some shots that included the hotel at Burgh Island (Art Deco hotel used in Poirot, etc.), but decided to go with the pictures on this page to show what the day was like.

As you can see it was another glorious day, just like the height of summer and you could easily have got a bit of a tan if you'd wanted. Next time we'll start at Bantham sands and work our way back to Warren Point, which is as far as we walked today.

Next week is another busy week for Julie as she helps other friends get their deli ready for its opening.

Sunrise over Salcombe

Today is the day we start our Blog. It will contain pictures as they are taken to highlight what we are up to down in here in Devon.

Anyone who knows Pete will know that, by now, having been in Slacombe for a few months, he has taken hundreds of photographs - some are good, some bad and most indifferent. To share these and some of his older photos he will be starting another Blog linked to this one (fingers crossed).

By way of an initiation Pete managed to get out of bed this morning (at the second attempt) and go into Salcombe town to photograph the sunrise. We both tried yesterday, but were too late; today is a different story.

The first photograph is the view you see as you drive into the town, but unless you are very early you won't see it like this. It is about 6:20 and the sun is yet to rise above the hills of East Portlemouth.

The second photograph is taken from the harbour pontoon and the third a little further along form the grounds of the Salcombe Hotel.

We hope you enjoy the content of our blog.