Lymington is on the edge of the New Forest. The New Forest was established by Royal Charter in about 1069. Obviously they’d run out of interesting names; or perhaps they didn’t think about future-proofing the name. Anyway it was originally established as a Royal Hunting Ground. Luckily this has meant the relative preservation of a now unique habitat. It was also the source of the Royal Navy’s oak timbers for ship-building until they moved […]
I‘ve already mentioned that Beaulieu is small and relatively quiet but there’s a surprising amount to see and do. Boating up river The water does get shallow quickly but if you have a tender with outboard, kayak or even a stand up paddle board then you can pootle up river all the way to Beaulieu village at the top of the tide. There is a public mooring available on the right hand riverbank (as you […]
It’s not a surprise that there’s a lot to do near Yarmouth. The Needles is a well known UK landmark and tourism in some shape or form has been around since Queen Victoria built Osborne House. An open top bus operates frequently and follows a circular route from Yarmouth to Freshwater Bay to the Needles and the amusement park before looping back to Yarmouth. If you’d prefer to stretch your legs then there are plenty […]
Salcombe is a playground for all manner of outdoor activities both on and off the water. I left with the impression that pretty much anything is possible. We restricted ourselves to water-related activities this time but I’ve included here things I’d like to do when I next visit. Beaches There are plenty of beaches and coves to play in both in Salcombe, South Pool and up towards Kingsbridge. We went to South Sands and to the coves […]
There are plenty of seaside related things to do at Fowey with the usual water, beach and walking activities. Fowey is also a place for artists. Daphne du Maurier lived here and there’s now an annual literary festival. Trip up river to Leryn The river is navigable up to Lostwithiel and Leryn at high tide. Leryn is famous for being the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows. In my world, it’s also famous for […]
The last full day of our holiday. We avoided this by sneaking in one last trip. Turning our back on Falmouth Bay we went upriver. We knew that you could, in a smaller boat than ours, get all the way to Truro. We’d settle for less than that. I’d wanted to climbi the trees at Trelissick so the first plan was to sail and anchor in the bay off Trelissick. As usual plans change. We […]
We woke to bright sunshine and a gentle breeze. The perfect day for a sail. We’d wanted to sail from Falmouth to the Scilly Islands but the timings and longer term weather forecast didn’t work out for us. Instead we sailed the 8 nautical miles to the Helford River that is West of Falmouth. We’d rounded Black Rock and set sail. Then I saw breaking waves to port. It seemed strange on such a perfect sailing day to see […]
What with the eating, drinking, reading and fettling we only managed to get to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. £11 gets you an adult ticket which is valid for a year so if you’re intending to go back represents good value for money and supports the charity. For a day trip it’s about what I’d expect to pay to get to any museum or gallery so, for me, it didn’t seem unreasonable. The museum is set […]
On Land 