With a November visit on the horizon, we thought it was high-time we took the Chauvin's to experience the great English countryside and decided upon a small old village in Devon bang in the heart of Dartmoor National Park and oh, my word was it something!
And so here we arrived in the pastoral village of North Bovey which consists of a handful of lovely thatched roof cottages a small village green dotted with old oak trees and a 15th Century parish church...
...with some wonky ancient tombstones and an old coaching inn the "Ring of Bells" where you have to duck your head to get through the door and discover the delicious Otter Ale!
...stepping stones over a babbling stream...
...and our cottage the lovely 'Moorland Views',
no numbers, just names and how nice is that!
The countryside in Devon is quite simply breathtaking and on one particular and memorable day we drove onto the moor plateau to take a bracing walk and find a mysterious and legendary place called 'Whistmans Wood'. The word is that it looks like a scene straight out of Lord of the Rings (and it sort of does) but in reality it is of course much more than that. Whistmans Wood is a 6,000 year old isolated copse of stunted -and very gnarled -oak trees covered in primal mosses and lichen. Apparently the Pagan's used the mysterious wood to hold their ancient rituals!
Getting there was a little bit testing for the Smalls who was struggling to stay warm. But when we arrived at the sheltered wood it was all alright!
The wood is so scraggly you could easily lose a Honey or two!
And so the walk back may never be filled with the same anticipation...
...at least you can get the grandparents to help carry the baggage!
So, how do you summarize such a great trip when you do so much and the above notwithstanding? Well, Olive spent plenty of time organizing the fridge:
Dad and daughter took their first (cold) walk on a beach:
Olive monopolised the umbrella and let Pepe get wet on his brief stroll to the pub:
Visit a local castle or two:
(Castle Drogo)
And as always, the cheeky Smolive's endearing ability to applaud herself whenever possible!
Perfect!
Pooh Bear!
