After 3 days tramping and tubing through London, we’d had about all we could handle of the big city noise and bustle. Picking up the wee rental car at Heathrow, we were off to The South.
Our first stop was my pick – a brief visit to Down House where I could pay homage to Charles Darwin. Down House, for those who don’t know, was the family home for much of the time Darwin was researching, writing and raising a family. It was really quite a thrill for me to walk the paths he walked and to wander through the rooms of the house and his study where he worked.
As a sidebar, I had thought of visiting the grave of Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-developer of the Theory of Evolution - he was buried not far from Bournemouth, but we were not headed quite in that direction, so I gave that one a pass.
We continued on to Eastbourne, right on the English Channel. Our main activity for the day was a several-hour hike on the South Downs Way. Most of this was along hills and dales across the tops of high chalk cliffs bordering the seacoast. It was a windy day, but nice, nonetheless, and we had a good hike. Took the bus back but still quite a walk to where we had left the car.
En route the next day was Stonehenge (significant but not so impressive – somehow I’d expected it all to be bigger), Salisbury Cathedral (quite impressive and VERY old – we’re talking 1200s here) and Old Wardour Castle ruins (driving madly along narrow country roads to get there before closing time).
Our sunny Wednesday was spent driving 2-3 hours down into Cornwall. The highlight of the day was Glendurgan Gardens where we strolled in the warm sunshine through a 25-acre estate of magnificent trees and flowering shrubs. The sounds and smells were wonderful and I’m sure the photos won’t do it justice.
We found a nice campground later in the afternoon (after rejecting a rather scruffy one we came to first…) and enjoyed a traditional English pub supper at The Halfway House on the A394 between Helston and Long Downs. Good ale, good food and fast internet.
Another quite nice day dawned, although misty and foggy for the first bit. We headed towards Penzance (thanks Gilbert & Sullivan) and Trengwiegan Gardens just outside town. After that, we headed back a few miles to hike over a causeway to St Michael’s Mount – an old, restored castle on a rocky island just offshore. Very interesting and definitely an excellent location for a castle. We finished off the day with a quick drive down to Land’s End and then back to our campground to recover. Land’s End, by the way, is the southernmost point in England on the mainland.
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