We thought we’d said our final farewell to our son and his girlfriend when we left Ely just over two weeks ago. But, when we arrived at this current house sit and the owner said we could have guests if we’d like, I mentioned this to our son and their train tickets were booked a few hours later.

They were to arrive in Exeter at 5.15pm on Friday, so Mick and I headed off to ensure we were there in plenty of time. Thankfully, their train was spot on time.

The drive back to Chagford in the twilight, fast descending into blackness, gave them both a bit of a fright – neither of them had been to this area before.

First stop was the Ring O’Bells Inn, where we were lucky to find a table with the Friday evening crowd growing in preparation for dinner and a band that was to commence at 9pm. Mick was also keen to stop at the Three Crowns to shout our guests one of his favourite ales – Proper Job. I then drove us home for a beef curry and an apple crumble I’d prepared earlier.

We had a program of activities planned for Saturday and luckily the weather was clear, at least at the start of the day. Before we could depart on our adventure though, we had to feed the animals and take the dog for his walk. Our guests loved the walk in the woods and the countryside around the property where we are currently staying.

Around 10.00am, we headed off towards Yelverton, through Dartmoor National Park, passing this clapper bridge at a small hamlet called Postbridge.

This bridge was first recorded in the 14th century, but the bridge is believed to have been built in the 13th century to enable pack horses to cross the river, carrying tin to the stannary town of Tavistock.

Mick and I had been on this road a couple of times before and our next stop was Two Bridges, where we planned to have morning tea.

 

We stopped at this hotel and ordered a couple of scones to share with our coffees.

We had a lecture here from the waitress about how to say the word ‘scone’ correctly. We agreed with her in order to be polite, but continued to pronounce them the way we had done for decades when she was not in ear shot!!

Our son is interested in taxidermy, and has several (disgusting) specimens in his collection, and was interested to observe these classic examples displayed around the hotel.

Feeling satiated, we continued on through Princetown towards Yelverton. Our guests were very surprised by the sheep and ponies roaming freely on the moors, sharing the roads with cars, cyclists and walkers.

We then turned around and returned to Warren House Inn, (the pub owned by Prince Charles) where Mick and I had enjoyed a morning tea on a previous occasion. Our plan was to go for a walk on the moors in order to work up an appetite before having lunch at the inn.

By this stage, the early effects of Storm Ciara were being felt.

The winds had increased and the wind chill factor seriously affected our son and Mick who had not come prepared with the correct clothes.

The views were stunning though and the clouds made for a beaut backdrop to the rolling lands.

The plan for a 40 minute walk did not eventuate, because after about 15 minutes, Mick and our son (who were both freezing) offered to return and grab a table for the four of us for lunch. But us girls decided we could push on, having come prepared with wellington boots and thick coats.

And, we were not disappointed, spotting several stone walled areas on the moors, obviously used to corral the sheep and the ponies from time to time.

I loved this shot of Mick and our son trying hard to get back to the pub as quickly as they could. Can you spot them?

Although there was no need to rush to get a table, they did their job as promised and found us a table, not beside the fire, as they were all taken, but near a window and a radiator – which was much appreciated. Sadly, the meals were not brilliant at all, but those who had a Black Tor – Pride of Dartmoor Ale (ABV 4.0%) with their meal, seemed to enjoy them.

What we did really enjoy during our meal was the piano playing by this gentleman. He was very good indeed and played lots of old favourites. I can’t remember the last time we experienced that.

We then returned home to take the dog for his long walk for the afternoon, and later headed back into Chagford to watch the Rugby at The Globe Inn. While Mick did not get the chance to try out the rocking chair he’d spotted on a previous visit, our son’s girlfriend took the opportunity to try it out right in front of the open fire.

We left at half time because the winds from Storm Ciara were becoming pretty fierce, and enjoyed some homemade rissoles and vegetables for dinner, as well as our first ever bottle of English white wine – a gift from our son’s girlfriend as she’d heard Mick comment he really wanted to try some, but that he thought it was too expensive. How thoughtful!

Mick loved it – the best white wine ever, even at only 11.5%, but we knew nothing of the grape variety or varieties. However, Mick thought it tasted like a (smooth) sauvignon blanc.

We had a later night with lots of discussion and a bottle of French red wine or two as well, before heading to bed while the wind was rattling every window in the house. The noise from the wind made sleeping pretty difficult, but that was not the worst of it. On Sunday morning, we decided we should drive into Exeter early to ensure there was plenty of time for them to catch their train(s) back to Ely. We said our final farewells (again) and I drove Mick and myself back to our house sit. We arrived to text messages saying trains had been cancelled and there was every chance they would not make it back to Ely at all by Sunday evening. I had packed them some sandwiches and a few little snacks which came in handy as they waited for delayed trains, then caught different trains once their train was cancelled. It was a long and worrying day for them (and thousands of other commuters in the UK).

Luckily they made it home by 8.30pm, two and a half hours late, but thankful to be safe in Ely.