He said:
Our first full day in Dartmouth, and we took full advantage of it by walking all over town seeing things and asking simple questions, like ‘when does the boat leave?’ The tourist info center was a great help in understanding what was open, and where to go in our time here. After poking around the waterfront of Dartmouth, we strolled towards the open sea along the narrow coast road. The road took us by a picture perfect cove (Bayard's Cove), and then through an old fort overhanging the River Dart. We eventually ended up at Dartmouth Castle, but it’s more of a fort with an adjoining old church. We decided to have lunch in the Castle Tea Room, which was small and cozy inside, with only a couple of other folks. But then it started to drizzle, and everybody who was outside came inside and it was quite crowded. The rain was rather light as we slowly made our way back to town, stopping at many different distractions. England weather is just like we remember it, and so different from California.
She said:
Slept great!
Gray and cool start to the day.
The UK elections were held yesterday. David Cameron and the Conservatives won a huge majority. The Liberal Dems got spanked. Hope this is not a foreshadowing of our own 2016 elections.
Yesterday, in the park downtown, we met Flash, a rescued greyhound (polka dot sweater-wearer in yesterday's photos.) I loved this dog. His owners said he was from Spain, and that he had been used for hunting, rather than racing. He had one ear that looked worse for the wear, but he was gentle and crazy charismatic.
My new thoughts on our accommodations:
If I took a giant vacuum and sucked everything out of the rooms, and started from scratch, all would be well. The bones of this place are great. The current furnishings are 1980's country jumble sale, but with some good art and some IKEA furniture, it really could be quite chic! (How's that for a mental turnaround?)
At breakfast, we met a couple and their daughter who had been to the States and loved, loved, loved the Pacific Coast Highway and San Francisco (what's not to like?)
(Also, everyone here that we meet seems to know someone in Santa Monica.)
Today, we'll be visiting the Tourist Information office. Sounds like there's plenty to see and do.
Pleasant, though chilly and sprinkly, walk from the Visitor's Center through Bayard's Cove and on up to the Castle.
Bayard's Cove is the oldest part of Dartmouth. A fort (1534, now ruins of) defending the Cove, has been here for over 500 years, protecting Dartmouth from marauding pirates and other enemy ships. In addition to the cobblestone street on the waterfront, several houses still stand from the very late 1600's/early 1700's - Dartmouth Customs House (in use until 1985), the exotic Morocco House (so-called because of its Moorish style door and window casements), used as the Hospital and then a Coal Company's headquarters, and the Mission House, a mission for seamen, as this was a very busy and well-used port.
A standard of operation in 1860:
"Coal Lumpers" were gangs of men who would hang out on the quay and refuel the visiting steamships with coal. Once a ship was sighted, the race was on. The first man to swing his leg over a quay ladder won the rights for his gang to moor the ship. Then, all gangs would row (race!) to the ship and the first there won for his gang the rights to load the coal and refuel the ship. Very competitive, rough and tumble work.
The Pilgrims originally left for America from this port on the ship "Speedwell" in 1620. They made it to about 300 miles off Lands End (the southwestern most tip of England) but the Speedwell was leaking so badly that they had to turn around and go into port (in Plymouth). The Pilgrims suspected that the crew didn't want to go to America and had been poking holes in the ship since setting sale. The Speedwell was abandoned in port and those Pilgrims crossed to America in another ship, the Mayflower.
A very lovely walk, 15 minutes on, through a neighborhood that reminded us both of a Victorian Belvedere, and we arrived at Dartmouth Castle. The Castle is an English Heritage Trust site and, as such, is well maintained and informatively signed. All English Heritage shops are selling Poppy paraphernalia - note cards, bags, scarves, etc. - as their tie-in to the huge Poppies display last year at the Tower of London (which I was lucky enough to visit last November - thanks travel companion Ei!) and the ticket guy was lucky enough to buy an original Tower of London ceramic Poppy. I tried to buy one online, but they were already sold out when I inquired (even before the exhibit ended!) And, there were 888,246 poppies! A real artistic and lasting remembrance of those who died in WWI.
Some interesting Castle facts:
A "Shifting Lobby" was a room in the Castle (really, a fort) where soldiers changed from their uniforms to soft overalls and shoes before they entered the ordinance Magazine. Any metal, like their uniform buttons or boot studs, could cause a stray spark and ignite the gunpowder. Which would be a big bummer.
The "Lighting Passage" was probably built as an afterthought (or, as an after explosion.) It is a stone passageway behind the Magazine where candles in encasements could be lit to illuminate the soldiers' work rather than lighting those candles from the actual Magazine rooms. I'm thinking this was perhaps instituted because of trial and error.
In the 1600's, the Castle (fort), as part of its defense, laid a heavy chain across the entrance to Dartmouth Harbor. The chain could be pulled taught to snag ships and thwart the enemy.
We took a late lunch break at the excellent on-site Castle Tea Room. Most others were sitting outside, but we opted for an inside, window-lined corner seat and loved it. It started to rain and we were cozy and settled inside while everyone else crowded in. Dumb luck.
After lunch, we visited the Castle church, St. Petrox (St. Peter). Again, 11/12/13th century everything. Three "brasses" - burial plaques on the Church floor, from 1609. An elaborate Bell Tower, with several colorful bell ropes symmetrically draped and hanging (Wednesday night Bell Ringers practice open to the public - I would liked to have seen/heard it.). Another wood, intricately painted "screen" (similar to the one in St. Saviour's *note the correct spelling) running the width of the rear of the Church and embossed with the names of the war dead.
(I would also like to note that I was moved by the war memorial town square Cross in downtown Dartmouth that most other English towns have also erected to honor their war dead. Dartmouth is not a large town; you can see the whole of its houses as they climb up the hill from the harbor. And yet, the Cross bears the names of, easily, 50 men who died in the Great War and the same number from WWII. The toll on the town must have been tremendous. Probably, almost an entire generation of young men gone to war and not returned.)
We walked back to our B+B (which I have rearranged to suit our needs - bench in the hallway to remove walking boots, dresser moved a foot to make in and out of bed easier, kooky gemütlichkeit fancy floral plates and doo-dads hidden away in drawers) through the winding streets of Dartmouth. There are many stairways, very similar to the stairways in San Francisco. They are narrower, of course, but as long and as steep. At the bottoms of many, imbedded in the wall on one side, are covered up holes that originally (again, 15/1600's) opened to the stairway and allowed poorer families access to piped spring water from the above hills. Wealthier families had fresh water piped directly into their homes. We (I) window shopped our way home. We stopped at Marks & Spencer for the evening's provisions and the Post Office for stamps. R headed up a green hill out of town for more leg hiking training and I headed inside the B+B for Happy Hour.
We are both snug and cozy now, dry and remembering our excellent day in Dartmouth.
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