back to life

My brother’s mother in law has a caravan in Bigbury on Sea in Devon. So every chance he gets he packs up the car and the family and heads down there, a lot of the time taking our mum with him. So not to be left out I felt it was time to go and see what all the fuss was about.

Once we’d got off the M5 and A38 we drove through the lovely villages of Modbury, Ringmore and St Ann’s Chapel which had the most prettiest thatched cottages and narrow winding streets. The holiday park couldn’t have been in a better position a few steps away from a beautiful, sandy beach.

Just over the hill, or a walk  around the bay if the tide is out, is Burgh Island where the elegant Art Deco hotel sits. The Burgh Island Hotel was built in 1929 and boasts many famous guests including Edward and Mrs Simpson,  Noel Coward and Agatha Christie. The Hercule Poirot mystery “Evil under the sun” was filmed on the island and in the hotel. When the tide is out it is possible to walk over to the island, but the only way across at high tide is the sea tractor. Although it was quite a steep hill I managed it at a very slow pace so I could take a closer look and it was definitely worth the effort, the views were outstanding and breathtaking.

The worst thing about staying on a holiday park is the evening entertainment at the park’s club. But we had to go because my nieces were all dressed up in their fancy dress finery for the competition, Rapunzel and Dorothy, (Wizard of Oz), respectively. Thanks to the combined big mouths of their grown ups they managed to get to the final 4 via the cheer o’meter, sadly they didn’t win but they looked fabulous anyway. That was the only high point of the evening, from that moment on it slid into holiday camp entertainment hell.

Day 2 of our visit was a trip to Dartmouth, I’ve been there quite a few times when my boys were young because they were obsessed with the steam train that took us there. The place really hasn’t changed much over the years, but I had the tastiest chips I’ve eaten in a long time for lunch. After a potter around the many little gift shops we headed back to the caravan before the rain set in.

Although it was only an overnight visit this time, we got a lot done and had a wonderful time in a lovely part of the country.