| Day 18 - Cottage Rest Day |
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| Copyright Famocon Tours 2001 |
| Another sleep in and a relaxing morning before heading over to South Molton, about 15 minutes away. We stocked up on some more groceries and had a walk around the village. We looked over the Guildhall and the Assembly Rooms and spent some time in The Clock Shop, with its large selection of antique and modern clocks on display. Clocks are everywhere in England, every church seems to have one. Town halls and an assortment of monuments and public buildings have them sprouting out. South Molton is an ancient market town surrounded by gently rolling hills and peaceful river valleys. It is known for its antique shops. It also has an undercover Pannier Market every Wednesday and Saturday mornings. There are some good cafes and pubs here which provide wide choices for lunch. We are becoming addicted to fish and chips and steak and kidney pudding! Back at the cottage we idled away the afternoon by reading and then cooking a terrific dinner with the fresh meat and produce we bought in the morning. Cooking can be a lot of fun especially when half the wine has gone before the meal is cooked. A herd of deer came down to graze in the afternoon sun which was shining on the lower paddock. Tomorrow is the start of a two day trip to Cornwall. We will stay away overnight and return to the cottage the day after. It is unusual to be paying for two lots of accommodation for the one night, but it is hard to book a holiday cottage for more than one day but less than seven days. We were happy with this because we could now travel a long distance without having to take all of the luggage and we had a base to return to late into the evening. The alternative was to stay in the cottage for only 5 nights before heading down to Cornwall. On reflection, we liked the option of returning to the cottage, which was like a home. A word about the people you will find not only in Devon, but in the other counties we visited on this trip. They are obliging and will go out of their way to be pleasant. They are courteous on the roads and respectful of pedestrians, cyclists and even tractors. They are interesting and have an abundance of valuable knowledge. They are generally contented and their complaints are few. We think they are some of the nicest people we have ever encountered and this makes the UK a favourite destination. |
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