Have you ever taken the time to plan something out only to find out later you missed something quite fundamental? I think most people have been in this position at some point. I definitely have, just recently, although it actually worked out for the best. Let me explain.
My wife and I planned out our UK/Finland trip pretty well from the perspective of accomodation. We were not planning to book anything but were advised to do the accomodation at least as availability could be low especially if we wanted to stay in something a little less common; Which we did. I realised, by sheer luck, that I had mis-timed our departure date from Falmouth in Cornwall by a day and needed to find one extra night’s accomodation in a location that suited us and so I fired up the computer and came up with The Priory B&B in Tavistock, Devon, right at the west side of the Dartmoor National Park. We arrived last night and were pleased with our choice. Luckily!
The Priory was originally built and utilised by monks around the 13th century and the turret, dating back 600 years, still exists and forms the entrance to the B&B. We were welcomed by the owner and shown to our room which is lovely, quite large and includes an ensuite bathroom also. The owner talked to us about some local attractions like the moors, Lydeford Gorge and Castle and the wildlife in Dartmoor itself including the Dartmoor Pony which we are hoping to see. The park itself covers some 950 square kilometres and consists of peat bogs overlaid on granite and its most iconic feature are the granite tors which top the moors. There are many myths and legends around Dartmoor and it’s reputedly the home to pixies, a headless horseman and a pack of spectral hounds. We are looking forward to exploring and finding each of them! I’ll post any pixie/headless horseman/spectral hound images to steemit ok?
We had not planned to visit Tavistock however due to my miscalculation we came here and are glad for it! The accomodation is spectacular and comfortable, the location is perfect with lovely gardens and views over the rolling Devon hills and we were welcomed in a nice warm manner. Take a look below at some of the images with brief explanations.
This is our room at the Priory B&B which we found to be very clean and pretty large. On arrival we found biscuits, tea and coffee, robes, quality toiletries in the bathroom, thick his and hers bath towels, robes and more. The small marble topped table you see in the right side image is where I am typing this post.
The image immediately below is of the stain-glassed entrance door. The main door is a very thick and heavy door which in the bad old days the monks would have closed to keep marauders out. I'm not sure if it worked but it certainly looked impressive enough. The second image below is the view from the top of the tower. You can see the tower has crenellations which are the parts built at the top of a castle from which defenders could fire arrows and cross bow bolts, throw spears, drop rocks, hot oil or any one of a number of nasty surprises to dissuade an attacker. Considering their presence I assume this was, at some point in time, not a friendly neighbourhood.
The image you see here proves that my partner in crime (we're actually law abiding people) and lovely wife Faith is a crazy cat lady. Put her within 10 miles of a cat and she'll find it, or it her, and she'll be cuddling it in no time. This little girl started out in the garden and in a few short minutes was getting a cuddle in our room! It's the owner's cat and has the run of the place, but I'm not sure if she's meant to be in our room. I put my foot down and banished it back outside, but not after I had a big cuddle myself. We both love cats and really miss our own two little fur-babies back home in Australia. This one looks remarkably like Cleo, our little bub and made us miss our cats even more, still I'm sure my crazy cat lady wife will find many more on our travels!
This shot is of the entrance to the B&B with Faith posing in the door. She really hates having pictures taken but I make her pose anyway. It's her or me and who would want me in the picture right? This is the archway where the big main door is, and once closed, I imagine it would form a formidable barrier to marauders or attacking forces especially when a bucket of boiling oil was getting dumped on their heads as they were trying to gain access. You can see the crenellations clearly in this shot which is where I took the image over the hills from. I didn't throw any hot oil or fire any arrows though. Or did I?
So, what started as an oversight on my part has turned into a wonderful stay in a 600 year old building hosted by a lovely couple who quite obviously care about history through their holistic renovations of this very old structure. We're off to explore Dartmoor today and are looking forward to confronting the headless horseman or having a picnic with the pixies...If either of those things happen I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks again for following our UK adventures and for understanding that I can only post snippets here and there through lack of internet and time.
Faith & Galen x