Author: OTRAdmin May 8, 2017

Our trip had reached its most northerly point so it was time to head back south towards the coast once more. After some horsing around with good friends in Oxfordshire we crammed once again into the Silver Citroen Shed that had been our reliable wheels for the whole trip and made the long drive south.

Cornwall was our destination where we would spend a couple of days exploring the coastline around Plymouth and negotiating roads that were barely wide enough for one vehicle, let alone two passing. Our base was near a small village called Liskeard and everything around it just seemed to be miniaturised, a smaller version of the rest of the country, a land of Hobbits!

After an interesting game of football golf (or ‘folf’) at St Austell, we drove across the southwest boot of Blighty to take in the chilled vibes of Newquay. This place really was the picture postcard of England, pristine beaches and coves, clear cerulean water, and a quaint little touristy town populated with what only appeared to be skateboarders and pensioners. The drive back took us over Bodmin Moor which was bleak to say the least, the rustic little villages every few miles and slow pace of life gave the whole area a timeless appeal that the rest of the country lacks.

Leaving the southwest it was time to follow the coast on the mostly single carriage A35 to Bournemouth and Hythe (Southampton) where our final few days of the grand tour would be spent. Bournemouth boasts a big beach and attracts hordes of tourists in the summer, the weather was overcast during our trip but that didn’t detract from the appeal of the olde English seaside town.

Two months had flown by, it didn’t seem that long ago that we were walking around central London. In the time we’d been here we’ve visited over 20 different places; Hornchurch, Brentwood, Stratford, London, Yarmouth, Rochester, Folkestone, Dover, Dungeness, Canterbury, Sandwich, Stamford, Manchester, the Peak District, Oxfordshire, Cornwall, Newquay, Bournemouth, Hythe and Southampton. More than most kids see in their summer holidays!