Early Friday morning, mom, dad and I headed out towards Bristol for out extended weekend West Country trip. After a quick stop at Tiverton Castle, we took a detour and drove through Cheddar Gorge as well as the small town that is Cheddar. From there, we drove to Ilfracombe - a seaside resort on the north coast of Devon. After sometime in Ilfracombe, we called it a day and made for Woodford Bridge Country Club for the night.

Saturday morning, another early start, this time off to Clovelly - a historic fishing village also in North Devon, set into a steep hillside. Most of the morning was spend wondering around the village, up and down the cobbled stone streets. From Clovelly, we headed south down to Bude - another small seaside resort separated by the Bude Canal, this time over in Cornwall. After some time around Bude, we continued south down to Boscastle, a small village and fishing port which was heavily affected by a flash flood in late 2004. From there, we continued onto Tintagel - a village which is associated with King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. The village also features the 'Old Post Office', which dates from the 14th century. Limited with time, unfortunately weren't able to get up to the ruins of Tintagel Castle. Enroute to Newquay, we stopped briefly in Padstow, a small Cornish town and fishing port. Sunset and dinner was enjoyed in Newquay, which was definitely the biggest and busiest of the towns thus far.

Sunday morning started with a drive through Truro, the only city in Cornwall, most famous for it's gothic-revival Cathedral. Next stop was Lizard Point, the southernmost tip of Great Britain, where we spent a while walking around taking it the amazing scenery. Next on the itinerary was St. Michaels Mount - a tidal island a few hundred meters off the Mount's Bay coast of Cornwall, united with the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway. After some time there and a walk onto the mount, we headed over to Lands End, the most westerly tip of the southern mainland of Great Britain. As with Lizard Point, really beautiful and picturesque part of the country. From Lands End, our next destination was St Ives, an amazing little seaside town and port. Most of the evening was spent there, as well as a good dinner of fish 'n chips on the harbour edge.

Yesterday morning, as we were in the area, decided on a quick drive past the St Austell Brewery which has been operating for over 150 years in Cornwall. From there, the small town of Fowey was next, situated at the mouth of the River Fowey. A vehicle ferry across to Bodinnick took us to Polperro, a village and fishing port across on the south-east Cornwall coast - with a picturesque fishing harbour lined with tightly packed houses, with no access for any vehicles inside the village. A few miles to the east, is Looe, a small coastal town situated around a small harbour and along a steep-sided valley, and is made up of two towns, East Looe and West Looe.

This morning started out at Lulworth, initially at Lulworth Cove, a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset. Nearby to the cove, we visited Stair Hole and the natural limestone arch of Durdle Door. From Lulworth, we visited Studland to get a few shots of Old Harrys Rock. Heading back, we spent most of the afternoon by Corfe Castle - walking around the village and views of the ruins of the 11th century castle. The Corfe Model Village is a 1/20 scale model that shows what the castle and village would have looked like in 1646 before the castle was slighted - which I was loving. I caught a fairly late train from Wool back into London, after an amazing 5 days away!

Folks are back on Thursday again, then its off to Brighton, Oxford and Straford-upon-Avon...