The Ilsington circular walk starts and ends at the Carpenters Arms in Ilsington. It is described as an “easy” walk. If you truly want a easy circular walk there’s one around the village which should take just five or ten minutes and you can start and finish with a few pints.

If you want 4.5 miles of gruelling track with steep ascents and descents then skip the beer before and set off on this walk. How on earth it can be described as easy is beyond me. Yes, it’s a short walk of just 4.5 miles and perfectly suitable for mountain goats.

A pint afterwards in the Carpenters Arms was most pleasant but alas, the good lady chose not to drive the narrow lanes of Dartmoor. So just the one.

A few pictures below from the walk.

There aren’t many pubs and restaurants open in the near area but we managed to find the River Shack in Stoke Gabriel.

It’s about a 20 minute walk from the campsite to Stoke Gabriel and the cafe is located directly on the River Dart.

The location is stunning and despite another sunny day, a wicked wind was blowing off the river – challenging some five layers of clothing.

Food and cider was good – we would recommend the fish of the day (Mackerel fillets served on a Sourdough) and fish (Hake) Tacos.

If you visit the area, check out the Shack.

Sadly not across the border to the warmer climate of Europe.

Today we travelled to Cotehele just across the Devon – Cornwall border. The weather turned warm and sunny in the afternoon but the morning was grey and cloudy with an associated bitterly east wind. A trend set to continue for a number of days.

Cotehele is a medieval house with Tudor additions, situated in the parish of Calstock in the east of Cornwall, England. It is a rambling granite and slate-stone manor house on the banks of the River Tamar that has been little changed over five centuries. It was built by the Edgecumbe family in 1458 after the original Manor House was pulled down. Sir Richard Edgecumbe came into the property after fighting for Henry Tudor in the Battle of Bosworth.

Whilst the Manor House and other properties were closed due to Covid restrictions, the formal gardens and trails were all open. This ranks as one of the better National Trust estates we have visited.

A selection of stunning pictures below.

It’s the 21st April, 2021 and Lockdown pretty much ended 9 days ago – officially or un-officially. Being in the middle of our latest Landscaping project, we had delayed our arrival time by one week in order to finish grouting the Patio.

Weather has been dry and sunny for much of April but un-seasonally cold. This is forecast to continue for the first week or two of our trip.

The travel to Ramslade at Stoke Gabriel was quick (about an hour from caravan storage) and un-eventful.

The erection of the awning was troublesome, as it’s been an entire year since we used this one. Anyhow, all sorted by the evening.