{"id":1102,"date":"2023-03-23T15:42:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T15:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/?p=1102"},"modified":"2023-06-13T16:33:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T15:33:11","slug":"discovering-something-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/2023\/03\/23\/discovering-something-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering Something More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The boats are ready to run to Brixham and Dartmouth and the steam train to Kingswear will soon be operating on a full timetable: yes, the full holiday season starts on the 1st April. And as Spring\/Summer gets into swing, it occurred to us that we are still finding plenty more to enjoy in area. And do bear in mind that we’re always happy to share our knowledge – both about places to visit and places to eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Windows and Wine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A good illustration of there being more to explore locally is Buckfast Abbey. I (Peter) hadn\u2019t visited since I was a child and Helen had never been there before. While only 15 miles away, because it is on the edge of Dartmoor it takes about 45 minutes to drive there – but we found it well worth a visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Abbey is breath-taking and the Chapel, built at the end of the Abbey in 1968, merits seeing in its own right as the stained glass windows on three sides are outstanding. They were designed by one of the Benedictine Monks, who’d studied at The Royal College of Art. All I can say is that his studies paid off!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, there is a great caf\u00e9 on site for a coffee and a scone with Devon clotted cream, along with the obligatory shop to buy some local produce. And that includes the famous Buckfast Abbey wine … say no more!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Buckfast
Buckfast Abbey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\"The
The newer part of Buckfast Abbey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Stained
The stained glass at Buckfast Abbey – closer detail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Glorious Views<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On a beautiful Spring day off recently, we cycled the River Exe trail. This starts in Dawlish then heads north up to Exeter before going down the other side of the river to Exmouth. It\u2019s a designated cycle trail (and has a separate walking trail) and takes in some stunning views of the river. With some glorious sunlight to light the route, it was all looking very nice indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Cycling
Cycling the River Exe trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\"Cycling
Cycling the River Exe trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\"Cycling
Cycling the River Exe trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\"Cycling
Cycling the River Exe trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Seven Years!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To our own surprise, we have now been here seven years. Where does time go! We celebrated the date on the 10th March and the photo, below, shows us on our first day in 2016. We have made lots of changes since we arrived and we hope you’ve enjoyed the refurbishments as they’ve progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Our
Seven years ago …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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And Talking Of Improvements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As regular readers will know, we are always on the hunt for something Art Deco. To that end, we have acquired two new bedside lamps for the Courtyard suite. Hopefully, you will love them as much as we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A new Art Deco light for our Courtyard Suite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Book While You Can<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As I write, we still have some availability over Easter. If you are interested please contact us directly on 01803 294755. Direct bookings always receive a discounted price – what’s not to like!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And talking of Easter, I have given up chocolate and bread for Lent so I`m looking forward to stuffing myself full of Easter eggs after Good Friday!!! In keeping with the occasion, there is always a little surprise for guests on Easter Saturday on their pillows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope to see you soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Peter and Helen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovering Something More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorised","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail","9":"override"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1102"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1144,"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions\/1144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somervilletorquay.co.uk\/somerville-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}