15 June 2016 - Tavistock Club Site, Moorshop, near Tavistock, Devon

Rain fell all night and all morning; we were not encouraged to venture out of the van even for the most basic needs. All housekeeping was left for later or the next day, and we spent the morning planning a further fortnight’s travelling, and in keeping with English custom, booking our sites ahead.

By midday, the rain had turned to frequent showers, and while we had abandoned any hope of sightseeing or walking on the moor, we decided that we should celebrate Chris’s birthday by going out to lunch. Adventurously we headed back to Peter Tavy, that little village nearby we had driven to several days ago, cursing the extremely narrow lanes. Today we approached the village from a slightly more car friendly direction, and managed to reach the Inn without meeting anyone. 

We found the establishment up a narrow lane accessed via a farm track hemmed in with machinery and other agricultural paraphernalia, and wondered whether we were in the right place until we found a real car park, already full with midday customers. The Inn is a fourteenth century building, the interior an absolute warren of low ceiling rooms and tiny windows. The ambience was fabulous and the staff  were most welcoming. A special pensioners’ lunch menu is available during weekdays, and I took advantage of that, the portions a little less, enabling space for a three course feast. Chris enjoyed his bowl of real homemade mushroom soup, followed by steak and stilton pie, a specialty of the house, but was not able to squeeze in a third course. 

The rest of the afternoon, was spent in a very sedentary manner, allowing for digestion and contemplating our departure tomorrow. We had hoped to get to either Buckfast Abbey on the eastern edge of the moor or the “English Riviera”; Torquay, Paignton and Brixham on the south east coast of Devon today, but these places too will have to wait another opportunity.