Friday is Charlies day.

Last Friday we visited Stover Park, Newton Abbot.
Nice dry walk around the lake.
Stover Country Park is on the outskirts of Newton Abbot and sits on 114 acres. The park consists of woodland, heathland, grassland, lake and marshland. A lot of work is in progress to try and reduce the oils and other contaminates that are spoiling the waters of the lake.

 

Charlie enjoying the freedom of one of the many walks.

 

 

View of the lake. Pity it was a dull day.

 
A pair of Mandarin ducks. The  male is the attractive one!

 

A pretty and unmistakable duck. Introduced from China and now found on park lakes and other wetlands.

 

 

The old gatehouse to Stover Park.

 

 

From Stover Park, on to Bridford in the Teign Valley.

 

 

Charlie loves the 2 acre Nature Park created by Bridford parishioners. A credit to the Village!

 

 

The building erected to enable talks and discussions.

Bridford Church

Bridford Inn. Pub of the year for 2015 & 2018.
A traditional 17th century pub. On the edge of the village and approximately 10 miles from Exeter. Well worth a visit.

Day over. Another nice day out with Charlie!

 

New additions to the family.

Jessica - daughter of Tom and Amanda.
Born 7-6-2016

She loves that bike!
Now with Dad on the tractor. 

 

 Zach is the next arrival.

Born 22-9-2017

 

 

He loves playing with water! and stones.

 

 

Another addition. A foal for  Courtenay.

 

 

 

New blog for 2019

 

 

 

                             Back of Peamore Farm House.

 New red doors.

 

 

Charlie - still as loyal as ever

We think he is about 8 years old now.

Yesterday he went to the vets for his annual injection. Also for his 3 monthly worm and flea tablets.

£74.00 - Vets know how to charge!

 

 

 

The law is that dogs must either travel in a vehicle with either a seat belt on or be in a cage.

We chose the latter and Charlie seems to be quite happy with the new arrangement.

 

 

 

Live everyday as if it's your last.

 

 

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Nick off to the Isle of Man and some regular bird visitors.

Nick - ready for his trip to the Isle of Man.

 

 

 

Have a safe journey!

 

 

A Jay.  The Jay is known for being a noisy but a shy, cautious bird. This one however is a regular feeder at our feeding station, and seems to enjoy the bread on offer!  It is quite remarkable that the Jay buries hundreds of acorns every year in autumn. It remembers where most of them are, and digs them out to eat them late in the winter or spring, when food is scarce.  Clever!

 

 A young Nuthatch. A family of them have just arrived. 

 

 A house sparrow feeding its young.  The house sparrow
 population has supposedly declined, but not here they haven't!

 The grey squirrel still arrives for meals. They are destructive though, and they often damage the peanut feeders.

   Robin    -    Still my favourite!  Male and female are similar.  The young have spotted, brownish feathers.  

Blue Tit feedings its young.                                  

 

 The Wood pigeon. Nice markings, and generally known as a pest in rural areas!

 A collared dove.  These birds usually arrive in pairs, and seem to come quite frequently now.

Coal Tit - with a sunflower seed.   Quite tricky to get a good photo of this quick moving little bird!

A very enjoyable trip to the Isle of Man.

 

 

 

 

 

This was our first visit to the Isle of Man - and I do hope that it won't be our last. What a lovely island to visit. Our trip was with Majestic coach tours and our main reason for going was to see and familiarise ourselves with the TT race course. Motor cycling takes over the Island for 2 weeks every year.

Many famous names are linked with the island. Norman Wisdom had a house here, as did Nigel Mansell. Jeremy Clarkson owns a  lighthouse home, with a section of coast. Mollie Sugden lived here and Russell Grant, as did Ronnie Ronalde - who remembers him? (He could really whistle!)  The Bee Gees were all born on the Island. I have to mention Mark Cavendish as well of course!

The Island is self governing and the current rate of income tax is 10%  - 20%  and no corporate tax. Quite a good reason to reside on the Isle of Man!

Our trip started at the Moto Services, Exeter on a Sunday. We met the coach at 8.15 hrs. and after several stops we arrived at Blackpool for our overnight stop.

                       Blackpool sea front.   No swimmers!

                       A deserted Blackpool promenade!

After breakfast, we travelled to Heysham to catch the ferry to the Isle of Man.

We were lucky to sail on the fast catamaran ferry  'the Mannaman' 
This ferry takes 2 hours, whilst the larger ferry, (the Ben-my-Chree)  takes nearly 4 hours!


We stayed at the Rutland Hotel in Douglas. The quiet end of the promenade - but the furthest from the shopping area!

                    One way of travelling to the shops!

   Our train ride to Castletown

 

A view of  the square from the Castle Rushen, at Castletown

A Manx cat. There are 2 types. A stumpy and a rumpy tailed cat. Nearly everyone on our coach took a photo of this one!

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       Another tourist attraction. An untouched, remote farmstead. 

                            Many Seals on the Calf of Man

       Friends from the coach trip, with the Calf of Man in the background.

       The Laxey Wheel. Nearly everyone climbed to the top!

 Waiting for the Snaefell mountain railway train. The railway took just 7 months to complete, and runs for a total of 4 miles to the top of the highest mountain on the island, Snaefell at 2,036 ft.

Pointing to the Lake District. On a clear day you can see Scotland, Ireland and England. Scotland is the nearest land to the Isle of Man.

The electric train.

       The Bungalow. Just below Snaefell. A frequently mentioned place for the TT races, and I would think a very good place to view the races!

 The Parliament House in Douglas. Locally named 'The WeddingCake'

                 Home from home! There is even a Costa on the island.

           Preparing the Grandstand ready for the TT  races.
              

 

 The Timing Boards opposite the Grandstand.  Manually operated
by the local Scouts, as 100 years ago.   But not by the same Scouts!

 

Tynwald Church, Located in the village of St John, near Peel, in the mid-west part of the island. A place of great historical interest.  

 

               Inside the Church, our coach trippers sat on the pews, where members of the House of Keys hold court each year on the 5th of July.                    

View of Douglas - taken from Douglas Hill. Very Nice!

 

 

John - our guide for 3 days on the island tours. Both he and Andy, our coach driver, were as good as they come. The fellow coach travellers were all very pleasant - hence, I think that our trip to the Isle of Man has been one of our most enjoyable and interesting short breaks with Majestic Holidays.

 

Have a good day.