July 13th 2017 - Totnes; Dartmoor

Today Carol and Stephen were to arrive in the evening so most of our concern was to be organised with food and drink for their stay. We went into the deli for bread and some pies, scotch eggs etc. Then we had a nice fresh breakfast. Our next stop was Morrisons in Totnes - we had directions but of course we got lost. When we finally found it we realised if was very close to the town so we had a walk round Totnes and found it a very nice town. Then we did the shopping and decided to take a trip through Dartmoor for Jim to relive his youth on the Outward Bound course that he did as a teenager.

We stopped at Buckfast Abbey which was founded in 1018 and celebrates its millennium in 2018. It is the only medieval monastery to have been restored and used again for its original purpose.

During our trip in Dartmoor we stopped at some of the tors and admired the rock formations and the moor ponies.

This foal was particularly cute. The ponies are owned by Dartmoor commoners who have grazing rights on the moor and who are responsible for the health and welfare of the ponies.

We stopped at Princetown, the highest village in Dartmoor National Park. It is also the home of Dartmoor Prison. Unfortunately the Prison Museum was closed for renovations.

However, we visited the Dartmoor Visitors Centre where, after admiring the depiction of Arthur Conan Doyle, an elderly lady assistant was a great help to Jim who was trying to locate the exact place from which he did the Outward Bound course.

And we found the place where he stayed which now seems to be a Guesthouse and found the bridge from where he jumped into the river Dart after his terrifying experience potholing!

Carol and Stephen arrived in time for a lateish evening meal full of enthusiasm for the best motorway services they have ever come across - Gloucester Services. We made a mental note to stop there on our way to Nottingham.