We left our B&B in pouring rain this morning and caught a bus to the Jersey airport. We would have taken a cab, but there were none available, so we were suitably soaked by the time we boarded the bus.
Our Flybe Aircraft
Double Lock - Exeter Canal
Exeter Cathedral
16th Century Building - Exeter
The airport experience was uneventful, except that I tried to do a Norm, taking sunscreen in my carry on bag. As it was more than 100ml, it went in the bin, and we progressed without further incident. Our aircraft was a Canadian-made Dash 8 / Q400, and we got a chuckle out of Flybe's motto - "Faster than road or rail". Why would you fly on an airline that was slower than road or rail?
We flew into Exeter airport, and tomorrow we will leave from Exeter St. David's railway station, but our B&B is just outside of Topsham, a small village about 6 miles from downtown Exeter. As we arrived at the B&B at 10:30 am, we had the whole day to explore the area, so with directions from our B&B proprietor, we set off to walk into Exeter.
As we missed our full English breakfast this morning, we stopped off in the village (Topsham) and Randy and I topped up with a sausage, bacon & egg baguette. We then crossed the River Exe with Mike the Ferryman (2 minute crossing) and found the canal tow path just beyond the river. The walk into Exeter was through a rural area, following the canal, with the odd sign of civilization, including the Double Lock, with its associated pub. It must be a very popular spot in the summer, as the pub probably had 50 tables outside.
Despite the temptation of coffee and other libations, we kept on walking into Exeter, which had a nice area around the quayside, but still we did not stop, and walked up to the cathedral and town centre. The cathedral was big, but we did not venture inside. We did however find a very nice vegetarian cafe adjacent to the cathedral, where we finally got to sit and rest a while.
Also in the same area were 3 houses, built in 1540, and which housed craftsmen working on the cathedral. The lower level on the centre building in the photo below looks to be the most original of the building's facade.
After a walk around the town centre, we headed to St. David's station, where we picked up the tickets for our next 3 rail journeys, and caught a train back to Topsham.
For dinner we walked back into Topsham and ate at The Passage pub, where we enjoyed a pleasant meal amongst the locals who were watching England playing Fiji in the first match of the Rugby World Cup, on TV. It got a little rowdy at times!
Tomorrow we move on to Penzance, which will be our home for the next 7 days.
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