Day 30, 18th June 2019, Chichester to Brixham, via Portsmouth and Bournemouth

Said goodbye to David & Peter today at the Old School B & B around 8.30am. David has told us to go and visit the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, so we stopped off on our way.  

We were a bit early for the opening so walked around Old Portsmouth and the fishing wharf. Was worth a look.   Then we saw Portsmouth Cathedral, founded 1180, rebuilt in 17C glad we went in.  The inside was fairly modern with some old inscriptions/artifacts.   There were two girls practicing a duet together on the piano and clarinet.  Was lovely to listen to them as we wandered around.   

We headed back to the museum and realized we were at the wrong one to see the Mary Rose.  Had fed the parking meter too much £ ?

It had started raining quite heavy and continued most of the day.   Welcome to sunny England ?. I have lost count the number of times someone has said that to us ?

We drove to the Mary Rose Museum. The museum is dedicated to the 16th-century warship Mary Rose, as well as the historical context in which she was active. The museum opened in 1984 and displays artefacts from the ship as well as the ship itself in a dedicated ship hall.

The Mary Rose is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. After serving for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany and after being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her last action on 19 July 1545. And then she sank, she was raised in 1982, by a team of archeologists.   It was really fascinating and informative looking at everything that has been recovered.  I could think of lots of you that would love it here.  A piece of history that has been preserved.  A marvel really!  A most impressive museum.   Glad we went.

There were other interesting ships in the naval dockyards too, but we didn’t have a lot of time to meander. 

We drove for the next hour to Bournemouth, to have a quick look and lunch.  My great grandfather spent the last years of his life here, I appreciated being able to soak a little bit of the area up.  

We had another 21/2 hour drive to get to Brixham, it rained the whole way, but we travelled through the most gorgeous countryside.  We were both glad to finally arrive, the last road we turned into was the narrowest Lane, I was sure our tiny car would not fit through.  Greg knew it would, but I breathed in anyway ?

We found our B&B, parking is at a premium everywhere we have been so far.  Fortunately the B & B owner had saved us a space.  We have a tiny room, but the view is stunning.  After we had unpacked and had a cuppa we were just about to go out for dinner and Val & Vic faced timed us, was lovely to chat to them.  We are looking forward to seeing them both in 12 more sleeps ?

Our view over Brixham and the harbour

Went to a nearby fish restaurant for dinner, seemed fitting as Brixham has one of the largest fishing fleets in the UK.  I had cuttlefish and Greg had whiting. They were both good and very reasonably priced.  We had a bit of a walk after dinner then came back to relax, and write the blog ?)

We are looking forward to exploring the area tomorrow.  The main reason we came to Devon was because my Great Aunt and Uncle lived in the area for a lot of their life, I have heard so many stories over the years about how lovely the area is.   Would have been good to have come 30 years ago, but I am grateful to be here now.  So Paignton here we come! Can’t wait ? 

Number of Views :762
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2 Responses to Day 30, 18th June 2019, Chichester to Brixham, via Portsmouth and Bournemouth

  1. Georgiana Sauer says:

    Thank you for taking me along on your amazing journey. I finally got caught up with your blog and it is so fun to read about the history and insights you have on all the places you visit. ?

  2. Deborah says:

    Glad you enjoyed it Georgiana ? I am really enjoying the places we are visiting, learning a lot, and having something different to do each day x

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