Coldplay - V - Reed Warbler

Leaves blasted off the Oak tree by last year's "event".

Deer flee from the scene.

The garden wall.

Warbler at full blast.

The Reed Warbler I listened to this morning could out sing  Ellie Goulding, Craig David and Chase & Status all day long !

All that's required is the microphone and amps to glorify this little bird that modestly flirts with competition on its doorstep.
I suppose Coldplay has to earn a crust of bread somehow, but I wish that my back garden, in the form of Powderham Estate, was not about to be blasted with a cacophony of screaming artists, at an event labelled simply: "The Big Event".
Warning road signs have blossomed at every junction and corner.
The marquees have sprung up. The stage is set.
Expect delays they say - Parking in the village disallowed - Parking at the event £35.
The noise will be loud enough to shake the pollen out of my roses and loosen my bonsai trees from their pots. The Park Deer will be deafened, the Exe Estuary calm disturbed by sound waves.
Its time to think about taking a break, and the channel crossing cannot come soon enough for the Morgan, me and Helen, to disappear from this chaos, come June.

The magical songbird.

Reed Warbler

Polzeath, Port Quin & Port Isaac

Ninety Minutes drive from Devon into North Cornwall following the A30 finds us in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Not visited for some years since summers spent caravanning, these little gems are worth a visit at any time of the year.

One tidy looking Morgan

Port Isaac is now on the world map, popularised by the Doc Martin TV series and today was being viewed by visitors, some from overseas. One young man from Australia was overheard talking to the fisherman specialising in local Crab and Lobster.
Helen and me enjoyed a coffee and breakfast at the Chapel Cafe. Paintings on show by local artist Barbara Hawkins, tempted us to bring home some lovely prints.
Further south along the coast is Polzeath, and briefly we stopped to wonder what had happened to it. Driving the Morgan onto the beach was easy enough, and we might have stopped to enjoy an ice cream but no; the ambiance once enjoyed was no longer to be found. Along the cliff road to the north, where once we watched the surf,  much development is ongoing today, of the box and geometric shaped sort, glass panelled  balconies, sky high floor to ceiling tinted windows, and polished stainless steel fitments.

Port Isaac

Behind the scenes where the fishing gear is stored

Gun recovered from a shipwreck six miles offshore, sunk by a German U boat in 1918.  The gun was salvaged by the Laughton Sub Aqua Club and brought ashore in 1991

A brief stop on the sand

Time to leave Polzeath behind and remember it as it it once was. Or is it us two pensioners who have changed?  All said and done, the sand is soft, the sea as blue, and just as inviting as always was.

Port Quin all but abandoned

Next stop Port Quin which is now adopted by the National Trust.
A one time thriving port and fishing village supporting hundreds, but long since deserted. Said to have been abandoned following a violent storm that took the lives of its fisherman.  Even now there seems to be that indefinable sense of loss about the place. The lush green hedges belong to the sparrows, rather than the hardened hands that built them. I find a small twig of Sea Buckthorn to add to my store of Bonsai cuttings. There are very substantial ancient tumbledown walls, what remains of Fish Cellars,  once an important part of the Pilchard curing industry.

In the National Trust car park we found this mobile Citroen Van snack bar, so stopped for a quiet moment in the sun, a coffee and chocolate rocky road at  Fiona's Cafe

Her restored van was admired and we talked about the restorer we had met the previous year in the ferry port of Dieppe H4 Citroen Vans due for restoration

For restoration, for the streets of  New York  -  or the honey-pots of Cornwall.

Birds of Prey at South Brent

Sunday afternoon at the Hawk and Owl Sanctuary with Dartmoor photographic group proved to be a great venue for those of us interested in Birds of Prey and photography. 

Falcon displays and bird rescue centre at South Brent

Young female Kestrel

Harris Hawk.

Bonsai and cream tea

Helen and me target separate venues on Wednesday down the same A30 road in the same Morgan at the same time.
Bonsai Nursery  For months I have been trying to persuade her to visit this fascinating place and managed it with the lure of cream tea a little way further down the road at Finches Foundry.
Finch-foundry

Clean Power

Tea room and garden at Finche's Foundry

The spill over car park where the Morgan has spilled over alongside the obsolete water turbine

My own little Bonsai corner is quite modest

Here are little trees including Beech, Tamarisk, Sea Buckthorne, Hawthorne, Juniper, Rowan or Mountain Ash, and Pine. Contained in small ceramic pots their roots are clipped as well as the twigs. 

Watering needs regular attention to prevent drying out of such shallow roots and nutrients are given monthly.

Dartmouth blossoms in May

Crossing the lower ferry today from Kingswear Helen and me enjoy a lazy jaunt along this favourite home patch of Devon, unhindered by much traffic en-route, apart from along Paignton ring road, skirting Paignton Zoo.
After Coffee and snacks at the pannier market I spied a tempting accessory for the Morgan in the form of one brass and bulb air horn which made a wonderfully deep honk. Sadly my idea for some extrovert posing was immediately thwarted by Helen, with a succinct and very final: "NO" !
What a glorious time of year this is to be sure; with trees in blossom and parks in floods of colour.
Tor Cross Inn was our next stop, for fish and chips plus ice cream, enjoyed by the sea wall today. Now being surveyed for storm damage following severe recent gales.
Returning by the same way we are home by 3 pm ...

The inner harbour at low tide

Almost Mediterranean today 

Lower Ferry

At full steam in mid channel

Little traffic in the harbour 

The powerful little ferry tug