The last full day in Exmouth

They say time goes by quickly when you are enjoying yourself, and this holiday is evidence enough of that.

Thirteen days ago, we had only just arrived in Exmouth town, now it seems we have visited its nooks and crannys and can find short cuts and easy routes around and beyond the town - a perfect outcome to the holiday.

Morning

Being Thursday, as I explained in the blog post last week, I spent the morning dealing with Parish Admin duties including drafting the newsletter for this weekend. Drew read his novel while I was typing away, so things were quiet.

Walk

At Midday, tasks complete, it was time to take a walk. I have mentioned before that Phear Park runs behind the accommodation - we can hear the sounds of the park when sitting on the balcony. Strange then that we had not gone to explore it before today.

The park has a grand entrance and lots of green areas, both manicured and wilder forms of parkland.

From the park, the walk continued to one of Exmouth's many churches. The Church of St. John the Evangelist in the Anglican parish of Withycombe Raleigh with Exmouth, an oddly named parish given Exmouth's size compared to Withycome's!

This is a large church, but unfortunately was locked, so the photos are only of the outside, but that in itself is quite impressive.

From St. John's we continued to a sister church closer to the town centre called All Saints. There was a parish meeting happening in the vestry, so, though the church is normally locked we were able to get in to take photos of its attractive stained glass - more photos can, as always, be viewed on Flickr.

This church clearly stands in the High Anglican or Anglo-Catholic tradition with the presence of Stations of the Cross, something not seen often in Anglican churches in my experience, but the third set I've seen in Devon's Anglican Churches in the last fortnight. Perhaps the strength of Methodism in this region made the established church more likely to steer in the High Church direction? 

Returning to Phear Park, Drew photographed the memorial to the wars and to the World Trade Centre bombing (9/11). The memorial includes some materials from the South Tower which fell that day.  

We got back to the house at 2pm having walked 4.5 miles.

Afternoon

The afternoon was time to start packing and beginning to plan our departure from the house tomorrow morning. We sorted everything that wasn't needed in the morning, ready to do the last elements of packing then.

At 6.45pm we left to walk down to Rockfish, where we had our first dinner in Exmouth, and where we now have our last.

Dinner

As I explained, when we came to Rockfish at the end of July, this place is all about the fish, and much of it about fish which arrives in Brixham from the fishing boats that have been out to sea in the last 24 hours.

The menu has some regular options, but the major part of it is a list of fish, which the server marks to indicate which ones have come in fresh today. Tonight, Ben, our server, highlighted the Brill, the Devon Lobster, the Plaice and the Ray Fin.

While we decided we enjoyed the Sourdough with spicy Anchovy Mayonnaise. It was delicious, fluffy, well raised bread with a sharp tangy mayonnaise with generous amounts of anchovy mixed through.

For starters Drew had crisp fried cuttlefish served with Singapore chilli sauce. Drew really enjoyed this, having had cuttlefish (Jibia) in Spain when he refers to it as 'Budgie Food'. In Spain it is often hard and chewy and used to bulk out a stew, here it had a soft texture tempered by the light batter in which it was fried.

I choose the large red prawns, fried in a tempura batter also served with Singapore chilli sauce. The prawns were huge, as you can see below, the tempura was light and crispy. The overall impact was of well-cooked prawns being hugged be a gentle friend in the batter, the chilli sauce was slightly fruitier than Sirchia, and combined well with the tempura.

Drew was taken by the motto, only visible after he had eaten his starter, which indicates that Rockfish food is recommended by the locals, with pictures of seagulls, the real natives of this area!

For mains Drew chose the fresh plaice, this came filleted and was cooked to perfection. There was a gentle salting to the fish with no hint of bone. The skin was crisp and char-grilled for added flavour, the fish was soft and mellow as only Plaice can be.

I had the freshly caught Brill, not a fish I eat a lot of something that I really need to change, as it was delicious. The top of the fish (there is a whole question of whether fish have a top or bottom side, but as it was cooked this way, I'm going to call the side facing me in the picture the top!!) was scoured, to allow for cooking all the way to the bone, and this made the flaky flesh ease away from the bone. The underside was crisp, but still easy to extract the flesh from (once I'd finished the top and turned the fish over). I think brill reminds me of sole with its lightness, but with a more robust taste bringing it closer to Turbot. 

The side dishes we choose were [Co-Pilot's Note: Unlimited, dear readers, Unlimited 🍟] chips,

Green Salad

and wild samphire. The samphire provided a salty note and the greens had a sharp vinegarette which made them very appealing

Drew decided as it was our last night in town, he would have a dessert. It was a simple Lemon Posset with Raspberries. He says it was lovely, with a nice amount of Lemon to add freshness without being either to sharp or two sweet. It was perfectly set and folded on to the spoon. The raspberries were juicy and fresh and blended well with the posset.

We finished out meal with an espresso each.

Then went for our last walk around the town and up towards out accommodation. Even though it was 8.40pm by this time, the beach and sea were still full with people enjoying the light sea breeze.

The sun went down, bringing the day, and our time in Exmouth to a delightful end.

We got back to the accommodation at 9.30pm and uploaded the photos to Flickr and beginning this post. We were in bed by 10.30pm

A Day of Return Visits

Today, Wednesday, became a day for returning to places we had already been on the holiday, but hadn't been able to access at the time. But, before we begin, a brief update on the morning.

Morning

After the late night yesterday, when we didn't get to bed until after midnight, it didn't surprise me that I was feeling groggy this morning. It was 6.15am before I woke up.

I'm not sure if last night's meal had lots of hidden sugar or hidden alcohol but my mouth tasted very furry this morning and my head slightly groggy. Not a normal state, honest, I'd brushed my teeth before going to bed. The groggy didn't last for very long, thankfully.

I made breakfast and at 7.15am Drew got up also complaining of a furry mouth and groggy head! He had his cup of tea and chocolate delight (yes, Janet he is still having them for breakfast).

I completed the blog post about our Exe Estuary walk and we got ready to leave by 9.30am for our planned outings for the day.

Tiverton Museum

Those of you paying attention will know that on Monday, August 1st we visited Tiverton. As the blog described we enjoyed our visit but were disappointed not to be able to visit the museum as it is closed on Monday's. At the time I wrote that it: "might give us an excuse to revisit this town later in the holidays."

Well, here we are!

The, to give it its full title, Tiverton Museum of Mid-Devon Life is a great museum. We have been to many one or two room town museums, when holidaying in the country, whose claim to fame is often an original bequest from some member of the local gentry, who had no one left to leave stuff to, combined with random bits of junk others have contributed over the years. Tiverton Museum is not like this at all. Rather, it is very thoughtfully laid out and takes you gradually through various aspects of Mid-Devon life.

From childhood items, 

through agricultural implements, 

to Cider production.

Mantraps, rattraps, and gunpowder are also covered in this section.

The Wool Industry links to India are also celebrated

as is Church history in the area, including this harmonium, not vastly different from the one I played in St. Gildas Church, Bonymaen in my teenage years, playing notes and peddling at the same time can be a challenge.

The Museum has a section of, nearby, Honiton's lace industry, including this fascinating crystal ball, used not for fortune telling, but to intensify the light for lace markers doing delicate work by candlelight. [Co-pilot's note: Nonsense, dear readers, I know a palantír when I see one 😂]

The museum then moves on to kitchens, with the first representing the 1930s,

the second, the 1950s, again touching on my own history as the cupboard at the centre of this image is exactly like one from my own home of the 60s and 70s, and a great cupboard it was too. 

There was also a section for dressing up in various eras costumes, Drew focussed on the hats as this example shows - there are more example on Flickr. 

World War II was represented by an Anderson Shelter, like the one my grandmother had in her garden until her death in 1982.

and also modern(ish) tech, which indicated that Drew's life is now history too.

Perhaps the pièce de résistance of the whole museum was the Transport section. This ranged from lots of wooden farm equipment

to early motorised tractors

and to the star of the Show, the Tivvy Bumper. 

This fine old train was set up so that a visitor could get into the driver's cab and pull leavers with realistic sounds. Drew loved this experience [Co-pilot's note: I made it go choo choo, dear readers, choo choo!]

The museum has a lot to share, and there are many more photos on Flickr, if you click here and then click or swipe left you will be able to see all 171.

St. Andrew's Church, Cullompton

On the same day we first visited Tirverton, we travelled on to the lovely little town of Cullompton. Getting there later in the afternoon we were too late to take photos of the inside of the Church (which is open from 10am to 2pm), having been told by a friend that there was some great stained glass in the church, we planned a return visit, so along with our return visit to Tiverton some six miles away, here we are.

The church, with its very imposing tower, was being visited today by an American family, come to discover some of their English ancestors, a number of whom were mentioned on one of the memorials.

The church did have some lovely stained glass, here are three examples, but more can be found on Flickr

It also had some interesting carvings both in the wood and in the wall niches.

Best of all, to my mind, was the medieval rood screen, though no longer stood above the entrance to the chancel, is still in the church. It shows images of death and hell, but would have originally also held a crucifix, showing the way beyond death to new life.

Lyme Regis

Our third visit of the day was back to Lyme Regis, again those who have read all our posts will know that on Tuesday, August 2nd we travelled along the South East Devon Coast ending in Lyme Regis and found that Mark Hix's Oyster and Fish House was full and we wouldn't be able to book for that day. So, this return visit was to Mark Hix's place for a late lunch. 

The Oyster and Fish House is a relaxed venue where the focus is all on the food and wow, it was lovely food.

While we were making our minds up about the choices from the menu (a menu which is revised twice daily) we shared soda bread and focaccia with salmonata

The soda bread was made from wholemeal flour and had a strong tangy flavour, the focaccia was soft and bouncy, both worked well with the Hix invented salmonata with its sprinkling of cayenne adding sharpness to the gentle flavours of smoked salmon.

For starters Drew had whipped broad beans with a grilled flatbread, the broad beans were fresh and light with a hint of herbs in the background, giving it a delightful flavour. The flatbread was crispy and drizzled with olive oil which gave it a lovely flavour.  

I opted for the shellfish soup with rouille and croutons, the soup was a reliable shellfish soup with all the flavours of the sea that we could see ahead of us. Well blitzed it had no bits in it (sometimes this dish is served with whole mussels or cockles) but if anything, this made the flavour better, the refreshing rouille combined with it well and the croutons were nice enough to eat on their own, but even better when soaked or dipped into the soup. A great success as a dish. 

For mains Drew had a Fish House prawn burger with a spiced tartare sauce and chips. The burger bread was a lightly toasted brioche, which wasn't overly sweet as brioche can be. The burger itself was innovative, with huge chunks of prawn bound together in breadcrumbs and fried. The burger was topped with lettuce and presented in this simple but tasty way, celebrating the chief ingredient. The chips were warm, salty, crisp with no fat sticking to them. The tartare had large chunks with plenty of cumin through it, Drew used some on his burger but most of it got used as a dip for the chips which worked fantastically. 

I choose Sea Bass steak with Poole cockles, the cockles were large and juicy, the sea bass was a cut (hence the word steak) from a larger fish but had a lot of flesh on it. I love Sea Bass, so of course I loved this dish, but the addition of the salty cockles really did raise it to a much higher level. A real seaside treat.

I accompanied the mains with new potatoes and minted peas and beans. I'd asked for these to be butter free, as I'm not a fan of butter, and I always feel butter gives the vegetable a cloying texture, rather than enhancing them. These vegetables stood their own ground without any aid other than the parsley, with the potatoes, and the delightful fresh, mint with the peas, mange tout, sugar snaps and beans. If all potatoes and vegetables tasted this good, I could easily live as a vegetarian, but for today I was happy to be pescatarian and the fish and cockles were so delicious themselves.

Drew had Isle of Wight tomato and basil salad for his veg, well he had about half of them, as I couldn't help having a few too. As usual these tomatoes were vibrant and full of flavour. 

For dessert Drew had a Bowl of Summer Berries with Double Cream on the side. The variety of different berries, strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants that are all reasonably sweet were lovely, but everything was really set off by the, almost wince inducing, sharpness of wimberries. The cream was good, but Drew didn't use much of it as he wanted the berries to be the main flavour for him. 

I had a delightful cheeseboard with lovely large slices of Dorset Blue Vinny, Bath Soft Cheese and a local Mature Chedder. The waitress felt the need to warm me that the yellow stuff on the edge of the board was butter, I avoid it, but apparently a diner, last week, had started eating it thinking it was cheese!!!  

I couldn't have had three cheeses more to my taste. The vinny, which I've had twice before on this holiday, is a sharp blue cheese with a balance been the hardness of the cheese and the soft veined part, lighter than a stilton it could hold its head with Shropshire blue and equivalent. The Bath soft cheese was at room temperature, so it oozed flavour as it moved along the board. Having had it straight from the fridge in a pub a couple of days ago, it was nice to actually be able to taste it. The cheddar was a hardened mature version with all the right notes of crunchy sharpness. It was all delicious. The menu had wanted the cheeses served with quince jelly and ale chutney, but regular blog readers will know my feeling about sweet food with cheese!

We finished the delightful meal with two lovely cups of strong espresso. It was even better than I imagined and showed how good food cooked well can be as great a celebration as all the poncy show of 'tarted up' food. 

Back to Exmouth

We travelled back the 46 miles to Exmouth and got here with only 15% of our battery charge left, an estimated range of 18 miles. Due to our late-night last night, we had only been able to charge the car to 80% overnight. So started the day with an estimated 92 mile range and a 82 mile journey, but it all worked out fine. 

A treat for my sister!!

The journey had been like this