England, my England (or: “England, moy England, oo-arrr, Oi loiks it”)

Back in April last year we four travelled to England and, more precisely, to Devon, to visit my oldest friend and her family.

When I say oldest, I don’t mean she’s elderly, merely that I have known her my entire life, so it is our friendship that is grey haired and doddery and growing superfluous chin whiskers, not her.

Whilst there, we visited lots of beautiful Devonian countryside and got to eat enormous slices of delicious cake with butter icing.  Tea was served in china pots and drunk from cups and saucers.

Here is the view from the window of one of the tea rooms we patronised in a place called Bimbley Plimsoll:

When we parked the car (on the red cliff to the right of the window) it was pouring the way it does in films but whilst we were inside gorging ourselves on cakes and sending our blood sugar levels through the roof, out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain.

Later the same day, we ended up at another beach somewhere near Verruca St Herbert.  Husband and I walked for an hour along the cliff tops to get there, savouring the views, the fresh air and the absence of steaming canine deposits.  Friend and the assorted offspring made their way there by car and met us on the beach.

Traditional English seaside pursuits entertained the wee ones for most of the afternoon.

The children even caught some Kryptonite which you can see lying by the side of this rock pool.

This cliff was christened by the children.  Hover over the photo to find out the majestic name they selected for it.

OK, so maybe it wasn’t the precise name chosen by the children but surely you see my point?

Anyway, a jolly time was had by all.  The Famous Five-style nostalgic day at the English sea side culminated in a trip to the tacky souvenir shop conveniently situated at the entrance to the beach, where the children were insistent that they really needed us to purchase some hideously over-priced, brightly coloured plastic tat made in China for them in order to round the day off nicely.

Incidentally, on the way home we saw this boat heading uphill into a storm.  I love the colours of this photo, which have not been messed with.