Devon, Cornwall what's good?

A bit general I know, planning going down there week after next, heading for the bit right at the bottom. Been over as far as Bideford and Plymouth.

Well for us its st ives and that area. Also lost gardens of Heligon

But how do you find them, if there lost?

Ah should have known better shouldnt i eh


Its on all tourist maps

As a lifelong resident of Devon and very well travelled in Cornwall, what exactly are you looking for when you are down yer?

Are you looking for good roads to ride on the bike, or beaches (if so would you prefer rugged north coast or more genteel south coast), moorland, scenery, sights etc. If so, you've come to the wrong place. lol. Only joking. We have it all.

Let me know what floats your boat (so to speak) and I'll gladly give some more specific recommendations.

Whatever, you'll have a great time here. Me? I'm off to France. lol.

Tony

Tony,


Looking for good riding roads. Will probably only be there a few days.

Thanks but will give the beaches a miss, hate to raise a false alarm thinking there's a beached whale

Enjoy France O la la (my French isn't very good )

Ok Steve. Stand by your bed. Later tonight I'll post up a list of some superb roads that will either give you a great riding experience or some fantastic scenery, or maybe even both.

Can't do it now cos I'm off out.

Tony

Edited cos my spelling was atrocious. In a hurry.

Ok Steve. Here they come.

First off, a truly great road with some stunning scenery, very steep hills and, well, see it for yourself. Start at Bridgwater and take the A39 all the way down through Barnstaple on down to Bude. Recommended stops on the way: Minehead (maybe), Porlock, quaint old village, very steep hill on the way out. Lynmouth (stunning and I mean stunning scenery as you drop down into Lynmouth, stop for piccies). Lynmouth is a great place to stop for lunch overlooking the Bristol Channel. Bideford, quite nice. Bude.

Other great roads:

Exeter to Barnstaple on A377. Either go all the way to Barnstaple or turn off a couple of miles after Copplestone and head on the B3220 to Winkleigh and Torrington then on to Bideford. Great riding roads.

Bude to Holsworthy (A3072) then A388 to Launceston and on to Callington. Then A390 to Tavistock (nice place to stop) then A386 to Okehampton or take the road across the Moors to Princetown (home of Dartmoor Prison) then across to Moretonhampstead.

Bude to Newquay on the A39 (Atlantic Coast Highway). Nice Road.

St Ives to St Just on the B3306. A taste of old Cornwall with fantastic scenery.

From Truro take the A39 toward St Austell then turn off Onto the A39 heading towards Ladock. This road is known by Cornish bikers as the Ladock twisties. Good fun. Quite a few hours spend on this road, testing. If you know what I mean.

The A38 from Bodmin to Liskeard and on to Saltash is a good road but a little busy.

I think that should be enough for a couple of days riding. Just typing all these roads in makes me realise just how lucky I am.

Let us know how you get on. Enjoy.

Tony

Many thanks Tony, will start plotting my route.

Yip will let you know how I get on and probably flood Flickr with my pics, hopefully my temperamental video will work.

Thanks

When are you down this way Steve? If I'm back from France we could possibly hook up.

On a separate note, did you see Top Gear tonight? They were in Germany and showed Colditz Castle. We were there two years ago, feeling rather ill at Colditz if I remember correctly.

Tony

A bit last minute Tony, will be there next week
There was the usual rumblings of wanting to send me off somewhere nasty as is normal just before my leave so hadn't arranged anything, but it has crept up on me.

Will watch TopGear on catch-up. Heavens, yes we were there 2 years ago at this time - think at some stage just about everybody felt ill - should have just stuck to the alcohol, who'd have thought the water would have had such an effect. I was particularly bad at the Sachenring, mind you that blasted cough of mine drove everyone to distraction.

Many thanks Tony, have a route sorta plotted. Looks like it's going to be a really good. Have thrown a few stops in - Clovelly, and the steam 'mill' towards the bottom. Will also take a day to explore the Eden project. So a bit of sightseeing and about 190 miles riding a day.

topcatbones wrote:
From Truro take the A39 toward St Austell then turn off Onto the A39 heading towards Ladock. This road is known by Cornish bikers as the Ladock twisties. Good fun. Quite a few hours spend on this road, testing. If you know what I mean.

Bit lost on this one, what I have is Truro A39 to A390 left onto B3275 which goes to Brighton passing Ladock. Is this the road you had in mind, or is it the unclassified roads? Seeing you have spent so much time testing the road for me I'd hate to be on the wrong one.

That must be the one Steve. My map is a little old now and it shows it being the A39 coming out of Truro heading to St Austell. At Probus the road to St Austell becomes the A390 and this is where you branch off onto, what my map shows, as the A39 heading to Brighton, through Ladock and New Mills. I used to test this road a lot when I was with Diane (remember her??).

You will have a great time in Eden (if you like flora and fauna). It is fascinating there. Likewise Clovelly. Just be aware that you will have to park outside of the village and walk in (I think there is some kind of transport you can get as well, horse and cart maybe?). Please try and take the time to do the A39 down through the coast going through Porlock and Lynmouth. It is absolutely stunning.

I hope you have a great time. Let us know how it goes.

Tony

topcatbones wrote:what my map shows, as the A39 heading to Brighton, through Ladock and New Mills. I used to test this road a lot when I was with Diane (remember her??).

Thanks, read that the road designations have been changed. New A39 runs 'left of' St Ernie from Truro to the A30. Good to know I'm on the right one. I do hope I'll do it justice, will be doing it at the end of the day and will have all my gear. Mind you I could always dump it off at the B&B and go back
Yip, remember Diane, can't remember though if she rode pillion - I know I wouldn't No offence, I make a bad pillion, think many riders do.

topcatbones wrote:
You will have a great time in Eden (if you like flora and fauna). It is fascinating there.

Yeah not really into flowers and things, but can appreciate beauty

topcatbones wrote:
Likewise Clovelly. Just be aware that you will have to park outside of the village and walk in

Was told there's a 'back door' route in which I can see on my map Not that I'd do a thing like that!

topcatbones wrote:
Please try and take the time to do the A39 down through the coast going through Porlock and Lynmouth. It is absolutely stunning.

I haven't really worked out my timings, but have figured a lot of my time will be spent here. Will do Porlock and Porlock Wier as well as Lynmouth and Lynton. Not sure if I'll do the cliff railway though, will see - anyway who needs a water powered rail link when you have a ?

topcatbones wrote:
I hope you have a great time. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks Tony, I sure hope I do. I've created some Tourguides for my Zumo, so when I get close to some of the spots I'll hear a commentary and a have a pic display on the screen.
My trip begins on Sunday in Bath (Avon, not that which I maybe needing :o ), staying at the plaza del a YMCA slap bang in the heart of things. Plan to be home next Friday.

You have a safe and enjoyable trip to France, regards to fellow travelers and hosts.

Many thanks for your help

-Steve

Steve - Porlock Weir is another lovely little place. Great pub there, opposite the car park, that does excellent food.

You can also do the Porlock toll road which takes you up onto the A39 heading towards Lynmouth. It is a fantastic road with some absolutely massive drop offs almost straight down to the sea. Years ago I did this road a couple of times as a special stage when I was rallying. Brilliant fun but very scary.

I'll pass on your regards to Tel, Bea, Frank and Lynn ta.

Tony

mechy69 wrote:Well for us its st ives and that area. Also lost gardens of Heligon

Thanks Pete, took me a while to find the Gardens (no real pun intended!), was looking in the wrong place, will be staying 2 nights about 4 miles from there. One of my routes takes me right past it - doh!

For the last few weeks it has been as hot as stink in the big smoke and only once overnight there was a smattering of rain. I'm setting off straight into a week of rain, I sure know how to plans things.

Back after a great few days in Devon and Cornwall as well as some other counties. 1 536 km’s, 960 miles done in 5 days – someone commented that I didn’t have time to turn the engine off (suppose that might have been true if I had been in a car) – must have stopped enough though also managed just under 1 000 photos. Link here to the Pics (excluding Eden Project).

Thanks Tony (Topcatbones) for the route suggestions. I started the trip on Sunday and stayed overnight in Bath, then onto some good biking roads to Western Super-Mare.

As suggested I took the A39 from Bridgwater and headed towards Minehead. Stopped there for a bit and had an Ice Cream (and took some pictures). By now I had realised that the on bike video wasn’t working properly and the culprit was the charger. The internal battery is only good for an hour and a half and the memory card 8-10 hours, so rather frustrating but did result in frequent stops to try and charge it up! (Can’t charge and use at the same time :( )

The day started a bit damp and dreary, but turned into a really good one. Stopped in Porlock and then again in Porlock Weir and had a lovely lunch at the Ship Inn.
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The intention was to leave on the Porlock Toll road, but this was the first of a few routes the Sat Nav decided to re arrange. So was routed back to Porlock and straight into a traffic jam. I think the view whilst traveling the other direction would be spectacular. A couple of photo stops and to reconnect the video as I sensed I was getting close to Lynmouth. The view whilst descending 400 meters is breathtaking.

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Spent some time here and another Ice Cream (it was hot ) and then up to Lynton. No kidding about the steep incline, 25%. As I climb, the oil light comes on – oops take it easy and all seems OK. Left Lynton and the Sat Nav rather liked the hill, so much so it directed me along some ‘interesting’ roads and back to Lynmouth! Here we go again, up the hill but this time I ignored the navigation and turned the other way at the top. Stopped for a short while in Barnstable, along side the waterfront / estuary, and listened to my ‘tour guide’ info on one of the bridges there. Then onto Bideford, didn’t stop here, but I know from a previous visit it is very picturesque. Rode to Clovelly, didn’t go in but took a picture from the car park, then onto Bude.
Stopped at Morrison’s to refuel and was told to get off the bike before they would release the pump, that’s a first for me. A Danish couple were fueling their bikes and I nod as we pass each other. Stayed at a good B&B in Marhamchurch was serenaded to sleep by the sheep bleating. The fact that it was raining didn’t seem to deter them at all. This was way more conducive to sleep than the noisy birds (yeah the feathered ones) and an overly happy Spanish group staying at the Y in Bath (you’d have thought they had just won the World Cup!)

Another damp start and there was rain on and off most of the day. Wet gear went on, but by Newquay I was nearly steamed to perfection, so off it came. A good ride along the A30, however the Sat Nav developed an attraction to Penzance. Instead of taking me to St Ives it skipped a lot of the route and took me to Penzance. I know I’m a bit dopey, but I did twig that something was wrong, saw a B3311 signboard for St Ives and took that – very nice. Once back on track, did the B3306 to the Levant Steam Engine – had a walk about and saw the engine in operation. Not easy getting about the place in leathers. OK so now off to St Just and Lands End, No? Nope, you know what didn’t want to go to St Just, so I landed up in Penzance again, the A3071 was a nice enough road, so all is forgiven.
Well I did finally get to Lands End, must say quite different from John o’ Groats. At least the photographer here didn’t mind you taking pictures of the sign post. Two guys had ridden from top to bottom on their bicycles to raise money for Help the Heroes and I was there in time to see them having their photo taken.
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Now I am heading for Lizard Point and you can guess where I passed through, this was to have been the only scheduled ride through Penzance. There are some good sections along the A30, unfortunately it was quite congested. A local biker and his pillion daughter caught up to me in the slow bits, we did have a good ride though. I was surprised they were still behind me when I left Penzance and pulled into the car park behind me at Marazion. Take my lid off and turned to greet them, see they have theirs off too. Take a picture of St Michaels Mount and when I turned back they have put their helmets back on and heading off, I’m not the person they thought I was!
Road to Lizard Point is good and again plenty of overtaking practice opportunities, once there though it’s not what I was expecting, a few ‘huts’ and that’s it, not quite a tourist trap, however the views very good and well worth the trip on a sunny day.
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Onto Truro and then the part I have been looking forward to, the Ladock Twisties. The extra ‘loops’ that I’d done earlier meant I’d have to ditch going into Falmouth or forego Ladock, so the Pendennis Castle will have to wait a bit longer for me.
The best laid plans of Mice and Men and all that, technology got in the way again. Firstly the video camera decided that it wasn’t going to work at all, so no memento of the road. I had plotted the route through Ladock and onto Parcandowr; admittedly I missed the turning into Ladock and was routed back there along a lane which was full of moss. At the T-junction I was directed right instead of left to Parcandowr, maybe the Sat Nav had more sense; it wasn’t going to go along anymore of the Moss median lane. The right turn put me straight back onto the B3275, oh well just have to do the twisties again in reverse – took the long way to Grampound. Get to the B&B and the two Danish bikes seen in Bude are in the car park!

The B&B was rated 3* by the AA, don't think they have updated their records in 30 years, anyway it was cheap and the bike was safe - so I got what I paid for. The Danish couple were surprised I recognised them at breakfast; turns out we have both been doing similar routes, but I was getting to see more places. I had seen their bikes in Bath but not taken much notice and again, this time finally, at The Eden Project.

Locker and changing facilities at The Eden Project seems to be a best kept secret. The owner of the B&B didn't know and neither did the Info Line when I called and waited 20 minutes for them to answer. If I ever hear a Cornish Male voice every 30 seconds saying 'Press 1 if you want to continue holding ... Sorry you are holding, but while you do, did you know?' again I might be liable to murder.

The answer is they do have lockers but no-where to change. Bike parking is close to the entrance, but the lockers are at the bus stop. The locker will take a jacket and a helmet, and most likely your boots. The key is released after inserting a £1 coin, which you get back when you unlock the door.

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The site is very interesting and well worth a visit. If, like me, you suffer with high humidity best take a sweat towel for when you are in the Rainforest Biome. Walking around made me realise just how much I had taken for granted over the years, seeing plants which grew in the garden or saw in there natural habitat. I not really big on these places and manage about 1 or 2 visits a decade, so after about 7 hours there I had had enough. Pics at The Eden Project.
It was good to get back on the bike, the heavy downpour that had been predicted didn't materialise so decided on a ride about. Aah yes, why not try the twisties again. I got there about the same time as the rain and the road was quite busy, so not a good run at it this time. I had also forgotten to put the memory card back in the camera, so I wasn't going to record this either. Somewhere along the line I found the Lost Gardens of Haligon rode into the car park but didn't stop. It seemed so small after Eden. It was too late to go in and also two in 1 day is way too much for me.

By Thursday the weather had changed and so I decided it best to change my route for the day. Bodmin, Liskeard, Saltash, Tavistock and across the Moors became Fowey, Polperro (this time managing not to go through the town on the bike!), Looe and Saltash. Thanks to a clanger on my part the rest of the route didn't go as originally thought. It should have been Dartmouth, Barry Head then Tourquay but managed Barry Head first so a bit of déjà vu (these places are starting to look familiar!)
Well I liked Dartmouth and stopped for lunch. Leaving the bike with all the gear on can be a bit worrying, will anything get nicked? I didn't have to worry about a human thief, got my fish and chips and as I lift my hand with some chips, a seagull swops down knocks my hand out of the way and takes the fish. Boy am I impressed (not), already after the fish before it hit the ground and sent the birds flying, get my lunch back and having to keep the blasted birds at bay.

Had thought of nipping across the Moors from Newton Abbot and through Bovey but the clouds were gathering and I felt I had a good run mainly missing them, so no point in spoiling it. Skirt around Exeter and head along the A3052 and join the A35 just outside Lyme Regis. That was rather enjoyable; the wind was gusting around 60 mph so it was interesting.
There is a motor museum outside Colyford on the A3052. It was once a filling station and is now only open certain times of the year. An interesting collection of petrol pumps, a few cars and a bike. Get the feeling of being in a garage of yesteryear.
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From Bridport I went along the B3157 to Weymouth, another lovely road. Was able to get down to the harbour and to Portland. The clouds were closing in and the visibility was getting bad, head back to the B&B in time for the heavens to open - think it rained most of the night.

A walk about Winchester was all that was planned for the last day. The rained joined me on and off for the walk and most of the ride home. A short way before the Bracknell off ramp the M3 became a 3 lane parking lot. 25 minutes of filtering was very taxing, and for once I was glad to see the M25!

Glad you had a good time Steve. Pity about the Sat Nav though. They are good for some things but you can't beat a good old map.

Nice piccies as well.

Tony