Oct 3
It was drizzling when I left the Penzance hostel at about 8 o’clock for my 20 minute walk to the train station. I was beginning an eastward move, initially to Plymouth. It would be a 2 1/2 hour single train ride. The grey day followed along giving not much to watch slide by the train window. When I disembarked the drizzle had matured to fine rain. I changed into my raincoat and brought out the cover for my pack, for the first time this trip.

I had picked Plymouth a few days ago as my next destination in large part because of it naval history. I now know that the national naval museum is only open one day a week and it is not one of my days. The weather is not great and I was hoping for a good museum. So my expectations are not great.

I stopped in at a McDonald’s for a while and then spent sometime in a Waterstones, the wonderful British bookstore. I was getting out of the rain and killing some time before I could get into my BNB, still about 20 minutes further away from the town centre. Finally the rain let up and I finished my walk to the BNB. It is actually an Airbnb, but doesn’t provide the second b.

I made the return trip back in to the centre to find something to eat, getting familiar with Plymouth. I still didn’t find a good route to the harbour. Perhaps tomorrow it will look more interesting.

Oct 4 Plymouth

I had a long sleep as there was no hurry to get going this morning. But I was still out at 9:30 it was sunny cold and quite windy when I left. Instead of walking back to where I had been yesterday I headed down to the waterfront. I found a cafe that was open and I had poached eggs and coffee. I think this is better than the full English for me. Continuing to the waterfront I found what I would call the tourist part of the harbour. There were more restaurants and a few tourists, as cold and windy as it was. I found a memorial to the Mayflower and what are called the Mayflower steps where the first North American settlers climbed onto their ship in 1620. And then I went into the Mayflower Museum for some further edification.
Much of the layout of the waterfront is unchanged from the 1600s when the Mayflower departed with 102 people hoping to create a new life and for some, religious freedom. It was not a peaceful settlement as history related in the museum illustrated.

I was hoping to see more signs of the British navy as it is purportedly stationed here, but it must be hidden off someplace less obvious. Still the waterfront was more attractive than advertised.

My wandering took me to The Box, billed as the prime attraction in Plymouth as it proved to be. It is a museum with lots of community type activity on this Saturday. I enjoyed art, natural history and Plymouth history .

It was now approaching 2 pm, and time to find a rugby pub. It took three pubs before I found one showing the South Africa vs Argentina game being played at Twickenham in London. Very good game with SA winning by 2, retaining it’s world #1 status.

Plymouth was just fine to spend a few days when the weather was not ideal. I walked over 17,000 steps each day here.

Oct 5

I am moving on to Totton, and I need to make specific train connections, as only a few stopped at Totton each day. So I was up early to make the 45 minute walk to the station. It was chilly and cloudy but no rain. Totton is on the outskirts of Southampton and I am here because of its proximity to The New Forest.

I had a good first walk around the head of the long sea inlet that makes Southampton a great harbour. Snowy egrets and a tit showed for me. To complete the day I found a nice pub that,let me order a Dominos pizza from next door.

My guesthouse was run by about 4 young people who tried very hard to make my stay good. The downstairs bathroom doesn’t help my reaction, but it was still better than my Plymouth version.

Oct 6 New Forest

I had a breakfast croissant at Costa and then by bus us to Lyndhurst, the centre of an area of national trust lands now a national park. The walk I picked was a circle walk, starting mostly in a grassy meadow with many of the ponies the area is renowned for. I wandered off on different pursuits, picking out a few birds along the way. There were trails everywhere, but it was easy walking anywhere. I headed for a large bunch of trees, crossing a field that was getting a bit more standing water that I easily could get around.

In the trees I made my way toward an opening where a couple of ponies were grazing. The standing water patches were now harder to get around and I couldn’t get into the open field. Soon I was onto a little patch of dry ground and couldn’t get off. Luckily a tree anchored the ground I was on so I could hold onto it and probe with my stick. Every where my stick just plunged in. Lots o grassy tufts, but they just seemed to float on the muck. Finally I just had to plunge in. I tried a couple of quick steps trying to skim across to the next likely spot but I was in up to my knees. I got out but it took a half dozen steps in knee deep mud that seemed without a base. Scary.

Once onto gravelly trails again I took my shoes and socks off, washed my shoes off a bit with my remaining drinking water. The socks would get dumped later in the day. I walked my way out and onto the bus back without socks in my shoes.

I later bought a pack of three socks that would over the days help clean the smelly muck out of my shoes, washing them at night. What lesson here, said the spider to the frog as they sunk in the pond …”I am who I am”…whatever.

More time in The New Forest could be had, possibly on a rented bike.

Oct 7 Eastbourne

I am spending only one night at Eastbourne, and in many ways that is too bad. My room is the best value I have had so far. My own ensuite 3 story walk up, 75 m from the long sea walk, many good affordable eateries. Eastbourne, like Brighton about 15 kms nearby, is an old sea-side destination. It has a long sea walk, tiny beach houses exemplifying an older time, a long entertainment pier with a grandiose Pavilion, and many hotels built before and after the 40s. Many of these old hotels are now much out of fashion which is why they are cheap and good for me.

I walked all of the sea wall, right out to the white chalk cliffs, had a Guiness at the Pavilion enjoying the gulls playing with the breeze sweeping over the decks. I imagined that 60 years ago, when I rode my brand new bike through these same towns that I am now riding trains through, gulls, likely ancestors of these gulls, played the same wind games and swept the same decks for scraps.

In a big “free house” I had a great steak pie and beer for less than £10. Eastbourne was a delight.

Oct 8

I was on my way to Canterbury but was stopping off at Rye. Rye is one of the quintessential British village that Asians and would be photographers like me are attracted to for its photogenic streets. On my couple of mid-morning hours there I took some street photos, had a croissant and coffee, visited two book store and bought a one £1 book. Probably the latter was the best result. One of the best features of Britain is the wealth of Bookstores, both new and used.

Village photography. I’m not doing too well. No doubt there is an artistic creativity that factors in, but possibly my biggest drawbacks are planning, timing and patience. I arrive in Rye mid morning on a sunny day and leave two hours later. The harsh shadows put one side of the street in dark shade while the other side was in bright sun. To get better photos I would need to put more effort into getting here in better conditions and be prepared to wait for those conditions to occur. I think the best shots I got were probably some of the details that I could take in either sun or shade. But I did see Rye and it is indeed lovey and if you are a good photographer a fine destination.

I arrived in Canterbury about 1:00 walked to my guesthouse in about 20 minutes to leave my bag. About 10 minutes got me back into the old town to the cathedral. Canterbury Cathedral is possibly my prime destination for south England, largely for it’s historical role. Tomorrow is the day that I have designated as my cathedral day but the ticket people indicate that my £18 ticket is good for a year. So in I went to get the lay of the land and plan my full day. I did a quick run through the main buildings, took a few shots and found out when I could get a tour. I also walked the old town streets for a while. It was very busy with large groups of students, both on their own and with I supposed to be their schools. I would come back later, at dinner when many had left.

My guesthouse, I have gone a bit more upscale here, is lovely. Crisp white sheets, four pillows, big fluffy towels, plush sitting rooms, and so on. I’m tempted to stay longer than two nights.

Oct 9 Canterbury Cathedral

Breakfast was high-end continental, with lots of coffee to fire me up for the day. My tour started at 10:30. We wandered purposefully throughout the many buildings getting snippets of information on dates and special stories on various parts of the building and on the different characters that affected things over the centuries. Each guide probably has their own stories they like to share. They all seem to be older and well informed.

I’ll just share a little here. I am sure each of us also retains different things and are attracted to different kinds of information. The first British Christian church was built on the site of the cathedral about 600 AD. Construction on the cathedral that stands today started in 1077 and was primarily, after some destruction, fires and the like, was finished in about 1400. Although repairs, improvements and such never really stops. Much of the stained glass was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell in the 1600s in his putitanical zeal, and the Victorians installed many that are there now. Further stained glass was shattered during WWII, along with other destruction. Some interesting panels to replace that destruction was done by a Hungarian in the 1950s. They would be considered shamelessly “woke” by our conservatives today. There are no end of memorials and statutory to honour people and events throughout British History.

I was most interested in hearing and reading about Thomas Beckett, Thomas and Oliver Cromwell, the Black Prince and Henry VIII, and some more common people of the times. The pilgrimage related to Thomas Beckett makes particularly interesting reading, should this be of interest. I was also interested to hear that during the bubonic plague the monks cloistered themselves so completely that none of them died, while thousands outside perished. There must be thousands of stories. Walking the halls the stone flagstones show dramatic wear, particularly noticeable on stairs. You can’t help but think about the thousands famous, infamous and otherwise that have walked there before you.

I am now off to the Midlands…