A (belated!) photo diary of Devon

Hello! I hope you are having a good start to the week, whatever you are doing.

I had intended to quickly follow up my last post about Agatha Christie's 'Greenway' with a photo diary of some more favourite places from our recent holiday in Devon.  However, the best laid plans and all that... What with back-to-work coinciding with the weather suddenly turning spectacularly warm, every available minute has  been spent in the garden, weeding, planting, sowing seeds, spreading wormy compost, tidying up the vegetable garden.  But here I am, with a little time to spare on this Monday morning.  If you will indulge me, I will share some more photos of Delightful Devon at Easter...

We are National Trust enthusiasts and another favourite of ours is Coleton Fishacre. This 1920's country home, built in the Arts and Crafts style, is a fine example of an Art Deco home, and is the former country home of the D'Oyly Carte family (think Gilbert and Sullivan!)

The interior of the house is fabulous, particularly the gorgeous drawing room, created for entertaining.

The gardens are beautiful, and wind gently down to the sea.

We were staying in the village of Shaldon, and spent a lovely hour on the beach, playing chase with Daisy Dog, and when she had worn us out I sat on a rock and knitted a few rounds of sock.  As you do when you're addicted to sock knitting...

One of my favourite ever beaches is Bigbury on Sea.  When the tide is out the expanse of golden sand is HUGE!  Daisy doesn't know where to run first, so goes round and round in circles for a while.

At low tide you can walk across the beach to Burgh Island, home of the famous Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel, used as the setting for two of Agatha Christie's books, 'Evil Under the Sun' and 'And Then There Were None'.  

We also visited Castle Drogo, and took a spectacular walk along the Teign Gorge.  At one point we were so high up we looked DOWN on a helicopter, as it wound its way through the gorge.  You can just about see it in this photo:

This was a rather long and challenging walk in places, as it was soooo muddy and very steep in places, but we plodded on for several miles..

... as there was the promise of a lovely pub at the half way point of the circular walk!  Yay!  It suddenly appeared!!

After a restorative lunch in this delightful spot, we were ready for the climb back up the gorge, back to where we had parked the car at Castle Drogo.

It really was a fabulous holiday, and just looking through these photos again makes me realise how fortunate we are to have such natural beauty surrounding us.

Well, I've enjoyed sitting 'chatting' but I must go back to the potting shed and do a little bit more...

Until next time,

Donna x 

Agatha Christie's 'Greenway'.

Hello again!  Thank you for stopping by; it's such a privilege that you have chosen to read my blog.  Thank you xx

I am a self confessed Agatha Christie enthusiast, and have read all of her mysteries (several times), watched all the television adaptations (many times) and have seen The Mousetrap (three times)!

We were in Devon last week for a holiday, and made our regular pilgrimage to Greenway, Agatha Christie's beautiful holiday home.  It's in Kingswear, just across the water from Dittisham, not far from Dartmouth.  

I absolutely love it here!  The estate is spectacular, with a glorious winding garden built on the steep hillside, nestling on the Dart Estuary.  Owned now by the National Trust, the house is as far as possible how it was at the time Agatha was living there.

Will you come with me on a little photo tour?  Oh, good! Here we go!

...through the front door and into the welcoming entrance hall...

Then into the morning room, where there is a portrait of Agatha as a child.

The elegant but cosy drawing room is where Agatha Christie would read her manuscripts to family members after dinner and see if they could guess 'whodunnit'.

I have dining room envy, as I do like a nicely set table!  The glass jug was for Agatha.  She didn't drink alcohol, but instead drank double cream mixed with milk!

One of the most interesting rooms is the 'fax room', housing the very modern for its time fax machine.  Although a very small room, this contains so many items that link us today to her writing...

...including her typewriter...

...several early copies of her books...

...and the copy of the ITV script for 'Dead Man's Folly', which was set here, and filmed here in one of the last adaptations, staring the brilliant David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.

Moving away from the books and into Agatha Christie's bedroom, which has fabulous views over the estuary (I forgot to take a photo of that!)

I did, however, take a photo of her dressing room, with her clothes still hanging in the wardrobes.  I love the way each item is carefully covered with a dust protector.  I use those on my best winter coats, but think I need to make some more, as the effect is rather pleasing!

We then took a walk around the extensive gardens, all dog friendly, and took in the views.

As we wind our way down to the estuary, we can take in the spectacular scenery, with little peeks every so often of the water.  On the very spot below, in 'Dead Man's Folly, Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver had a conversation. POH and DS took a moment to watch the boats.

Once inside the boat house there is the photo opportunity to sit in Agatha Christie's specially made chair, in which she used to proof read her manuscripts, and immerse yourself in 'Dead Man's Folly'.

Walking back to the house, we see the elegant building from a different angle.  I love the squareness of the house, and the way it sits so comfortably in its surroundings.

There are several ways to travel to Greenway, and over the years we have tried all of them.  You can either take a little ferry boat from the picturesque village of  Dittisham, or a boat tour from Dartmouth.  A limited number of cars can park on the estate, but you have to book a space first, which is easy to do by 'phone or on the National Trust website.

Perhaps my favourite way is to arrive by steam train!  This puts you in the wonderful mood of the era, and makes the whole experience that bit more authentic.

We did this last year, so these following photos are from 2017.  It's a lovely journey in itself, and was Daisy's first ever train journey.  She was even issued with her own ticket!

The train takes you to Greenway Halt, where guests of Agatha's would have arrived all those years ago...

I hope you enjoyed our little photo tour together, and if you haven't been, and get the chance to go and visit in person, it is so worth the journey, however you travel.

Donna x