A damp day but eight cheerful TWWs set off..up Church Hill..flowery cottages, grassy cobbles, the charm of Calstock. Soon sharp left towards the station in a drizzly tunnel. Along the beautifully kept station platform and over the railway, dropping into lanes and paths of Higher Kelly and its fascinating Tamar views.
Leafy tracks led us over and under the incline railway and beyond into Danescombe Valley. Robot lawn mower, daffodil packing sheds, historically "manured" strawberry slopes, copper mine, a saw mill, gnome guarded tunnel at Mispickel and on to Cotehele for coffee and more, and then down through the lush valley gardens.
Back along the river track past the Georgian Danescombe Hotel /House (once Ashburton Hotel reflecting mine ownership at the time).
A pause at the pottery "shop" resulted in a slight flurry of purchases and then on to the Tamar Inn past the incline railway "control" hut and various micro land marks, a milestone, boatyards, railway carriages and studio.
Lovely lunch at the Inn.
And aren't we so lucky to have this and more (and the moors) on our doorstep?
We will return in the Spring.
Anne