Harbour Lights

Had a wander down to the local harbour this evening where the moored small boats are encouraged to be decked in fancy lights over the Christmas period and a jolly good job they had done too.

Starbuck

So this is Starbuck not Starbucks and has nothing to do with coffee! Built for the Admiralty in 1943 and after the war serving as a fishing vessel out of Brixham about which I posted the other day, she resides in my local harbour. As she is currently sporting remembrance day wreaths here are a couple of snaps and a history panel.

More or less opposite the berth of Startbuck is the Smack Boys Home, also marking Remembrance Day

Brixham

Brixham is a coastal town in the South West of England with a population of around 16,000, somewhat more than disclosed in the Domesday book of 1086 when there were 39 registered inhabitants.

Brixham has developed around a natural harbour and has long been home to a fishing fleet although it had more or less ceased by the outbreak of WWII. However the war served to boost the industry which has grown since then particularly with the advent of larger trawlers in the 1960s and Brixham is now one of England's main fishing ports. Some of the old heritage trawlers of 100 years or so ago have been preserved within the port as historic vessels.

Also to be found in the port is a replica of Golden Hind although, unfortunately, is was closed on the day of our visit for reasons unknown.

The port has also has a military history with a protective gun emplacement built a little over two hundred years ago which is now the Battery Gardens and in 1943 US forces built new slipways which, ultimately, were used for loading amphibious tanks that departed from Brixham as part of the D-Day landings in 1944 and this is chronicled at different points around the port.

Overall Brixham is a picturesque place with an interesting history and is worth spending some time wandering around, especially if you get lucky with the weather like we did.

Ring of Kerry

The is the last of my Irish odyssey from July of this year. We had been staying in Tipperary and headed over to Kilarney as the scenery was reportedly worth the trip. It was around a couple of hours and we initially headed to Ross castle which was very picturesque on the edge of a lake. After a stroll in the sunshine we discussed the 'Ring of Kerry' road signs we had seen in Kilarney, looked at the map and decided to give it a whirl.

The Ring of Kerry is affectively a circular route around a peninsula on the south west coast of Ireland which we extended by taking the most westerly part the Skelligs ring as well. We had no set plan and headed off around midday and just stopped when we saw something that appealed. Around eight hours later, in fading light, we reached Torc falls, our final stop a little south of Kilarney. It had been a long day and we still had a two hour drive back to our cottage and needed to find somewhere to eat!

A little better planning might have been in order but never mind, it proved to be an enjoyable day, albeit a touch tiring. Here is some of what we saw.

First stop of the day was the Ross castle area

We then headed off to the Gap of Dunloe where we grabbed a sandwich before a fair walk up a restricted road that many others ignored the restrictions and drove along. Never mind, all good excercise! Moving on we detoured off to Rossbeigh a popular beach area backed by sand dunes Next up was Cahersiveen. We turned off on seeing a sign for a castle which turned out to be closed for repairs but we found a pleasing walk to a disused railway bridge and the former constabulary barracks, now a heritage centre and government building, that looks a bit like something from a fairy tale. We jumped back in to the car and moved on once more taking the aforementioned option of the Skeligs ring and a stop to look at the Kerry cliffs, one of the most rugged parts of the Irish coast in these parts. The weather closed in here and it started to rain but fortunately it was localised and we left it behind although the sunshine of earlier did not fully return. Time was getting on now and as we pulled in at a beauty spot known as Ladies View the low evening sun brifly popped out from behind the clouds. And so to our final stop, Torc falls. Fortunately always open as dusk was now falling but a slow shutter speed suited the location luckily. A lengthy post for what was a long day!