Introduction to Plymouth

Last weekend I went to Devon for my first trip to Plymouth, and had the pleasure of being shown all the highlights of the town (I suspect purposefully avoiding any bad bits) by a local - Ollie. Although I've been to Devon several times now, Plymouth had not been on my radar previously - it's a mid-sized port town with a naval and marine base, known historically as the place Francis Drake sailed from, and was heavily bombed during the war. I had thought that, if it was as sensitively rebuilt as Coventry was, then it would be the ugliest town on the south west coast. But Jaimee and Damian recently cycled through the area on holiday and said it was nice, and of course, Ollie thought it was worth seeing.

After a 3 hour train journey from Paddington, we checked into our hotel, the Duke of Cornwall, and settled into the weekend in front of the hotel's log fire with a glass of wine.

We were up early on Saturday morning for breakfast a short walk away at a little cafe called Rock Salt. The cheapest breakfast I've had in ages at only £6 for a very decent eggs benedict (the reasonable prices in this town were a surprising and recurring theme). We then drove to Yelverton and joined the Drake's Trail walking from here to Tavistock. It is a newly developed walking trail with a very pretty outlook over the nearby fields and especially with the surrounding trees all in autumn foliage. We stopped for a ploughman's lunch at the Rock Inn before heading to Burrator reservoir. The days are not long, but we made the absolute most of the daylight (albeit overcast) and walked around the first half of the reservoir. It was quiet and serene, and a lovely place for a walk. As dusk set in, we drove through the moors to the Two Bridges pub and I sipped a pint of cider lying back in the leather couch defending my drink from the landlord's cat.

Setting of on Drake's Trail

Burrator Reservoir

Moments later it was back to P-town for the evening's adventures. We started at an excellent cocktail bar called The Refectory, which astonishingly had some of the best cocktails I've ever had outside London. So I had 4 (they were only £7 each). The bar is in the Plymouth Gin Distillery so that might have something to do with the quality of the gin at least. Ollie booked dinner at Tanner's, a well-regarded local restaurant. It was excellent and totally exceeded my expectations. I ordered well:

Westcountry crab, avocado, pear, parmesan biscuit
Roast Bodmin venison loin, venison sausage, red cabbage and bramleys, beetroot, gratin dauphinoise
Caramel compressed pineapple, buttermilk, pistachio sponge (This actually had popping candy in it!)

Afterwards we had a night cap at a nearby bar called the Treasury (not a casino in sight).

I love crab

The venison (shot thanks to the resto)

The pineapple dessert (shot thanks to the resto)

Sunday was fortunately a later start. We walked to Royal William Yard. It's a redeveloped area that is now mixed use with restaurants, offices and galleries all with a view of the harbour. The River Cottage opened their second restaurant here so it must be a good spot! We grabbed a bite at a cafe and then took a ferry ride (it really was far too cold for an open air ferry!) around to an area called the Barbican. We had a pub lunch there with Ollie's parents - my first roast for the season! Lunch wrapped up and there was just enough time for us to walk along the Hoe (aka waterfront) to see Smeaton's lighthouse and then head to the train station.

A great weekend, nice to get out of London and get some fresh air, and even better to be exploring somewhere new (without lifting a finger myself!).

At Royal William Yard (it has a Greenwich vibe)

View of the Hoe from the ferry

Smeaton's lighthouse

The man himself, Drake (on the left)