The Romantic Coasts of Southern England
Think of the south of England and the films and novels of Rosamunde Pilcher naturally spring to mind. Thoughts of the south and of warmth appear, of colourful flower landscapes, wild seas and gentle hills. Typical English villages, shops and a landscape that is more than a little reminiscent of Ireland.
We fly into London and make our first stop in Salisbury, a lovely little English town overlooked by Salisbury Cathedral. Its history goes back to the year 1066, after the Normans had conquered England. Its construction was completed in the early 14th century and ever since it has watched over the town of Salisbury as a divine landmark. We enjoy our evening with fish and chips in an English restaurant, before returning to our hotel, tired but content.
The next day is something special, something many have been looking forward to. Stonehenge, an English landmark that is well known all over the world. Why it was built is still disputed even today. A place of peace, a burial site or even an astronomical observatory: any of these could be true, but none has yet been verified. Standing there, at the foot of a monument in time, I feel small and almost insignificant. Even though I do not know why Stonehenge was built, I am deeply impressed by its history and by the work the ancient inhabitants must have done to be able to erect such a monument.
Our eventful day takes us back to Salisbury, where, after a hearty dinner and a little nightcap, we gladly climb into bed.
In the afternoon we are driven across the vast Dartmoor and marvel at the emptiness of the national park. With the landscape as it appears, I feel almost as if I were in a fantasy novel. Abandoned, empty, populated only by a few small inns, by sheep and horses. On the hilltops large stone cairns have been built and, if you look a little more closely, various stone circles on the ground recall Stonehenge. Our guide shows us the foundations of huts from 2000 BC and explains that these are the oldest traces of human settlement in Great Britain.
We spend the evening in St Austell, a cosy little English town, where we first stop for a short break for tea and scones before checking into the lovely hotel and enjoying a hearty dinner.
The next day we are free to do what we like. But we join the group on the trip to Land's End, the westernmost point of the whole of England, not counting Ireland. This is just how I imagined Cornwall. The route leads us between dense hedgerows, where there is room for only one vehicle, over steep cliffs and on to the little village of St Ives, which somehow recalls the south of France. It is warm, almost too warm for typical English weather. But we do not complain; who would? We have a little time for a break and so visit a hidden beach, smaller than the typical beaches of France or Italy, but lovely and very picturesque. A small group of riders gallops past us and I immediately feel the wish to do this myself one day. On a next visit here to Cornwall, that is at the top of my list. That, and of course a kayak trip along the steep coasts, which even the locals rave about.
The next stage of the journey takes us to Clovelly, a car-free town in the north-west of Cornwall. There is not much to it: a few houses, a small harbour, a small English fishing village, in short. Alongside other tourists we stop at the little restaurant and enjoy our lunch, before travelling on to Bristol, where we make our last major stop, before saying goodbye to the sea and driving back to London across the English interior.
A special trip that will delight everyone with its many highlights and incredible scenery!
