Driving to Plymouth

Posted on January 13, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged 1980's, bloganuary, bloganuary-2024-13, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1816, Devon, Driving, Memory, Motorways, Plymouth, TravelLeave a comment

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

In the 1980’s we went to visit a friend from college for the first time. It was a journey we would make every couple of years until he moved up to the North of England.

We lived in the Midlands and I’d learnt to drive about 6 months before. I was driving a Morris Marina.

We took the M6 then M5 motorways until it ran out and changed to an A road. We stopped off for breakfast at a service station because the journey was about 240 miles. I hadn’t been on a motorway very often and as we came out of the service station I ended up on the North bound slip road! I did something illegal. I reversed back down the road and then took the South road!

Luckily the route was very simple, we got to Plymouth, and the house we were visiting was a few hundred yards away from the motorway junction. I remember we took bicycles on the roof of the car so the rest of the week was spent cycling to beaches and visiting various interesting places. The trip back was uneventful!

This was pre satnav and we used maps to navigate. To be honest I still use an A to Z if I want to find somewhere. But my driving is restricted to short journeys these days.

Cornwall in the distance

Posted on July 19, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beach, Bovisand Bay, Cornwall, Devon, Landscape, People, Plymouth, Rain, Thinking, thunder storms, ViewLeave a comment

Across from Plymouth Sound in Devon sits the County of Cornwall. This is the view from Bovisand Bay. I love the South West of England. I would live there if I could afford it instead of the occasional visits we make every few years. I think it’s the attraction of the sea. We stayed in a caravan site near this bay on summer and saw a massive thunderstorm. The lightning was striking the surface of the water and we could look across the bay and see it hitting the Cornish side. It was like a spectacular light show.

Talking about thunder and lightning, we might be getting thundery showers on Wednesday or Thursday if the weather forecast is correct. I hope we get a decent amount of rain. Not the thing for a beach holiday, but we certainly need some water on the land.

Walnut tree

Posted on February 14, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged England, Environment, Growth, Nature, Plymouth, Squirrel, Stoke-on trent, Tree, twenty five years, WalnutLeave a comment

We bought this tree about 25 years ago as a sapling from Plymouth and planted it in our garden. It is now as tall as our house but as the garden slopes you could probably add another five or six foot to its growth. Since it was quite young it has produced walnuts which the local squirrels collect and store over winter. That has resulted in some unwanted saplings which we have dug up and given away. Walnuts don’t do well if their branches are cut. The sap tends to flow freely and can cause the tree to bleed sap. This can also allow infections which can damage the trees. Walnut wood is apparently very good for carpentry, but I intend to leave well alone. If it can get that big in twenty five years how big will it get in fifty…

Model boat

Posted on September 11, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged History, Life, model boat, Model train, Photo, Plymouth, shipping, train show, WeymouthLeave a comment

When you go to look at model train shows you don’t often see boats or ships. I suppose this might be collecting or delivering freight from the train running alongside the quay.

We went to Weymouth several years ago and saw the metal train tracks embedded in the harbour quay. I guess they would have used it for loading fish and shellfish to take to cities like London. I think there are similar lines in Plymouth. I know they had large passenger ships calling in at Plymouth in the past and they still have a ferry service as does Weymouth. Transport is a fascinating subject.

Smeatons tower

Posted on June 30, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #skylandscapeartistoftheyear, Art, Black and white, Black ink, Drawing, Plymouth, Sketching, Smeatons Tower2 Comments

Sky landscape artist of the year is on again so I quickly found Plymouth and Smeatons Tower that is featured in this weeks programme. The tower was a lighthouse built out in the sea. But it was rebuilt when an automatic one took over. This drawing took me ten minutes.

View of Plymouth sound.

Posted on August 13, 2019 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Bay, Bovisand, Cornwall, Devon, Fine Art, Holiday, Landscape, Life, Ocean, Plymouth, Sand, Sea, Water4 Comments

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This was a painting I did a few years ago. I think it’s from Bovisand Bay looking out over Plymouth sound across to Cornwall. I wish I could go back. I live the place. It’s just the cost and the length of the drive. I want to just have one whole week somewhere nice. We’ll we will see. Perhaps I will sell some paintings, enough to go there. X

Old watercolour

Posted on August 4, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Bovisand, Design, Devon, Old picture, Painting, Plymouth, Watercolour, Watercolour paperLeave a comment

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Painted a few years ago at Bovisand Lodge, near Plymouth. The tree is really old and at the back of the carpark. I painted it in situ. I think I must have sold this one a couple of years ago as I can’t remember where it went. I quite like trying to use strong colours in watercolour. It’s more interesting than building up pale layers.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Plymouth