In July 2004 we headed to the south coast of England because that was one area of England we had not previously visited. We began by sailing from Roscoff, France to Plymouth, England. Here we found a bustling city with a historic port where the pilgrims set off for their new life in America. Much of the port has changed since then obviously, but the quayside has been renovated into a pleasant rest aur ant and sho ppi ng area (ph oto, abo ve). On the side of one building we found the plaque with the names of the people who boarded the Mayflower for that historic voyage (top of list shown at left). John Alden, the first to step ashore, is listed at the top. In the coming days was to be the powerboat offshore racing, so we quickly headed out to avoid the expected noise and congestion.

From Plymouth we headed west to the XXX coast where unfortunately we ran into some of the worst traffic we have seen in a long while (and this wasn’t even the weekend yet!). We rode several miles splitting lanes to get to Penzance for the night. Here we found a quiet seaside town and enjoyed a restful day. We went for several walks and found peaceful parks and quiet little lanes winding throughout the city. In the lane shown at right is an elderly couple enjoying their walk. We figure this will be us in a few years :-).

We then drove to Land’s End, the southwestern-most point of the UK.  We though perhaps we could get a photo of the bikes at this forlorn point with maybe a sign, but no, someone has purchased the land and made it into a destination point for tourists. As they were charging to just park the bikes, we said “no” and drove away. So alas, no pictures. Later, when talking with some Brits, they expressed the same sad feeling about the place now.

On the way north we drove through the lovely port city of St. Ives. Verna had to at least see it as she remembered a nursery rhyme from her childhood: A man was going to St. Ives. The man had 7 wives. Each wife had 7 sacks. Each sack had 7 cats. Each cat had 7 kits. Kits, cats, sacks and wives, how many were going to St. Ives? (answer at bottom). Anyway, we hadn’t intended on stopping until Jim’s fuse blew on his fuel pump. So a short stop in traffic while that was fixed and off we went.

Next stop was Dartmoor, a national park area to the north west of Plymouth. This is a wild, open area with few roads and even fewer business. A very nice change for us after the last couple of days. We stayed here one night and had a great rest and a couple of fine bitters (that was after Jim changed the broken spoke on his rear wheel). This area has a lot of wildlife as well as a lot of domestic sheep. There are signs everywhere warning “Sheep on the Road.” And they were right - the road warms up and the sheep, especially the lambs, have a nice warm napping place! You don’t drive quickly here.

O n t o B ri ghton we went. This is the seaside resort for those in the south. It is big with a lot of traffic, but we had to see the Brighton Pier. For those who have never been there, it is simply a long pier jutting into the ocean on which there is a carnival. In the photo at right you can see the carousel and other rides in the background. The folks here come for the sun, so like the people at the left of the photo, you grab a chair and enjoy the rays. It was a sunny day so we had more than enough sun just walking out to the end of the pier and back. Been there, done that.

We then went inland a bit to Salisbury as we wanted to see Stonehenge in the sun for once. You can see the pages on Salisbury and Stonehenge for more information.

Leaving Salisbury, we made a quick stop in Winchester to see the Winchester Cathedral. This is an impressive structure which is the longest medieval cathedral in England. The photo at left is the view of the central nave, looking from the choir (in foreground) to the front entrance (only about 2/3 the total length). It seems to go on forever. Above, in the library was a collection of ancient books as well as a beautifully hand painted bible which was open for display. The work was intricate and took months to complete a single page, painted with gold and lapis lazuli. And for those with a literary bent, author Jane Austin is buried here.

We drove back down to the coast and as we headed east, the traffic thankfully seemed lighter. Perhaps we were in less-visited territory for once. We spent an uneventful (but overpriced) night Bexhill then headed on to Dover.

We immediately headed to the Cliffs of Dover since neither of us had seen them before. They were a marvelous sight. There is a walking path along the cliffs maintained by the National Trust, so we parked the bikes and went hiking. We got some great views of the cliffs as well as the port and channel below. Although the cliffs are white, they are certainly not pure white as we once thought. There are veins of hard black flint running in layers through the white chalk. The chalk is a porous rock made from the lime shells of dead sea creatures that fell to the bottom of the sea, then were compressed by the water pressure (about 65-80 million years ago). The flint is formed by rainwater dissolving silica minerals in the chalk, then deposited in pockets forming the distinctive hard black flint. As the cliffs erode, the flint and chalk fall to the beaches below, then the soft chalk dissolves and the flint is washed to smooth small pebbles (which is why the beach seen in the photo is dark).

A couple of hours later we were sunburned and ready for rest and lunch. Then we decided we had seen enough of the south coast and drove to the port below, got our tickets and were on a ferry back to France in a few hours.

Okay, so how many were going to St. Ives? Only one, the man.

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