After venturing to Switzerland after the first relaxation of restrictions in 2020, things seemed less safe in summer 2021, and certainly more of a hassle to travel abroad. So I decided to stay at home, and revisit Cornwall for the first time in 10 years, with my parents in tow. We had a plan: two nights just outside Dunster, a week at the Talland Bay Hotel near Polperro, and two nights at Yalbury Cottage near Dorchester, at the very end of August/beginning of September. Everything was booked.

Oh, for the plans of mice and men, or at least the plans of Nonconformist and parents…

On the Thursday before we were due to set out on the Monday, we got a call from the hotel. Half their staff were down with Covid and they had had to close. We looked for alternative accommodation, but basically Cornwall was fully booked apart from Newquay, which was, at the time, Covid Central following the BoardMasters festival. We were tied in to the south west due to our other stops, and looked around for an alternative destination in Devon. Nowhere had vacancies for the time we needed; we could have split the week between three different places but that was not very relaxing. At last we found a hotel in Torquay with availability and booked it. But.. why did it have spare rooms at the last minute? Was this an Enormous Red Flag? And the Trip Advisor reviews were, well, mixed – a schizophrenic combination of 5 stars and complete disasters. But beggars can’t be choosers, so we went ahead… (There was a tiny sentimental reason in favour of it, which was that it was where my grandmother stayed when visiting my dad at boarding school in the 1950s.) Another red flag missed - the website proudly talks about a refurb ... in 2001.

I spent the weekend researching places to visit while we were there, anxiously reading Trip Advisor reviews of our hotel with mounting concern, and cancelling all the things we had booked for Polperro. Thankfully, everyone was very understanding about our situation, and I even got a refund from the Lost Gardens Of Heligan for unrefundable tickets.

So the first leg was more or less as planned. Perhaps a little less than more.. . I had intended for us to visit Sherborne Castle on the way to Dunster, but a late start, a coffee stop at a relative’s house, and Awful Traffic around Stonehenge meant we were well behind schedule, so as we were officially Dying of Starvation we ditched that in favour of a much needed late lunch at Shaftesbury at 2.30. This is a pretty little market town with an iconic hilly street, Gold Street. We took a look at this – it really is incredibly steep and rather pretty. We ate in a really cute little teashop called King Alfred’s Kitchen. No burned cakes here, but a super cream tea with wonderful scones and Dorset apple cake in a charming little room with historic stone walls and fireplace; parts of the building are 13th century. There was a music festival going on in the town, but we didn’t have time to experience it.

We almost never left Shaftesbury – not because it was so nice, although it was, but because some Inconsiderate Parker had blocked us in our parking space by parking their car far too close. It was possible to drive the car out – just not to actually get in the driving seat of the car to do so. (My dad was the only one of us who was legal to drive, and he was a touch too stout to squeeze in the tiny space available.) The Inconsiderate Parker was nowhere in evidence. We milled around for a while, then eventually secured some assistance from a kindly and slimmer driver, who kindly agreed to drive it out of the space for us. Embarrassing perhaps, but amusing in retrospect.

After All That, we finally reached our B&B around quarter to 7. Steps Farmhouse is about three miles out of Dunster, and our satnav had some difficulty finding it, taking us down the wrong side road in the dark, but we eventually made it. We dropped our bags and ventured to find something to eat. We hadn’t booked for dinner that night, as despite a friend who had been to Dunster a couple of weeks earlier saying virtually nowhere was open there, my dad insisted there would be bound to be a pub open. I had my doubts, but although there was nothing in walking distance, there was a cheap and cheerful pub a mile or so away, the Washford Inn. Perfectly adequate, if not exactly haute cuisine.

Steps is a farmhouse offering accommodation in some out buildings, with breakfast in the main farmhouse. We had booked one room on the upper floor up a rather rickety wooden staircase, and one on the ground floor. I was a bit concerned that the front door opened directly onto the outside and the lock didn’t seem very strong. This room felt a bit like a lean-to, with thick stone walls, perhaps a converted stable. However, it was scrupulously clean and the beds were very comfortable. Breakfast was excellent, with hot food to order and a delicious muesli/yogurt/fruit confection. There was a guest garden and outdoor bar, but we didn’t use this. I found it impossible to work the shower; asking at breakfast I was told where the switch was (not in the shower room…) but had to wash at the sink the first night/morning.

We had a relaxed start to the day, and drove into Dunster. We parked near the charming little Galloxbridge, on an old packhorse route, and walked into town. We wandered round the shops, then had a drink and cake at Lock’s Tea Room (OK but not amazing). Dunster is always lovely just to walk around. We had been to Dunster before, so didn’t particularly want to see the castle again. I would have been happy to show my parents Cleeve Abbey, which they had not seen before, and is a really fabulous ruin with so much remaining, you can even climb the stairs to what would have been the monks’ dormitory – I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area; however, it was closed today. I suggested Arlington Court, a National Trust property an hour or so away, but we decided it was a bit far; it had been my original suggestion for a visit on the drive from Dunster to Polperro (alas!) My mum remembered some particularly pretty village in the area with an amazing tea room, but she couldn’t remember the name, or where it was.

We were in the vicinity of the Exmoor Visitor Centre by now, as my mum had wanted to go to a particular shop at that end of Dunster, so we asked in there if they had any ideas. The unlucky staff member said he thought perhaps it was Selworthy, so off we drove. Navvy, as we had christened our new Satnav, took us down a little side road fringed by high banks and long grass. It got narrower and narrower as we drove along, and the car kept squealing it was too tight. There were no passing spaces either, but luckily (or was it?) no traffic was coming the other way. Eventually, after about a mile, we got to the end of this little roadway and found the National Trust car park for Selworthy round a turning. Walking back down to the road to find the village, I cast a glance down the little road we had driven down… and spotted a sign. Not Suitable for Motors. Oops. We looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Selworthy itself was, it turned out, the place my mum remembered. It really was enchanting, with a handful of yellow thatched cottages perched on the slopes of a hillside. One of the cottages is a small gift and art shop, and another is a fabulous tea place. Scones were even better here than in Shaftesbury. The little white church, slightly removed from the houses, had an interesting fonr cover suspended from the ceiling by a pulley system with a wooden dove on it, and the iron remains of the ancient parish chest, filled in with concrete. Leaving, we found the actual road in, which was rather less narrow, and would have been the turning after the one Navvy took us down.

We continued along the min road to Porlock, famed in literary history or rather in preventing literature, then took a little drive into the Exmoor National Park, using a map we had picked up in the visitor centre. We did a loop across the top of Dunkery Beacon and the eastern part of Exmoor before returning to Steps. The weather had been gloomy all day, and the rain came on as we drove across the moor, down some more narrow roads, but we still managed to get a view of the sea from the top.

We had prebooked dinner tonight in Dunster, so after changing we went back into town to Hathaway’s. Covid restrictions meant you had to book a specific arrival time. The small restaurant had a nice ambience, the food was OK but not as good as they thought it was, and they were very precious about substitutions. Have they not heard of allergies?

Next morning we left Somerset for Torquay. Almost exactly halfway between the two was a National Trust property, Knightshayes, so we made that our visit of the day. Navvy got us lost getting there, and tried to take us down an even narrower and dodgier looking road than she had done the pervious way. We took fright, and decided not to continue, involving driving backwards for half a mile and a 100 point turn… However, safe and sound we eventually found a more reasonable road.

Knightshayes is an example of the Victorian Gothic, an idiosyncratic mix of cosy Victorian country house with extremely large billiards room, and fake medieval complete with minstrels’ gallery. The garden is supposed to the highlight of this property, but after being shut down for a year due to Covid (the staff were all furloughed and volunteers not allowed to visit either), it was looking sad and neglected.

So on to Torquay, and our forebodings proved ...

justified. The Grand Hotel had some good points, but as feared there was a reason they had room to spare for us. It was very much the worse for wear. The first impression was the parking garage, which is in a truly awful state. Pigeons nesting and worse in the ceiling, and the protective netting ripped through in multiple places. The parking was also very hard to negotiate due to too many spaces being crammed in, combined with metal posts. We saw one accident as an unfortunate guest drive their car into a post. The spaces around the outside of the garage are charged at £10 per night - shocking considering the conditions. The inner spaces are free (but not bookable), but make the outside spaces hard to get into. Staff were lovely about changing our assigned spot a couple of times, eventually getting us one we were happy about negotiating. There is also free street parking nearby.

The best thing about the hotel was in fact the staff, at least front of house and waiting staff, who were uniformly *excellent*. A predominantly very young team with a few veterans did really well, were very hard working and helpful, and we witnessed them dealing very professionally with some of the unhappier and more vocal customers. The porter was really helpful too.

Rooms were poor quality, and definitely not 4 star quality. Very shabby - stained carpets and ripped wallpaper. I found my bed too hard to sleep on, but after a couple of nights asked for an added topper, which was efficiently supplied that night, and solved the problem for the rest of the stay. Housekeeping was another poor area, with inadequate cleaning - no signs of hoovering, and my bathroom sink had a plug of the previous customer's hair blocking it all week. Yuck. On one occasion one of the fresh towels supplied was stained; they did replace this on request although less efficiently, initially took the replacement to the wrong room... It was also surprising and disappointing not to have a fridge/minibar in the room. There was almost no storage.

The public areas were better kept, although we noticed a large broken pane of glass in the bar. Casually enquiring how this had occurred and expecting a colourful story, a staff member admitted it had happened so long ago they had no idea. The pool was a good temperature, but oddly shaped and difficult to swim lengths in because at least half of it was too shallow. I would have expected a 4 star to supply bathrobes so you could go straight to the pool from your room and not need to change. Another surprise: no laundry service.

Food was hit and miss. Breakfasts were suprisingly good - all buffet but they managed to replenish the hot dishes very efficiently. The toaster was a bit feeble. I was disappointed not to see pains au chocolat, but the little apple pastries were lovely and the fresh fruit salad was excellent. Staff were really very good about bringing a jug of cold water to the table (I don't drink tea, coffee or fruit juice).

Dinners, which we took four times at the hotel out of convenience, were much more mixed. We had actually booked at their brasserie the first night, but on enquiring were told it had been shut for months. Only the main dining room was operational. The rack of lamb was their most successful main, served with lots of lovely gravy and mashed potato. Sea bass served on top of a bowl of thin watery broth was not a good idea. Puddings varied between a really good sticky toffee pudding and the worst lemon drizzle cake known to man, a ghastly solid cold sodden lump, quite inedible. Chocolate pudding was far too dry, and had virtually no sauce - like a very poor quality supermarket pudding. A blackberry Eton mess was quite good.

Outside the hotel's control, it was not located in the nicer part of Torquay, but a long walk along the man road. It would have been very convenient for those arriving by public transport and planning on day trips as it was opposite the station. If closer to the town or other restaurants we would have eaten out more. Overall, really expensive for what you get, which no doubt adds to disappointment for many. We paid more per person for a week here than I did for two weeks in *Switzerland* in a much nicer 4 star last year.

on for the ride

After a poor first night’s lack of sleep, we walked into the town of Torquay, which we also felt had Seen Better Days, and quite some time ago. We had some essential shopping to do, as Mum had left her phone charger at Steps and needed a replacement, and had a drink. We returned to the hotel to collect the car, and drove to Cockington, a pretty little village and craft centre not far away. We had tea in one of the converted cottages, then on to see the craft workshops, but were a bit late to see much.

Mum was desperate to have her hair done, and the hotel reception had recommended a hairdresser. Meanwhile I walked the fairly short distance to Torre Abbey. This was a really interesting place to visit, a small stately home built from the remains of a ruined abbey. There is a very large barn (viewable from outside only) where Spanish prisoner from the Armada were held in 1588 for 23 days before being taken to Exeter for a year (they were then allowed back to Spain). The house has some fascinating historical connections, being owned by the Protestant settler of Ulster, the 1st Earl of Londonderry, and later by a Catholic family, the Carys. When their finances failed in the 19th century their estate was bought up by developers, leading to much of the development of Victorian Torquay. Returning to the hotel, I expected to find my parents ready to go, but no sign. Eventually my dad drove up – they had got lost and missed their slot, and he had only just dropped her off, so there was another hour to kill. Happily, when we collected her from Vanity Fayre, my mum was extremely happy with her hair, and would recommend it to other older ladies.

We drove to Brixham for the afternoon. A characterful seaside town, I quite liked it but parents were less charmed. We enjoyed crab sandwiches in a rather poky little pub off the harbour, and then had a little walk around. That evening we ate at a nice, rather doggy pub, the Dum Inn in sweet little Cockington.

Next day we visited Coleton Fishacre, a small 1920s NT property with a pretty garden. This was probably my mum’s favourite place we visit, as she and Dad enjoyed looking at all the 1920s furnishings. In the afternoon we drove across the river ferry to Dartmouth. The quaint streets were not quite as charming as we had expected.

Next day we had booked for Greenway, Agatha Christie’s holiday home. The visit itself did not need to be booked, but parking did, and it would be impossible without a car. We didn’t like it as much as Coleton Fishacre, partly because it felt very cluttered with Agatha’s collections. We drove on to the dramatic ruined castle at Berry Pomeroy, where we also found a nice tea place just outside. The castle was down another very narrow road. We dined that night at the Bistrot Pierre, a pleasant French restaurant in Torquay, and enjoyed it enough to book for another meal.

The weather had been largely dry but grey, so it was a spirit-raiser to get some lovely sunny weather the following day. We also found the nice part of town at last. We went round the Babbacombe Model Village, which was much more fun than we expected – a really elaborate group of miniature buildings of all kinds, including Stonehenge and a house on fire.

On our last day in Torquay we had another booked NT visit, Compton Castle. More of a fortified medieval home, it was a really interesting place to visit, though quite small. It had no café, but there was a nice place offering cream teas near by.

Checking out of the Grand with a sigh of relief, we drove back to Devon via a stop at Sidmouth. We had a nice snack at a seafront café, then went to the Donkey Sanctuary. The donkeys are cute (although Covid meant the close encounter shed was not operational and not many were around at all, but it was chilly and drizzling so we didn’t stay as long as we had intended.

We always love Yalbury Cottage and its fantastic food, and had booked two nights here. On the day in between we met up with family members who were staying in Weymouth, and walked around the Sculpture by the Lakes (prebook only). Then we went into Dorchester for an essential shopping trip where we managed to buy some underwear several sizes too small. That evening, our fellow diners included someone we had spotted at the Scupture Park so fell into conversation; they were stunned by Yalbury. One of them worked in luxury brands and had, for work, eaten at a lot of top Michelin starred places, and felt Yalbury was of equal quality

On the way back home we managed to fit in a visit to Sherborne Castle, which we had not got to on the first day of the trip. It was well worth it – a fascinating 16th century country house, which, like Compton earlier in the week, had connections with Sir Walter Raleigh.

PS, having avoided catching Covid while on holiday, my dad managed to pick it somewhere a few weeks later and kindly gave it to me on my next visit to see them ☹

PPS: next year doesn’t look any better for Abroad, so we’re going to make another attempt at Polperro.

Thanks for the TR! Kudos on the driving, I have been using public transport in the UK, even though I grew up and learned to drive there.

I had planned a stay in Torquay in 2018, but my knees gave out and I didn't think I could cope with the stairs in my B&B and went back to Bath and an apartment hotel with an elevator instead. I had considered the Grand, as I wanted to be near the station but didn't care for the sound of it, thanks for confirming my doubts!

Do hope you have both recovered from Covid, long Covid scares me almost as much as Covid itself.

Yes. we're all better now, even Dad who got it the worst. I think being vaccinated helped, even if it didn't stop us getting it.

I enjoyed reading this well written account of your adventures and misadventures. Thanks!

Thank you!

nonconformist, I enjoy your travels with your parents, as I have travelled with mine several times now. We each have our little quirks that take some tolerance when in close quarters for too long.

I love your attitude ‘…seen better days, and quite some time ago…’ lol

Thanks for posting your TR -- great attitude re the less than 'pristine' hotel. Did I miss it somewhere -- when was the trip, last summer or more recent? Because of mentions of gardens I assume last summer. You hit some of my favourite spots in the SW, and yes, isn't Gold Street steep . . . like REALLY steep.

Now you know why even in this day of ubiquitous sat navs I always (ALWAYS) have a paper road atlas at the ready. Saved me from more than one 100 point turn

Yes, this last autumn. We did have a paper atlas in the boot, we just never got it out