From the South West

Sue and I have been on holiday for 10 days, down in South Devon firstly and then moving on to South Cornwall. A few pictures now with at least a peripheral link to our marvellous hobby ~

Remains of Exeter's Norman castle attributed to William the Barsteward.

Corinthian helmet on display in the RAMM.

Flags laid up in Exeter Cathedral, the VIII regiment of Foot

Tomb of the 2nd Earl of Devon and his wife.

I was 3 months old when these were laid up!

Indian Mutiny memorial to the 9th, Queen's Lancers.

Ceiling boss depicting the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, by Henry II's knights.

Exeter Cathedral viewed from the Close. I'd not visited the cathedral since I was 12. It was so disappointing to find the entire Chancel and associated areas screened off for renovation!

Cornwall gets a lot of weather, or so they say. Despite dire forecasts we were mostly dry. A quick trip to Torpoint to look over at Devonport and Royal Naval dockyards.

The chain ferry in action.

Most of our ships seem out at sea on deployment? We christened this one HMS Troutbridge, after the radio show of my youth, The Navy Lark. We assume this is the vessel that's been up and down our bay for the previous two days.

As Anthony House is just up the road a way from our base we popped in again and almost had the house and gardens to ourselves.

The Carews of Anthony House were a divided family in the ECW. This portrait was cut out, thrown into the cellar, rescued and restitched into the frame as fortunes ebbed and flowed.

Nearly Headless Charles, and others, adorn the grand entrance hall.

In the C18th I may not have been Stout!

Admiral Cornelis Marteensonn Tromp,  a C17th Dutch Admiral during the Anglo-Dutch Wars - the time Samuel Pepys was at the Navy Board...

...today's Navy would probably make his jaw drop. HMS Troutbridge on sea trials, again, it seems.