Day 48 (6th August 2022)

 Up early and descended into Looe in brilliant sunshine. It's another one of those wonderful Cornish seaside villages built in a steep river valley that ends in the sea. Looe was once two villages (East Looe and West Looe) that became one with the building of a bridge and government interference. 

After going to Looe, I thought I might try to get to some of the NT properties around this part of the world. Antony was closed yet again  - it's almost as if they don't want any visitors. This theory was confirmed when I reached Buckland Abbey and chatted to the person at reception there.

Lovely quiet place with some very odd Elizabethan carvings. Famous for being a former residence of Sir Francis Drake as well as a Cistercian Monastery.

I still had quite a few useful hours in the day, so started heading in a southerly direction down some very narrow roads until I came across a very frightened looking dog, trailing a lead behind him. I got out and picked him up just to get him off the road. Tried ringing the mobile number on his tag but I had no signal. The road was totally enclosed in bramble and general greenery that only a vole would be able to nip in and out of, so I put my hazards on and started to walk in the opposite direction to the one the dog had been walking in. It wasn't too long before I heard a desperate voice calling out his name, and in 10 minutes and quite a few scratches on my legs, dog and elderly owner were reunited.

Feeling more than a little heroic, I arrived at Saltram House.

Very grand with the most amazing tree in the grounds

It was a scorcher. I decided to head for my evening campsite rather than any of the outstanding Germinal CCXXIV places. As I drove in, I was met by a stern looking proprietor. "You can't stay here in that". I hadn't checked whether the campsite had "facilities" and as the Alphard doesn't, I wasn't allowed to stay. Luckily, I was 25 minutes away from another site whose reception closed in 30 minutes. It was much nicer but lacked signal or WiFi, hence why this is so late!

Allons-y 

Douglas Germinal CCXXIV Brain over and out