Dave & I were sad to have to make a trip to Devon for Aunt Audrey’s funeral, but so glad we could reconnect with his cousins and share condolences.
Here’s a picture of all three sisters: Dave’s mom, left, Aunt Audrey, middle, and Auntie June, right, with their kids (Sheila, Paul, baby Laura, Viv, and Jane). Dave remembers lots of visits to the beach at Exmouth, hanging out in this hut.
We were able to book a 4-night stay in Topsham at the excellent Salutation Inn, with an amazing 300-year-old door and delicious breakfasts in a glass-enclosed cafe. After a lovely & sad service in the morning, we met the family for dinner in Lympstone, just 2 stops down on the train — so handy.
We made the most of a few extra days by driving down to Cornwall for lunch, to see the village that Doc Martin is filmed in: Port Isaac substitutes for Portwenn in the show. Our pub lunch offered this view of the harbo(u)r. We made it back for a family dinner, and told them we drove just to get Cornish fudge for dessert!
The following day, we had another family lunch, then headed the other direction to Dorset. I was able to meet up with an artist I knew from Twitter, who happens to live in the same town that Broadchurch is filmed in. Well, we couldn’t pass up a chance to see those golden cliffs! And as a total surprise, they were, in fact, filming a scene for Season 3 of the show — and there was David Tennant himself, well-protected by a crowd of people, up on a sand dune, but unmistakable, to our delight.
It had been too long since we’d met up with Dave’s family — 6 years — and a sad reason for a reunion, but a lovely trip worth taking, as our visits to this area have always been.