Caravan Club site at Down Thomas, Plymouth
I am a great believer in using our own facilities in our caravan, so I diligently search out sites with no facilities and correspondingly low site fees in fantastic scenery.
The Caravan Club site at Down Thomas, which admits non-members, is one of these, but it strikes me as being unintentionally a site of two halves, one very average, and the other half pure magic. The uninspiring part is the flat bit at the top of the site, but the magic is to be found on the sloping part of the site overlooking Plymouth Sound. Unfortunately a large number of the magic pitches are taken by seasonal pitch holders, but if you can get one the view is spectacular. There is always something to watch, be it the navy frigates going in and out of their base in Plymouth, the car ferries from Roscoff or Santander, the yachtsmen careering all over the place or the water skiers flamboyantly showing off their skills. The only drawback of this site is that it is about five miles back to the main road to go to any of the tourist attractions in the surrounding area, but it is a price worth paying and it does go past a large supermarket so you can pop in and get fresh ingredients for the barbeque.
The first attraction must be Plymouth itself. A mammoth new shopping centre was due to open last autumn and the building was voted one of the ugliest buildings in the southwest by local television viewers. The National Maritime Aquarium is a real don’t miss, as you can easily spend half a day there among fish varying from large sharks to tiny colourful coral fish and everything in-between. From the Aquarium, walk to the steps where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail, and on to the Hoe where Drake played his game of bowls. A bit further afield on Dartmoor you can visit Drake’s home, Buckland Abbey, and see his drum, which is supposed to sound when England is in danger.
The National Trust also owns property nearby at Saltram House, a Georgian house with lovely grounds and a walk by the river Plym and on Dartmoor at Cotehele, a beautiful medieval house in glorious gardens which you walk through and down to the river and quay where a restored sailing barge is moored.
Dartmoor is, of course, wonderful walking country but there are plenty of easier walks near Down Thomas around the Sound or further along the coast, but if you have one of these magical pitches you probably won’t want to go anywhere else.
Jenny Sargeant |
