An "A-Devon-torous" Month (Pt. 2)

Good morning and welcome to the blog.

Friday 10th March, 2023

After a flat-out day the previous day, we decided to have a very much laid-back day on the 10th March.

Not wanting to ENTIRELY waste the day (and waste coming down to Devon), we decided to go to a local Prison museum in the town of Princetown in the afternoon.

Despite being a bit of "nip and tuck", arriving an hour before closing time, it was quite interesting and had some interesting exhibits.

I suppose my favourite bits were the replica prison cell you could walk into (and have a look around) and the display of contraband that was found in the real prison.

My only thought is - if that's what's been found - I can't imagine what's currently hidden and in use at the prison right now!

Upon leaving, one of the staff recommended a church which was built by (or partially built by) the prisoners at the Dartmoor Prison (the prison the museum was about) - so it would be rude to not check it out too.

Upon arrival, there were a few people outside. After finishing their own conversation, they then invited us inside for a tour - which we gladly accepted.

Because I have LITERALLY the memory of a goldfish,* I've forgotten pretty much all I've been told about the Church.

*Yeah, I know Goldfish have good memories, it's just a saying!

After visiting the church, we headed out to Wistman's Wood - but after 10 minutes of walking (and no sign of it), we headed back to the accommodation for a quiet evening in - it was getting late and we were up against the light.

Just for...content, here's what I had every night:

Wed. 8th: spag. bol & meatballs (Night #1)

Thurs. 9th: pizza (Well-Earnt)

Fri 10th: chicken drumsticks (X3)

Sat. 11th: pastabake (and possibly x4 drumsticks) Sun. 12th: chicken breasts

Saturday 11th March, 2023

Time flies when you're having fun and before we knew it, we were already half-way through our little holiday.

On Saturday, we had the one and only activity booked for the entire trip - a pottery workshop in Torquay.

Due to Torquay being an hour's drive away, we decided to get there early and spend a few hours looking in and around some local shops in Totnes - a nearby town.

This also gave me an opportunity to buy some cards and presents for friends and relatives who had birthdays coming up (or had just gone...)

We next stumbled upon Totnes Castle - but with time running tight (closing time and time we had to get back to the car) we decided to "come back another day"

On our return to the car, we walked through a market and picked up some absolutely delicious chocolate chip cookies - and I considered buying from an up and coming artist called Hannah Harris arts (https://www.hannahharrisart.co.uk/) who painted pieces such as these:

Plenty more can be found on her website - and she does cards, commissions and more - I'm baffled how she isn't more known with pieces like these.

Eventually, the highlight of the day arrived and it was almost time for our pottery workshop.

It's always better to turn up an hour early than an hour late - and that's exactly what we (unintentionally) did.

There was row of shops just around the corner, so we spent 3/4's of an hour there before heading back to Poppin's Pottery for our Session.

Upon arrival, I'll admit, I was hesitant - I have dyspraxia and hand-eye coordination isn't one of my strengths - but I was willing to give it a go.

From memory, the session was about an hour (possibly two?) and consisted of the instructor teaching/telling us how to throw a piece of clay - and essentially make a bowl.

Usually the logical way to go about things would be to start off slow and then speed up as you go throughout the session - but given clay's qualities - and the fact you have to be rather quick to form it before it dries - the opposite is true - and you've got to start off spinning the clay on a rotating disk (reminded me of a small Lazy Susan) very quickly, before slowing the spinning disk at the end for the final adjustments/finishing up.

Since there was at most 5-6 of us (clients/customers) - the instructor lady could assist many of us very quickly - meaning that if things were going a bit wrong - they could be easily fixed/sorted.

Not tooting my own horn, but (with a lot of help) I think I actually did pretty well - in the end I made two bowls/pieces of pottery.

At the end of the session, we decided on which colour we wanted our pottery to be/fired in - it was said we'd get our pottery in 6 weeks after the date of the session (Mid-April).

I'd give my experience and 9/10.

The instruction was 10/10 (though admittedly, I did get lost) - although the only thing that knocked it down was having the spinning table rub against the side of my hand, which I didn't like the sensation of.

Would I willy nilly just pick up pottery?

Quite honestly, no. My hand was held throughout the entirety of the workshop (metaphorically) and it was another thing I can add to my "first time experiences" list.

We then headed back to the accommodation for some grub and well-earnt rest.

This would be the furthest west we'd go all week.

Sunday 12th March, 2023

After 3 days of flat-out action (walking, walking and...walking) - we decided to take Sunday off and stay at the house - which suited me just fine - I was in all fairness a bit worn out of three days of back to back activity and action.

We did try and go out to a restaurant called "Karen's Resturant" - but sadly it was closed.

Monday was a new week and after a day to reset, I would be re-energised and ready to take on another week.