My monthly hits up by 64.5% shows much interest in UK holidays

A check on 24th Feb to 24th March figures this morning shows a huge increase of 64% in page views on last year's figures.
Hopefully this means that the British holidaymaker is considering staying in the UK for his holiday this year....

No race to the airport

No fretting on the way - on the motorways, Underground, airport car parks.

No passport to worry about.

No money to be exchanged.

No long waits in the airport lounge.

No airport taxes.
No worries about using your credit cards abroad at extortionate prices

No sitting next to someone with bad breath for a 4 hour+ flight.
No airport passport control at the other end. (I was once pulled aside and interrogated for 10 minutes by a very aggressive woman security officer on arrival at Chicago for having a paperweight for my Aunty Sue in my suitcase. They had seen it on the screen as a possible hand grenade. I suggested that I just open the bag to show them, but I think they thought I was a suicide bomber. It was not pleasant.)

No foreign language to battle with.

No foreign food for your tummy to manage.
No embarrassing Brit yobs showing you up unless you are in the wrong place here!

I could go on and on.....

Do yourself a huge favour - take a British holiday this year and discover some totally stunning parts of this country.
Such as Dartmoor !!!

The caravan trail heralds a great Summer here in the South West

Love them or loathe them they are a perfect indicator of holiday activity for me.
Caravans !!
Having a keen interest in the flow of holiday visitors into the south west, both as a landlady in the early 80's and for the last 20 years as tourist information, I tend to head count the caravan traffic to gauge overall incomers whenever we travel into Exeter, which these days is about once a week. On the stretch from Whiddon Down to the city, after all these years I can't help myself from looking out at the start of each year for any significant show of caravans.
In the early days with the kids in the back, we would count the caravans from A to B and cheer if the numbers were high. From memory the highest we counted before the Exeter turn off was 120+, but then again we rarely covered the journey on a Friday evening, as we would usually have bed and breakfast guests indoors ourselves.
But how things have changed in those few short years.....
There was a time when the girls saw in the distance coming towards us what we all thought to be a caravan only to discover as it drew closer that it was a motor home. Points had to be deducted !
they didn't count !
Today the motorhome seems to have outnumbered the caravans. Last night on our journey home from the supermarket shop, there were over a dozen motorhomes cruising along and only 2 caravans hooked up and travelling.
Our pals George and Linda have a state of the art motorhome which they take out at the start and end of the season and they absolutely love it.
Myself I can see the appeal. When our two were very little we would pack up our secondhand teeny tiny caravan, the smallest one in the Sprite range, (naturally we called it the Sprout) and secondhand at that. I would spend most of Friday packing in home cooking and a change of clothes, the dog bed, potty, matches etc and off we would go into some neighbouring county for the weekend. We rarely went on long excursions, chiefly because in those days we couldn't afford the petrol. Which was of course much less miles per gallon even with a small outfit being towed on the back.
We used to belong to the Caravan Club, and they would organise some great family events. In the early 80's we took ourselves off to Dovedale and had a great Easter weekend making new friends and winning the Easter Bonnet competition hands down. Fortunately for me we had taken Easter Eggs and a things to do box with scissors, glue and a old yellow towel for drying off the dog which when cut into long strips, came in very handy as trimmings !!
Ever resourceful hey ?
I don't think the owners of some of the expensive campervan outfits would want us to pitch up next to them in such a tinkerish way today. Their vehicles are all shiny and stuffed with every conceivable mod con. But we all need to get away from our daily routine now and again and take a fresh look at life whether it's in expensive swank or 'let's just go' mode. And the weather is certainly cheering up in Devon. Hawthorn is showing proper green, the daffs this year are the best show ever and I am picking up my latest clutch of ex-battery hens this Thursday.
I've already been out and turned my compost heap this morning and I plan to pick purple sprouting and rhubarb off the veg patch before lunch.
Maybe tomorrow we can take ourselves off over the Moor to see all the new growth and catch a good sunset shot. The skies have been clear blue just lately with a touch of frost overnight. Perfect for pix.
Have a great weekend yourself.
Come down to Dartmoor why not ?
See you soon I hope !!

Jilly P

Middle Cottage, self catering at a family budget price.

Not every holiday cottage is bang up to the minute, contemporary, top of the range.
But that doesn't mean they are not all worthy.
I visited this one last week that's new to my website, and it did cross my mind that today's Tourism Inspectors would be making copious notes about one or two things on offer.
The crockery is not all the same pattern, and some of the glasses are not a standard size.
The settees and chairs are not all of one suite, but hey it's very much home from home.
And that is reflected in the price.
What is does have is lots of space for your kids to run outdoors, a barbeque area in the garden, 3 toilets, easy parking, peace and quiet, and something that may well appeal to larger families - it's very close, but totally seperate to an up to the minute (flat screen installed) ground floor let, again with good sized garden, so if you have members of your family who want to be on their own, it's an ideal set up.
Both cottages have a clear night sky to enjoy with no light pollution, so anyone with a good telescope would appreciate the set up.
here's my review of Middle Cottage if you want to take a closer look.

Back from Norfolk and already on my soapbox

Just back from a few nights in Norfolk with our younger daughter Elizabeth.
Yes thanks had a lovely time.. We made full use of our Senior Railcards and journeyed from Devon and back for just £64.90 (for 2 of us return !! bargain)
Back at the desk now with fresh inspiration and keen to get under way with my new website which should be in place in time for Easter.

Just before I went away I visited The Welcome Stranger, a pub on the very edge of Dartmoor not far from Trago Mills. Slightly off the beaten track, but nice and friendly, well priced and I think perfect if you want to see all that Dartmoor has on offer, not be far away from the south coast, and keep within your budget too.
At long last accommodation providers are getting their acts together as to what the customer is looking for, nay what the customer now expects from a holiday in the UK.
Number one on the list - they expect en-suite facilties or their own private adjacent bathroom.
Most of us don't mind a second or two on the landing twixt bedroom and bathroom, but there are a few who will only book if the bathing facilities are able to be entered from the bedroom without the threat of prying eyes. As a great many of us have this luxury at home, it's only natural that we don't want to have to dodge fellow guests in any likely toilet queue.
So top marks to Petra at the Welcome Stranger. She has installed brand new up to the minute shower rooms with her 2 bed and breakfast rooms. Click the picture and you will see the quality fittings. Good space and good heating. I applaud you Petra.
Last year I was asked to build a website for a charming B&B, again on the south of the Moor, with the most dreamy garden and very nice interior. They had worked hard at bringing the property up to date, BUT the letting rooms all shared a bathroom. Not only that but the bathroom backed onto the bedhead in the best room, and I instantly made a mental note to only recommend the place to families.
Early this year the owner rang to say that they were closing.


Next on the list of what I consider to be priorities, is the open house rule. Way back in the past poor souls at popular seaside resorts might be expected to leave the 'digs' by 10 and not come back until 5 o'clock, but nowadays guests expect to be able to come and go during the day.
Reasonable people will understand if homeowners have an appointment at the dentist and have to lock up for the odd hour or two. But for the rest of the time, these days visitors might well want just to lie on the bed all day watching the television if they so wish. They can do that at the large national chains such as Premier Inns and the like. ( which I hope all visitors will waive aside in favour of a real experience) Once in this beautiful part of the country, they will soon be itching to venture outside, and it is up to the host to provide information on what it going on in the area.
Good hosts will make sure that visitors can pick up a file with up to date menus from local eating houses too.
Oh dear the post has just arrived.... a week's worth to deal with. I had better get off my high horse at this stage and go and do some real work.
Nice talking to you though.... sorry this entry is rather disjointed.... my life is at the moment.
When the new website comes on line, Tom tells me that I will be entering the world of Tweeting.
I'm finding it hard to keep abreast of popular technology as it is....
Nice to be home.... Jilly

Oh yes, here's the link to my food review of the Welcome Stranger