This is not a food blog so we’re not going to get bogged down on the right way to have your jam and cream on a cream tea.  In Devon the jam goes on the top and in Cornwall you have it under the cream.  I have no particular preference because I think the quality of the ingredients is important.  You have a tasty jam, then stick that on top.  But, if you have a quality Cornish clotted cream, then that deserves top billing on your scone.

But that’s just like my opinion man, and in a world where everyone is trying to influence us, do what pleases you.

What has pleased us for the past four weeks has been the weather.  Before we left you hope that it won’t be too bad, it is spring in Britain and Ireland so you have to take what you get.  But sunshine for weeks on end, was more than we could ever dream of.  I packed too much cold weather clothes but travel is adapting and my two pairs of shorts have served me well for the past six weeks.

In Ireland we had always hoped that the pace would be slower than our trip through Europe last year, we were intent on a couple of days here or there to unwind and recharge the batteries.  That never happened, there was just too much to explore.

But we have slowed the pace down since we arrived in Devon and Cornwall.  We’ve been here before, we know what we like and we don’t have a strong urge to explore, more a sentimental wander through past visits.

We spent two nights in Linton on the North Devon Coast where we stretched our legs walking through a tick infested woods and grasslands.  We took a funicular cliff top railway, walked a terrifying cliff top path before finishing the day with cherry pie and ice cream beside the quaintest cricket ground I have ever seen. 

We moved on to Polzeath, in Cornwall, and its amazing stretch of beach.  There we put ourselves through yet another terrifying cliff top walk and ate nachos for lunch with a few pints at a restaurant with a view that could not be beat.

We moved a few miles south to Padstow where we drank of few ciders on the harbour one sunny afternoon, chatted with the local busker who provided a lifelong memory about eight years ago and found ourselves in a posh pub in Rock where we blew the budget on cocktails, oysters, a tiny shepherd’s pie, a crab hot dog and cherry trifle, washed down with a dessert wine. 

It was a superb meal and before we took the ferry back to Padstow, Chloe did her usual thing and went nuts on the wide expanse of low tide sand on the Camel estuary.  That was a day none of us will forget in a long time. 

I’m writing this in a little village called Polruan, which as just across the River Fowey from Fowey. We’re planning another walk today, some more ferry crossings and another meal out.  The walk down to Polruan was steep and I’m beginning to worry there will be more cliffs.

You can view Kerry’s latest reel here.