The three Dawlish Cygnets are growing fast! Although they don’t look quite so cute anymore it is wonderful to see them growing bigger and more like their parents every day. They still get quite a lot of attention from everyone, especially over the half term holiday.

Despite the fact that it is a Bank Holiday weekend the sun is shining here at Sandays: “costa del Dawlish” as I heard someone describe it earlier today! Of course all Radio 1 listeners will already know all about it because the “Big Weekend” is in full swing just up the road at Powderham Castle. Some of our guests were there on Saturday and had a great time.

There is lots going generally and these pics are from the Dawlish Street Market and Funday, there were some great stalls and loads of people around all day. The beach is busy again today too, can’t beat sea & sand in the sunshine.

The Jolie Brise sailed into Teignmouth for the first time in 90 years this afternoon, accompanied by a flotilla of boats.

Lovely Luscombe castle in Dawlish is kindly throwing open its gates for a couple of charity mornings in May. We went from Sandays last Friday morning but there is another opportunity coming up on Friday 27th May which is in aid of the Friends of Dawlish Hospital. Walk up the drive if you can; it is designed to be beautiful with huge trees and the house gradually coming into sight. The gardens are a colourful delight at this time of year with lovely views up the valley.

Gardens at Luscombe Castle

Luscombe Castle, Dawlish

Thought I would share these pics of bluebells around the Haldon Belvedere taken yesterday. It was a lovely sunny weekend and the bluebells in the woods all around Haldon are looking really lovely and scenting the air too. Note that the Belvedere is open on Sunday afternoons 2 – 5pm, really worth climbing up the wonderful spiral stairway to the roof top.

A trip to Plymouth makes a great day out from Sandays as we found again this week. The most relaxing way is to take the train (which takes around an hour) and stroll into the centre via the wide, landscaped pedestrian walkways. Plymouth is an interesting city which is currently receiving a lot of investment in the run up to the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing which will occur in 2020. Areas such as the Barbican are now very popular, and the huge waterfront is always simply stunning especially on a sparkling sunny day such as we had. We will be back again soon.