I’ve been out barbecuing again - and it certainly is the season for it as the clouds continue to stay away and the sunshine continues, albeit in a cold kind of way. The article I was working on is in today’s Western Morning News, but here are a few bits and pieces about what we were doing lifted from the article… People used to have business meetings or even working lunches, now there’s team barbecues.  At least, that was the scene for me this week when I ventured out of my Exmoor valley for the first work appointment away from home in many months. And why not tweak a work commitment and make it fun, especially after the loneliness of lockdown? After all, the British barbecue season is well and truly with us now… There really were genuine excuses for me and my colleagues to turn our meeting into a barbecue this week. For a start, one of RAW Food and Drink PR’s clients is the famous Kamado Joe BBQ brand and the company’s head of global marketing, Ben Forte, wanted to show us a totally new product in action. And is there a better way of showing off what a barbecue can do than by actually cooking on it?  And Ben is a top expert when it comes to cooking over a live flame - so I knew were were in for a delicious working lunch the moment I saw the menu, which included a whole fish, barbecued Thai style. This would be followed by La Galbi - thinly sliced short-rib, cooked Korean style. There would also be Cochinita Pibil, a Mexican pork dish. I can’t recall when I’ve looked forward to a business meeting more… And then, if you’ve gone to all the trouble of creating fabulous dishes in order to show off your latest model - why not get one of the best food-photographers in the UK to capture some memorable images? This all seemed to make perfect sense as I left the motorway at Exeter to reach my colleague Harry Wilde’s garden in Topsham. Harry is a key member of the RAW team, but she also happens to be the partner of Nick Hook, who really is one of the top food photographers in Britain - as witnessed by the impressive list of clients he has across the South West.

While I was staying at the amazing Italian Hospitality Collection hotels in Tuscany we spent a day in Lucca - and wonderful Sunday morning it turned out to be.  We hired a couple of those bicycle-cars and pedalled around the old city walls - which was hard work but fun. Lucca, on the Serchio river, is renowned for those Renaissance walls - they are very well preserved and encircle the entire historic part of the city - and it’s hardly surprising the broad, tree-lined pathways along the tops of these massive 16th- and 17th-century ramparts are popular for strolling and cycling. Walk inside the old town and you cannot fail to be chaired by its cobblestone streets. There are a number of public squares, most notably the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, site of ancient Roman amphitheatre. We also enjoyed strolling through Piazzale Verdi; Piazza Napoleone'; and Piazza San Michele and passing Casa di Puccini, where the great opera composer was born, now a museum.

From Grotta Giusti to Bagni Di Pisa… The pools and therapies available at the sister Bagni Di Pisa hotel are altogether different. Same hot water, but another atmosphere. Slightly more upmarket. Reminiscent of the sort of place Agatha Christie might have visited. If Poirot ever went anywhere to “take the waters” this would be the place.  Actually, someone who did write something famous in this very hotel was Mary Shelley - who finished penning her story Frankenstein here after being partly inspired to write it back at home in Somerset’s Quantock Hills.  I attended a wine class in the sumptuous bar area named after her and husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The Shelley bar is set in its original 18th century furnishings. The Bagni di Pisa is an elegant five-star spa resort in San Giuliano Terme, just a few kilometres from Pisa, Livorno and Lucca.  And I’d say the hotel has more class in its little finger than many a hostelry I know where rooms cost three times the price.  It’s now part of the Italian Hospitality Collection - a world-class hotel, resort and spa brand that provides… “rich, authentic experiences for travellers who seek to feel loved, cherished and indulged in a genuine Italian lifestyle.” And talking of Italian lifestyle, we enjoyed a really first class wine-tasting experience here that was one of the best I have taken part in for a long time. Gustav of Sweden and George IV of England both stayed here as well as the Shelleys and all their famous friends.  And if its good enough for the inventor of Frankenstein, it’s good enough for me. Although I did feel a little Frankenstein-like during a spa treatment which saw me covered head-to-toe in sea salt for some reason I could never quite determine.  I was soon back on my feet again enjoying a true sumptuous dinner. The food in both hotels is as fabulous as you’d expect, but as I’ve written about the culinary experience in another article on the site I won’t repeat it here.  What I would say is - if you fancy a real and very elegant taste of Tuscany, then a stay at these hotels will most certainly fulfil your Italianate desires…

The composer Giuseppe Verdi once said: “You may have the universe, if I may have Italy…” Which is relevant to what follows, as Verdi used to stay at one of the two remarkable hotels in Tuscany which are the focus of the two features we’re putting up on this site. They know a lot of things about quality and class, those Italians - and Verdi was no exception. Tuscany is perhaps the standard-bearer for this rule. Just about everywhere you look in this province you will see beautiful, classical, views.  Just about everywhere you eat you will be treated to wonderful food. And just about everywhere you stay there’ll be something exceptional about your surroundings.  That is what I was thinking on my dual-hotel trip to Tuscany recently - a long-weekend which was full of novelty and surprises as well as the high quality I was expecting. My friends in the travel public relations world know that I have a weakness for the kind of Bel Epoque style hotels which hark back to times that were somehow more elegant, classy and altogether more stylish than the blander, ubiquitous, offerings presented by many of the big international hostility groups today.  Which is why they introduced me to the folks who run the Italian Hospitality Collection - a world-class hotel, resort and spa brand that provides… “rich, authentic experiences for travellers who seek to feel loved, cherished and indulged in a genuine Italian lifestyle.” That is what it says on the side of the very chic and classy tin, and also what you get inside. Here is what my invitation had to stay about the first of the two Tuscan hotels I visited…  “With a decadent history as the former home of famed poet Giuseppe Giusti, Grotta Giusti is now a prestigious hotel that has maintained its historical air and natural charm with a backdrop of antique furnishings and paintings. It offers lavish rooms with marble bathrooms, a large outdoor thermal swimming pool and a private underground thermal cave and lake, where guests can scuba dive or indulge in a spot of floating therapy.” Apart from being elegant and lovely to look at, it was one of the most remarkable hotels I’ve ever stayed in. No wonder Giuseppe Verdi used to stay here. Basically, both the Grotta Guisti and its sister hotel - the palatial Bagni di Pisa, 40 miles away - evolved over time because of their twin locations, which happen to be right on top of a major geological fault that crosses Italy. What this means is that hot water warmed by the Earth’s core bubbles close to the surface - and that this has been utilised for all manner of curative and cleansing purposes since Roman senators once relaxed hereabout 2000 years ago. Hot water spas play a much bigger part in Italian culture than they do here - indeed both hotels feature a new wellness programme called Equilibrium, developed by top doctors who incorporate the various spa therapies to help reduce inflammation in the body. We haven’t time here to go into this in detail, but I had a chat with Equilibrium’s founder, a Dr Fortunati, and he told me how the programme focuses on the relationship between the mind and the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. It all seemed to make sense, but I was only around for a weekend so wanted to simply soak up the lovely feeling of being in Tuscany in spring. To do this I went for a couple of wonderful walks and a cycle ride around the picturesque rural area in which the hotel is set.  I also enjoyed swimming in the vast open air pool which is open also to members of the public who turn up in droves to immerse themselves in its hot waters. It was all wonderfully Italian, with large family groups chatting and laughing as they bobbed out amid steam in spring sunshine.  Grotta Giusti has recently undergone an extensive €1.5 million renovation. Verdi described the place as the “eighth wonder of the world” – mainly because it does boast the largest thermal cave in Europe - but I couldn’t help but wonder how much more he’d be impressed now It is in the cave that guests can scuba dive or indulge in that spot of “floating therapy”, which I found to be a profoundly moving experience. People regularly come out of the cave in tears after floating weightlessly - some say it’s like being in their mother’s womb.  Your body adapts to the hot water in the cave where you are escorted at all times by experienced divers. The air is hot as well, so that when a diver holds you weightless on the tips of his fingers and gently swishes you about, you feel as though you are floating weightless in outer space.  The local villages are well worth visiting. We enjoyed a lovely cycle ride around the area on bike borrowed from the hotel.

Walk 1 - Boscastle West - North Cornwall It is easy to leave the crowds behind if you walk in almost any direction from busy Boscastle. One dramatic way is to venture west around the vertiginous headland called Willapark that borders an area of medieval field strips called Forrabury. Leaving your vehicle in the village’s big car park you soon begin to see why the place is the only navigable inlet along 40 miles of coast. The thin, winding, rocky “fjord” which makes up the harbour is almost impossible to see from the ocean. Boscastle's fortunes were greatly improved in 1584 when the squire Sir Richard Grenville built the inner, southerly quay which still helps keep out the swell to this day. It’s to the southern quay that we walk on this short stroll. Beyond the harbour  the coast path climbs to the top of Willapark, which is crowned by the a white square look-out building. It was put here in the 1820s by Thomas Avery (a merchant and some say successful smuggler) as a summer house with exceedingly dramatic views. It’s believed that the design was borrowed from the nearby church tower.  From this vantage point we continue along the coast path for five minutes, crossing the seaward section of The Stitches – which is the local name for the open medieval field system. At the far south-west corner we turn left to follow the grassy path across to Forrabury Church – a temple of Norman origin which still boasts some very early features.   We pass the church to turn right into the lane that will take us south to the main Tintagel road, where we turn left and cross to Paradise Road, which in turn takes us east to Boscastle’s old High Street. It’s all downhill from here to the lower, and far better known, part of the village.  Distance: 2.5 miles. Time: 1.5 hours. Difficulty: 3/10 Walk 2 - Cape Cornwall Mines Walk - West Cornwall A mile from the village of St Just a lane descends to reveal the glories of England's only Cape. Singular though it may be, it's a dramatic enough place from which to start a walk which, in this case, takes us north along the South West Coast Path. There’s a car park on the shoulder of the Cape and all we have to do to begin this walk is round the corner north and follow the path deep into a valley cluttered with old mine buildings. The basic walk takes us from Cape Cornwall, north along the coast path to Lelant and Geevor Mines, then inland up to Carn Kenidjack on Penwith Moors before returning via footpaths and lanes to England’s only Cape. It’s quite a long hike at around 10 miles, but relatively easy going. Once past the valley we are able to enjoy our first view of The Crowns. This is the headland where two of Cornwall's most dramatically situated tin-mines cling to the cliffs. A mile or so north and we can learn all about the tin mines whose remains dominate this landscape by visiting the National Trust's Levant Mine. The old engine house has now been restored and is run by a team of volunteers. Here we can watch the great beam engine slowly, and almost silently, see-saw away in a re-enactment of how things were when men would descend almost 2,500 feet to bring out the tin. You will be shown the surprisingly small hole they went down so that they could walk, or crawl, some miles out under the seabed.  Just north-east of Levant is Geevor, one of the last tin-mines in Cornwall to close. With the help of grant-aid, a group of ex-miners and enthusiasts have kept the place open as a tourist attraction. After Geevor our route follows a footpath inland, across the B3306 and up the hill onto the Penwith Moors.  We cross Trewellard Common and the B3318 Penzance road to climb Carn Bean on Carnyorth Common. Nearby we can visit Carn Kenidjack with its ancient stone circle, before finding the footpath that descends towards the hamlet of Tregeseal. From here we take the lane to Nancherrow where a further lane takes us west back to Cape Cornwall. Distance: 10 miles. Time: 6 hours. Difficulty: 7/10 Walk 3 - Frenchman’s Creek - South Cornwall Pure unabashed, unashamed romanticism, that's the theme of this hike. Frenchman's Creek has more of novel's atmosphere than any other literary waterside location. If the tide is out the place literally oozes with the stuff of legend. If it's in then the shimmering tranquillity allows you to mentally plunge straight into the derring-deeds of Daphne du Maurier's brilliant tale. I recommend taking the little foot-ferry that plies across from Helford Passage. There's something special about arriving at the beginning of a walk by boat and anyway, the hamlet on the north side of the river-mouth is a lot easier to get to than the alternative of negotiating the tortuous lanes of the Lizard peninsula. It only takes a couple of minutes to cross to Helford. Du Maurier wrote: "Helford hamlet was no inducement to a sailor ashore, the few cottage folk dull-witted and uncommunicative..." There's nothing dull-witted about the person who can afford one of those cottages now. A lane leads along the creek, past the pub and picturesque abodes, and eventually crosses a stream at a point close to where a footpath sign points to Manaccan. We take the track through the trees until a junction allows us to turn right into Under Wood and climb the hill towards the farm called Kestle which is an ancient farm full of character situated on the ridge of hill that divides Helford from Frenchman's Creek.  Walking through the old farmyard on the public footpath the thought struck me that Du Maurier’s description of walking to the creek fits exactly with the track that leads west from Kestle, down over the hill and into the trees: "Yes, there once again was the glimmer of water that had surprised her. The trees were thinning, she was coming to the bank - and there, suddenly before her for the first time, was the creek, still and soundless, shrouded by the trees, hidden from the eyes of men." The National Trust owns the woods that run from Frenchman's Pill up the eastern bank to the creek and its staff have laid a path along the waterside so that we can enjoy its hidden secret delights as long as we are willing to make the effort of walking there. After half a mile or so the path departs from the waterside and hauls itself up the hill to meet what must be a drive to a hidden house. Turn right here and follow it up to a junction and take another right to follow the road another few hundred yards until you see a public footpath sign upon your left. This takes you down through yet more Trust-owned property - again, deep and beautiful woods - until the right-of-way deposits you in quaint Penarvon Cove. Now it's simply a matter of taking the track to the right which will lead you the quarter-mile or so back to the ferry landing-stage. Distance: 3 miles, Time: 1.25 hours. Difficulty 2/10 Walk 4 - Lelant to St Ives Let the train take the strain – a fine recommendation if ever there was one, and one particularly well suited to walkers who complete this fantastic linear hike. We refer, of course, to the St Ives branch line which leaves the main line at St Earth, but which soon makes its first stop at Lelant.  The best plan is to leave your car at Lelant Church on the edge of the dunes (where there’s just room for a few vehicles) and proceed west from there. This is actually the beginning of the trans-peninsula St Michael’s Way which takes walkers overland from Lelant to Marazion and St Michael's Mount. Lelant Towans plays host to a splendid golf course, and it’s across the eastern end of these links that we stroll to make for the estuary mouth. There’s a choice of paths – but whichever you take, watch out for golf-balls. A shortcut runs through the middle of the links, but I stuck to the coast path which begins its journey to St Ives on the sea side of the railway. You go down a lane towards the waterside, but turn left as soon as you’ve on passed the tracks. The path now climbs onto the dunes and follows the sandy escarpment west to where the cliffs take over and put an abrupt end to Porth Kidney Sands. Now the coast path threads its way through a sort of leafy tunnel on the edge of the cliffs under the railway. At one point we are high above the beach – at another, the path goes down to almost reach the sand – but finally it climbs to a high point at Carrack Gladden.  This triangular knoll of a headland is divorced from the rest of Cornwall by a deep railway cutting and the walker is faced with a choice of either following a footpath along the man-made gulch, or continuing along the coast path which winds off around the point. The headland introduces us to Carbis Bay – or Barrepta Cove, as it used to be known. After that the path climbs a steep rap out of the bay area and takes walkers across the line and onto a private road that runs between a number of posh looking homes. The woods of Porthminster Point no longer provide a shelter belt for the huers and criers, but their old stone hut remains on its shelf above the bay. From here the older members of the St Ives fishing community used give directions as to the whereabouts of the schools of pilchards that were so huge they’d turn the bay red. With a bit of a zig-and-a-zag the path descends to Porthminster Beach which is dominated by the timely railway station. Trains run regularly but, if you’re lucky, you’ll have an hour or so to walk into town for well earned refreshment in one of the many watering holes. And then it’s off back to Lelant on a five-minute ride of spectacular proportions. Either that – or walk back. Distance: 4.5 miles. Time: 3 hours. Difficulty: 4/10 Walk 5 - Minions - Craddock Moor Occasionally some of us like to climb to the roof of the world - and in the West Country the roofs don't get higher than the ones in Minions, which is Cornwall's highest village.  This walk begins at The Hurlers on the edge of Minions. It's not often you can view three stone circles in a row and archaeologists remain baffled by the seemingly excessive erecting of stones. Local legend suggests God was so angry when local men dared to ignore his Sabbath by playing the heathenish game of hurling - he turned them to stone. Another legend claims it's nigh on impossible to count the Hurlers, but should you do so correctly, some terrible misfortune is likely befall you. This hike takes you from Minions, north east around the hills until we arrive above the hamlet of Sharptor - and from there, west to Craddock Moor and back via Tregarrick Tor. Thousands of miners were drawn up here in the 1800s by the promise of riches from all over Cornwall. There are few historical records of the shanty towns that grew up, but accounts show that over 650,000 tons of copper ore was mined in less than three decades.  After that the moor was returned to sheep and ponies, ring ouzels and larks. And to hikers who can enjoy seeing traces of all this industry as they walk north-east to find the disused railway that leads around the hill to the Cheesewring Quarry. Rock from this impressive place found its way into the fabric of Westminster Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Thames Embankment. The quarry gets its name because of the great stack of rocks perched high above the workings - but we proceed north along a small path through the clatter of rocks. This eventually curves around to the west leaving us high on a promontory overlooking the village of Henwood and the hamlet of Sharptor. Now we walk around the north of the spur and find ourselves descending onto a high plain. There's no path, so we must pick our way among the rocks. To the west, on a low hill, there's a quarry and we head for this ascending Craddock Moor a little to the south. In this way we cross the low ridge and are treated to yet more views all the way down to the Dodman peninsula in the south - and to the wind-farm above Newquay in the north.  Now march down over Craddock Moor to Tregarrick Tor where we have a choice: to drop down to Siblyback Reservoir and make our way around to Cryna Farm where a public footpath will take back to the Minions road via Great Gimble. Or to turn tail to re-cross the moor to The Hurlers and be rewarded by extensive views of the English Channel coast past Rame Head. Distance: 5 miles. Time: 2.5 hours. Difficulty 6/10 Walk 6 - Fowey - Bodinnick - Polruan  This is one of the West Country’s true classics – and one of the first hikes I did for this newspaper 15 years ago - a hike I shall return to enjoy for as long as I can put one foot in front of another… The Fowey, Bodinnick, Hall Walk, Pont Pill, Lantic Bay and Polruan circular has just about every type of view imaginable save for craggy moorlands. There’s not one but two ferry rides – and there is something special about combining a walk with being afloat, no matter how briefly. There are quaint Cornish streets, some of the best estuarine views in the region, beautiful old woodlands, forgotten quays, an ancient church, high airy heaths, a truly oceanic coast path section and picturesque harbour-sides lined with welcoming pubs. We begin by catching the Bodinnick Ferry which crosses the river from Fowey towards the community that gives it a name with its ancient inn and Daphne Du Maurier's old home, aptly named Ferryside. Now we must haul ourselves up the steep street that runs past the inn until we see a signpost for "Hall Walk" on our right. This is a wonderful path which meanders along the top of the oak woods towards Polruan at the estuary mouth. Every few yards there's yet another breathtaking view of the river far below, with Fowey busily going about its business on the other side. A thousand tales of swash-and-buckle can be imagined while walking along here - like the derring-deeds of Elizabeth Treffry back in 1456 when the French were attempting to take the town. With her men she climbed onto the roof of her fortified mansion and poured molten lead onto their heads and so repulsed the attack. Hall Walk brings us, eventually, to Pont Pill - a little known limb of the Fowey estuary that forces our path to veer east to the hamlet at the head of the creek. It is difficult to imagine that dozens of sailing ships once traded up and down to this remote and peaceful place carrying coal, fertiliser, limestone and timber and taking away fresh local produce. Next comes a climb, due south, up to the church of Lanteglos-by-Fowey, where we turn left along the lane to reach the National Trust car park up on the Polruan-Lansallos road. Turning right along the roadside footpath we reach the right-of-way that takes us across a single field to join the coast path. Far below you will spy Great and Little Lantic Bay beaches, bordered by Pencarrow Head to the east and Blackbottle Rock to the west - a view that seems to offer all that is best about the South Cornish coast. We head west to the quiet seaside of Polruan passing Washing Rocks before descending towards the mouth of the estuary, passing the famous old Blockhouse, before entering the centre of the comely little port that sits opposite Fowey. All that's left for us to do now is linger while awaiting the lower-ferry (foot passengers only) - perhaps enjoying a pint in the Lugger Inn - then, having crossed to the other side, it is just a matter of wending our way through Fowey's pleasant and busy streets back to the higher ferry where we began. Distance: 5 miles. Time: 3 hours. Difficulty: 4/10

Easter is a great time for walking in the UK - the weather tends not to bee too hot or too cold. And the beautiful county of Devon is one of the best places in the UK in which to find the sort of easy hike which can be done either in a morning or an afternoon… Walk 1 - Ashclyst Forest - Central Devon From our earliest age we are made aware of big dark forests – they are fairytale places where big bad wolves live and where we humans get horribly lost. Novice hikers might be tempted to take a bag full of white pebbles with them, like Hansel and Gretel. Far be it from us to suggest readers deposit any kind of object into one of our environmentally immaculate forests. Instead, let’s go to Ashclyst Forest – one of the largest tracts of ancient woodland in the region – situated not in the back end of ancient beyond but just a short witch’s broom-ride from the M5. It is rich in way marked walks and it should be impossible to get lost. Ashclyst is not only easy to reach, but hugely enjoyable - having been well preserved by its owner the National Trust. There are several car parks but the main one, situated at OS grid ref SY 001995, has an interpretation board showing the various way-marked trails which vary from 1.5 miles to a total of seven miles in length.  The board also gives a brief potted history of the forest, which is interesting because you get the distinct feeling that up here - out of earshot of the modern world - this is how much of England used to be. We recommend the Trust’s Butterfly Walk - leisurely stroll along sunken lanes and woodland rides and through broad-leaved and coniferous woodland, good for fritillary butterflies, white admiral and other butterflies. It can be a bit muddy in winter on this clay ground - for directions see the interpretation board or visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton . Distance: 4 miles. Time: 3.5 hours. Difficulty (when wet) 6/10 Walk 2 - Aylesbeare Common – South East Devon Ever heard of the East Devon Pebble Beds? Don’t worry, not many people have – but they are well worth visiting, tucked away in their beautiful but strange and ancient looking corner of the kingdom. The Pebble Beds are nationally famous due to the fact they provide a home for all sorts of rare flora and fauna – and you can find a prime example of the landscape in question by travelling along the A3052 from Exeter towards the village of Newton Poppleford. You’ll see the heathlands before you reach the village and there are several car parks around this wide open and popular area.  A good basic hike which will allow you to explore the pebblebeds is based on a figure-of-eight around north and south Aylesbeare Common with a bit of Harpford Common thrown in for good measure. You could, however, enjoy a shorter stroll by following the RSPB Reserve Visitor's Trail if you were limited for time. The upper parts of the commons are quite high and you will see the English Channel glimmering way out past Budleigh Salterton. Which ever walk you take around the commons (and there are many) you will be in the demesne of the elusive Dartford Warbler. This brown little fellow with a long tail is just one of the reasons why the RSPB runs a reserve at Aylesbeare Common. There are other reasons, but apart from the warblers, nightjars and stonechats, this is a rare chunk of ancient heathland that plays home to the largest number of butterfly species to be found in any RSPB reserve. To see a good introduction to the area visit www.pebblebedheaths.org.uk Figure of 8 walk distance: 4 miles. Time: 3.5 hours. Difficulty: 2/10  Walk 3 - Branscombe West - East Devon Coast Branscombe is one of the most beautiful villages to be found in East Devon. Tucked away in its own valley, you wouldn’t think there was a village in the area at all if you were viewing the coast from out at sea. Which is probably the reason why, centuries ago, Branscombe became a busy centre for smuggling. One of the best basic hikes you can do in the area is from Branscombe Mouth west on coast path to Weston Mouth and back along the beach. It’s advisable to check the tides first, and be warned: walking along the shingle on the return leg is heavy going.  So is the beginning of this walk. Climbing the Alpine-like slope that stretches up from the seaside car park at Branscombe is a puff. It is a slope of the house-roof variety. Only when you get to the top do you realise that the southerly hill which protects the village of Branscombe is, in fact, one of those sham eminences - a bit like a street frontage on a movie set. The slope ascends steeply up through the beech hangar from the village - and then ends abruptly in a sea-facing abyss. The South West Coast Path follows this ridge as it threads its way west, past various old quarries, towards a place called Berry Camp. As you stroll along here you can see the curious geographical layout and begin to realise why Branscombe became one of the smuggling capitals of the south coast.  What looks like a remote and isolated stretch of coast is in fact just a few hundred yards (as the seagull flies) from the village which is hidden and protected by this curiously positioned ridge. Most coastal hills in the region follow river valleys from inland as the stream flows towards the sea - this one runs directly parallel with the coast and so hides the valley behind it.   Eventually the path takes you down to Weston Mouth. Much of the territory covered on the route is, by-the-way, owned by the National Trust - including this latter chunk down the steep contours into Weston Combe. If the tide is out you can head back along the beach. It's a bit of a trek, made all the more arduous by the fact the shingle is of the small and rolling variety. The actual distance is about two miles, but it feels more like five by the time you get back to Branscombe Mouth. Distance: 4 miles. Time: 3.5 hours. Difficulty: 6/10 Walk 4 - Bonehill Down and Honeybag Tor - Dartmoor We chose the walk over Bell Tor, Chinkwell Tor and around Honeybag Tor because it is surrounded by features which, even in a thick fog, should see you safely back to your car. Which sounds a bit dramatic, but this meteorological shutdown is not unknown on the heights of Dartmoor.  We parked at Hemsworthy Gate, on the junction of the Haytor and Ashburton roads as they join in their bid to reach Widecombe, so that we could take the gentle stroll up to Top Tor and enjoy the rolling, unfoggy, views which stretch right across the South Hams.  From Top Tor we walked due north, descending to cross the Widecombe road and reach Bonehill Rocks. This is as splendid a knot of granite as you’ll find anywhere on the moors and is very popular, given the close vicinity of several small car parks. Here we are on the big north-south ridge which rises to the east of Widecombe and which guards its moorland vale from the higher land of Dartmoor’s main south-easterly bastion, centred on Haytor. From Bonehill Rocks we descended to the north west (crossing the Bonehill lane) and, avoiding a bog, climbed Bell Tor. From there it was north-west again to Chinkwell Tor. Here you get a fantastic aerial view that allows you to look straight down the valley where the East Weburn River is making its way south to join its sister stream. From Chinkwell Tor, it’s north again down over the saddle and up to Honeybag Tor, which marks the end of the ridge. You have a number of options for the return route. We retraced our steps down to the dip of the saddle where a big man-made rut slices the hill. A green path runs west down the edge of the rut into the vale, and this we followed until we gained the woodlands that fringe the North Bovey lane. Here, on the upper edge of the woods, a broad stone track follows the contours south under Chinkwell Tor, eventually climbing above the fields to regain Bonehill Down.   Now we continued due south along the contours, re-crossing the main Widecombe-Haytor road to reach the Shovel Stone. Then it’s a matter of following a southerly arc around Top Tor - taking in Hollow Tor, Pil Tor and Foale’s Arrishes – before eventually returning to your vehicle. The two hour walk will give you some of the best views on Dartmoor. Distance: 4.5 miles. Time: 3 hours. Difficulty: 4/10 Walk 5 - Heddon’s Mouth Woody Bay circular - Exmoor Coast This walk always features in my Top Ten of Wonderful West Country Walks. The perpendicular plod which meanders from Heddon's Mouth to Woody Bay and back again would certainly be up there among the best-sellers. It boasts views by the vista-load, history by the ancient, dusty, book-full and enough solitude to wither a lonesome pine. The first part of this hike is down Heddon's Mouth Cleave - which really is one of the steepest, deepest valleys to be found anywhere in the West Country. It runs straight out of the depths of Exmoor down to the sea, and the fact that there's an excellent hostelry deep the bottom of the great gulch is almost thrown into insignificance by the grandeur of it all. You can park near the pub in the small car park opposite the National Trust visitor centre which will tell you all about the remarkable terrain. Then, walk past the inn (you will need refreshment on your return) and follow the road around the bottom of the valley towards Trentishoe. After a quarter of a mile you will see the footpath leading to the beach on your right. It's a riverside mile down to the sea - one of the most dramatic miles in England. In 1827 a local farmer called Jim Hoyle was caught with no fewer than £1,180's worth of brandy hidden under his stable floors. Customs and Excise confiscated the 262 tubs of booze, but lucky Jim escaped through a back window. And now we cross the river to find the coast path which heads in an easterly direction - albeit vertically - out of the valley and along the coast on a section of the right of way which is not for those who suffer vertigo. Eventually there's a climb through the woods towards the upper section of the scattered community of Woody Bay.  Many of the paths around here were put in place by James Hannington, a local curate, and after that an African bishop - who found himself 'rusticated' from Oxford and forced to learn the duties of his calling at nearby Martinhoe. You'll see this rugged little hamlet across a few fields later, but you won't see poor old Hannington who was eventually done to death by irreligious natives deep in the Dark Continent. Eventually we reach the old carriageway near Woody Bay, where we turn right back towards Heddon's Mouth to enjoy the breathtaking views that sweep across the Bristol Channel.  The dramatic headlands which punctuate Exmoor's vertical coast fall over themselves in a queue as they enthusiastically line up to show just who's best at being jagged and dangerous. There's Crock Point, Duty Point, Hollerday Hill above Lynton and Lynmouth and, of course the North Devon Foreland with its lighthouse blinking intermittently above the grey sea. Along the way we pass the remains of the Roman signal-station in which Italian soldiers must have once frozen on guard-duty. After that the track turns into the massive Cleave and takes you dramatically back to Hunters Inn.  Distance: 6 miles. Time: 4 hours. Difficulty: 6/10 Walk 6 - Fernworthy Reservoir Circular - Dartmoor To find the three-and-a-half-mile walk that circumnavigates this reservoir high on Dartmoor you can either follow the brown road signs up into the hills from Chagford, or follow the signs from the Moretonhampstead-Princeton road. Either way is narrow and full of bends. But don’t be put off – Fernworthy is a wonderful place to visit – both in a watery and an arboreal sense. There’s a visitor car park and a scenic picnic area for those who simply wish to stop and admire the reservoir and the magnificent forests – or there’s a choice of hikes for those who fancy some exercise. The round-the-lake walk is probably easiest and most desirable. There seems little point in setting out directions here: a) because a large illustrated map adorns the interpretation board by the car park, and b) because the route around the lake is obvious. The only difficulty is in making up your mind as to whether you should walk clockwise or anti-clockwise. Having looked at Fernworthy on the map, you could assume that the walk would be an unbroken belt of dark conifers. You’d be wrong. After a brief walk through the dark trees you soon find yourself on the other side of the gloom and walking across what used to be ancient fields belonging to the three farms that once made a living up here. Indigenous scrub trees line the way and looked most colourful on the day when we did the walk. It was in 1942 that Torbay council built Fernworthy Reservoir. There’s a plaque by the dam which tells you all about the wartime opening ceremony. There’s a boardwalk that skirts through the trees to the western end of the forest. The wooden way eventually ends in moorland – and now we were on the western shore of the lake. As the reservoir narrows towards the dam you can look across at the remains of a Bronze Age hut encampment on the far bank.  Eventually the path descends under the dry side of the dam. Unlike some of the region’s larger reservoirs, Fernworthy doesn’t have a dam that you can cross. The path winds its way down through a jungle of rhododendron before crossing the river and climbing sharply up the other side. Here we turn right and walk a quarter of a mile or so to regain the car park. What more could you ask for? A lakeside walk complete with forests and moorland views - plus the novelty of historic sights you may never see again.  Distance: 3.5 miles. Time: 1.4hours. Difficulty: 2/10

Another type of place people love to visit - when they are allowed, that is - is a good old waterfall with plenty of good negative ions or whatever it is that emanates from falling water and makes us feel good. Here’s a basic list of five of the best in the West Country… Spekes Mill Mouth Canyon and Fall, Smuggler’s Coast, North Devon The stream that runs down the steep valley from Speke’s Mill, just south of St Catherine’s Tor on North Devon’s Atlantic coast, makes its bid for freedom and the sea in a death-defying waterfall. In doing so it forms one of the most dramatic cataracts in the region, creating a secret canyon. Maybe not a Grand Canyon. There are places where you couldn’t swing a cat in it, let alone go bungee-jumping, fly a helicopter, or whatever else it is they do in the world’s famous big defiles...  But it is a remarkable place nevertheless - a wild rock and river zone that cannot be fully appreciated until you are right down there in the middle of it. But be warned, best take a rope and a head for heights. By the way, I discovered this place with my friends Kester and Liz Webb. Kester passed away a couple of years ago and looking at the photos has inspired me to put up an entire post about the “Secret Canyon” as we called it soon. White Lady Falls, Lydford Gorge  She is elegant and beautiful. Once you’ve been to see her, you will not easily forget her vertiginous grace. Her skirts hiss in the breeze but, when you get close to them, a chill creeps into your bones as if some ghostly zephyr has just whispered your name. She is the White Lady – Queen of West Country waterfalls. There are taller cataracts tumbling over the peninsula’s sea-cliffs, but none plummet with quite the Lydford lady’s tumbling aplomb and fearsome force. The West Dartmoor waterfall once featured in a National Trust listing of the top ten most romantic settings in the region because, if her sylvan good looks don’t take your breath away, then the rest of Lydford Gorge certainly will. Golitha Falls, Southern Bodmin Moor There’s a point high on Bodmin Moor where the Fowey makes a big turn to the south west - from here the river goes in for some meandering and, for the first time in its career, cloaks itself with woods. We have now arrived at Golitha Falls - part of a local Country Park, run by Caradon District Council which has laid out a pleasant mile-long circular walk that follows the Fowey down to the celebrated torrent, and back again along a higher route. All around there are traces of the busy-ness of yesteryear. Even in boulder strewn woods, leats accompany the river and close to the falls you'll see the remains of an enormous mill. But the main attraction is the dramatic way in which the river descends through the trees. No one single enormous cataract here, but a dramatic series of plunging, tumbling and rushing falls.  Sherrycombe Falls, Exmoor You’ll need a boat for this one. On terra firm only skilled climbers can get safely anywhere near to Sherrycombe Falls which drop 100s of feet from Exmoor’s mighty Holdstone Down.  But plenty of pleasure boats do ply the coast from Ilfracombe and the area is worth a visit not only for the spectacle of the tall thin waterfall but because legend has it that German U-boats used to replenish their water supplies in this most secret of places during the Second World War. Sandy Hole Pass, Dartmoor In the empty hills east of popular Postbridge there’s one of the Westcountry’s most dramatic but loneliest waterfalls. You’ll find it where the Dart tumbles through a place called Sandy Hole Pass.  A great dam of bedrock seems to hold back the river - and what the watercourse does is to gush across great slabs of granite before squeezing down rocky gutters, which are so narrow they look as if they’ve been carved. As the river tumbles down over these rocks, it enters a dramatic swirling cauldron set in stone.  Again, there are taller waterfalls in the region, but this place is truly spectacular partly because it is so wild and largely unvisited.

We are going top be allowed to move about the countryside a little more freely soon - and a great many people might be looking to gain a little altitude in order to survey the world around them. Hills are popular places - you only have to go to some of the more easily accessible uplands of the West Country to know that in normal times. Here are five of the best hill-walks in the South West region for when the sun. shines and we are free to wander where’re we will… Dunkery Beacon A hike up Exmoor’s highest hill offers tremendous views - which is an obvious thing to say about any big eminence - but Dunkery really does boast panoramas others fail to reach. Where else could you see the Pembrokeshire Coast, the distant Cambrian Mountains, Brecon Beacons, Black Mountains, Forest of Dean, the Malverns, the southern bastions of the Cotswolds, both Severn bridges, the Mendips, Quantocks, Blackdowns, Dartmoor and even the English Channel sparkling through Sidmouth Gap?  Tregonning Hill There’s a hole in the ground on a hill in Cornwall where ravens go to be lonely and not a lot else happens at all. This crater on Tregonning Hill led directly to the employment of hundreds of thousands of men. Its story bequeathed the county countless £millions. Its white powdery progeny is to be found everywhere – a large percentage of the man-made things you touch will contain it. For Tregonning is the place where one William Cookworthy discovered what we now call china clay just over 260 years ago. The hill has many public rights of way and a basic circumnavigation of the eminence  offers fine views of Western Cornwall. Culmstock Beacon Anyone who has ever travelled on the M5 will have seen it - the great, flat-topped, steep-sided escarpment that seems to reach out like a lonely diving board into the patchwork green pool of lowland mid-Devon - just south of the motorway between the Tiverton and Wellington junctions. It's called Culmstock Beacon - an unexpected chunk of wilderness which seems to have no right to jut so rudely into the soft Devonshire contours.  And there’s a great four mile walk to be enjoyed hiking up Culmstock Beacon hill from Culm Davy - go left to the ancient beacon house on the edge of the spur, before returning in a loop over the moor and back down to hamlet  Steeperton Tor If you really want to go to a hill that is lonely and remote, try Steeperton Tor. It is difficult to reach - but that difficulty means enjoying wild Dartmoor scenery every inch of the way.  The walk begins at Belstone (near Okehampton) south into the moors following the Taw. At Taw Marsh our route climbs Oke Tor and continues south up Okement Hill, before returning alongside Oke Tor to gain the ridge leading to Steeperton Tor. Then it’s simply a case of descending over Belstone Common back to the village. You can return vid Metheral and White Hills - but be warned, this whole area is subject to closure if there’s a military training exercise  Golden Cap Golden Cap is the highest point along the entire English south coast. Climbing its 191-metre summit from sea-level is a pure joy if you are a lover of maritime views.  To find the altitudinous demesne you reach a hilltop village called Morcombelake on the A35 between Charmouth and Chideock. Just past the garage, over the hilltop heading east, watch out for a lane on the right. Follow signs to the National Trust’s Langdon Hill car park. There is the basic level walk which follows the contour around the top of Langdon Hill, but for hale and hearty folk the additional climb to Golden Cap is a must.

Years ago when I was editor-at-large of the Western Morning News I was asked to go to Croyde Beach to report on a massive sandcastle competition. Given that this lockdown winter has gone on too long I thought it would be a jolly subject to put here on the website - so this is the video I made and the report I wrote… I hasten to add that I realise my friend Tim Bannerman is the true master of this art and you can read his sandcastle treatise elsewhere on this site at https://www.martinhespfoodandtravel.com/hespfoodandtravelhome/tim-bannerman-makes-sandcastles?rq=sandcastle Sand: loose grains that fall apart. Castle: a building of strength. Conundrum: why is it that people are obsessed by the mad idea of forming the latter out of the former? No one knows why the British are so crazy about sandcastles - but we do know that a competition to see who can build the best is one of the most popular annual events to take place on the West Country coast.   And tomorrow morning the National Sandcastle Competition will get underway on Croyde beach where as many as 10,000 people will gather to admire the weird, wonderful and ephemeral sand creations. Lacking a specialist sandcastle competition correspondent, the Western Morning News sent me along yesterday to get tips by the bucket-and-spade load from a world-beating team.  Staff from North Devon Homes have won the competition not once, but twice, and this year -as well as entering two teams - they’ve taken over organising the event which raises funds for the North Devon Hospice. Here are the successful-sandcastle-secrets I learned...  Secret Weapon No1: take a plant sprayer full of water. Nothing glues sand together like water (unless you’re a cheat and use concrete, which is against both the rules and the spirit of sandcastle building). “A good sandcastle does need wet sand,” I was told by Clare Fallow, one of the key pros in the North Devon Homes team. “We do use spray-bottles to keep the sand wet, especially if it’s a hot day. The spray really helps with features like eyes and ears and things like that which can dry out and blow away.” Secret Weapon No2: take plenty of tools to help you shape and smooth surfaces of your sandcastle. “We also bring professional plasterer’s floats and other tools to help us with the details we’re going to make,” said Clare, whose proper job is performance improvement manager with North Devon Homes. “We’ve even got a special trowel to make the wrinkles on the elephant we will be doing, for example. The secret of success is in the detail - making your sandcastle lifelike,” said Clare as we went to work on a practice hippopotamus. “A hippopotamus?” I hear readers screech. “Why make hippos instead of castellations, turrets and moats?” “We don’t tend to get many actual castles in the competition,” shrugged Clare. “In fact, I don’t know we’ve had any - it tends to be all sorts.” Back to work forming the aforementioned eight foot long hippopotamus... “So, with this hippo the next thing we need to do is get the ripples of the water and we’ve got a special tool for that. We also need to get the rolls of fat on the back of its neck - make it as lifelike as you can,” Clare instructed me.  Secret Weapon No3: plan exactly what sort of “sandcastle” you are going to make on a grid.  “You have to go for something that’s not too high off the ground that you can do in three hours,” Clare advises. “In the competition you have a seven-metre-by-seven pitch - so we draw that into a grid and plot that. When we come down on the day we know exactly where our design is going to go.  “We’ve had one practice and seen which people are good at what - so we’ve got two guys who are good at the digging. They know where they have to start and where they have to stockpile the sand and so on...” Michelle West is one of the competition organisers and she explained that North Devon Homes had taken over running the event on behalf of the North Devon Hospice which receives all funds raised.    “It’s not too late to enter because we’re taking entries on the day - and we are having a junior section so children can sign up and join in the fun as well,” she told me as our huge hippo slowly came to life in the sand.  “The children’s event is free to enter but the main competition is £12 per person - and teams should have a maximum of six.”

A lot of visitors to this site will know that I wrote a book called The Last Broomsquire - which I am happy to say continues to be popular, especially now that I have been through the original script and carried out a rather far reaching edit - knocking out a total of 9,600 words from the book. If I’m honest, it needed a bit of a chisel taking to it because there were some overly wordy sections. Now it’s tighter and brighter - and better - in my humble opinion. Anyway, the organisers of the excellent online Shute Festival like the book enough to have invited me to give a talk all about it - which I shall be doing next week - please follow the link here if you’d like to register to be in the audience or the next link to know more about the actual festival and its speakers. https://www.crowdcast.io/e/martin-hesp-on-the-last http://www.shutefest.org.uk/programme.html You can also purchase the new look book for a modest £2.50 (ebook edition) or £7.99 (paperback) at the following link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Broomsquire-Martin-Hesp/dp/B089J3STPF

A very long time ago we travelled across Europe for several months with my old friend John Nethercott, at one point taking a ferry from Patras in Greece to Brindisi in Southern Italy - a boat which called in at Corfu early in the morning.  I vaguely remember sensing the magic of the place - knowing that one day I would return to explore it properly. It took me 41 years, but I got there in the end… And now, on this grey damp Sunday morning in Somerset god-knows how long into the lockdown, I recall an altogether brighter more jolly Sunday morning when we breakfasted in Corfu Town three or four years ago… There can’t be anyone who does not like Corfu Town. It is a pleasant place as any around the Mediterranean - helped considerably, of course, by its Venetian architecture. I’m talking about the Old Town, of course. When you’re writing about town s and saying how pleasant they are you will inevitably be referring to the ancient quarters and not the sprawling concrete horrors of the modern world.  They may have had their mercenary faults, those Venetians, but they certainly knew how to make a place of human occupation look good. Alas, quite large sections of the Venetian town were knocked down centuries ago too make way for yet more grandeur - but there’s enough left to give the place that uniquely ‘elegant’ feel.  If I could make a little wish right now it would be a quick trip on a magic carpet so that I could spend an hour strolling around The Campiello, which is the mediaeval heart of Corfu Town. Just a stroll, wandering aimlessly about , before finding a little place for lunch somewhere on the Liston - the long elegant arcade which is lined with cafés, restaurants and boutiques.  It dates back to Venetian times, but I believe it was the French, during their brief rule of the island, who gave it this arcade its Parisian feel.… Sunday morning is a particularly quiet time in town - you hear the singing emanating from churches and you see one or two people mooching about looking for somewhere for breakfast. By lunchtime it’s all warming up quite a bit and there are far more people around - and you are treated to all the usual Greek temptations… Anyway, right now lunch somewhere along the Liston would do me fine.

And still on this dark rainy February afternoon one can find one self longing for the hot and tropical places one has been to. Actually, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit St Bart’s in the Caribbean a couple of times - though, alas, don’t think I could afford to stay for long… St Bart’s is a close neighbour of St Martins and ordinarily people cross by small ferry or small plane. I most definitely recommend that you do not attempt the latter. Landing at the island airport seems suicidal - the runway is situated at the bottom of a steep hill and the pilot must fly through a low pass then dive his aircraft vertically down the hill. One of the local pastimes is to stand at the edge of the pass and watch the planes skim 20 feet above your head before taking the plunge. We stepped ashore St Bart’s in a far less sensational manner – albeit one that was achieved with a great sense of style. Because, no matter how chic and posh the island (and believe me, St Bart’s is that and more), people are impressed when they see you have come from the Star Clipper barquentine. Turn up in your average luxury liner and you sometimes find yourself being treated with the sort of disdain locals tend to have for cruise passengers. Turn up in the Star Clipper and you find yourself being envied.  “Did you come from the big sailing ship?” one American holidaymaker asked as we stepped ashore off one of the Clipper’s launches. “Wow,” he mused. “That must be something else.” It is, indeed, something else. Cruising aboard a four-masted barquentine is, in my opinion, a true maritime experience compared to alternative liner holidays which, in some cases, must be like hitting the high seas in a block of flats. So I didn’t feel the least bit impoverished when I gazed at the incredibly expensive boutiques and shops on St Bart’s. The rich could keep their Gucci handbags and St Laurent clothes, I regarded myself as being a breed apart: for I had arrived and would depart – like a true mariner - under sail. Throughout my extraordinary Caribbean journey, the thought struck me time and again. I arrived in exotic places aboard a big white winged sea bird whose several thousand square metres of sail would propel me ever onward when the time came to leave. Just like they had propelled Christopher Columbus, who discovered St Bart’s and named it after his brother.