Castle Drogo

After yesterday's hot and tiring journey to Devon it was a relief to awake to a cool, misty morning. Martin and I went into Okehampton to shop for  food at the large, well stocked, Waitrose store.

After lunch we all ventured out  to Drogo Castle, spectacularly situated overlooking the Teign Gorge. It is described as England's last castle, having been designed by Edwin Lutyens for Julius and Frances Drewe early in the 20th century. Julius made his vast fortune from founding "The Home and  Colonial Stores"  and had plans for a much bigger castle  than was actually built. It took from 1910 to  1930 to build from local granite the  huge castle we see today. Progress was slow as most of the labour force was sent to fight in the First World War, and many   men did not return, including Adrian Drewe,  heir to the estate. After Adrian's death Julius went into a decline  and he died in 1931 aged 75, just  a year after the  castle  was finally completed. 
The castle  remained in the  Drewe family's  possession until 1974 when it was given to the National  Trust. It has recently  undergone very extensive repairs to its  flat roof, the source of serious water ingress ever since it was constructed a century ago. Now  the Castle has  impressive displays of  furniture and  works of art safely on show in dry rooms. Outside there are lovely formal gardens.
My photo shows from left to right A (my sister), P (her husband), my mother Doris, her sister F, Martin and me.


This evening we had dinner in a rather unusual tiny establishment in Okehampton which A had found on the internet. We found ourselves sitting rather  precariously around  three  old school desks in very close proximity to the other  four diners. However, the food was tasty (I had a vegetarian  tagine) and it proved a jolly evening (sometimes for the wrong reasons!).