The navy lark

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. Like tomorrow or anytime you like.

Looe, Cawsands, Torpoint, on the ferry, Plymouth Hoe, Devil's Point.

A plaque marking the adjacent pool in Plymouth Sound from which The Beagle set sail, commanded by Robert Fitzroy and carrying a young Charles Darwin. From this point via sailing vessel to South America and back and then on to be the genesis of one of the most significant theories in science. I might have said it before but This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson is one of the greatest books I've ever read and tells a great story with Fitzroy as the main character.

A walk down a great set of steps into the old naval dockyard, revamped relatively recently but sympathetically into apartments and restaurants. Painted signs for the brewhouse and the cooperage take you back in time and with a bit of a squinty eye you could imagine yourself back here at the height of the Napoleonic wars.

We snooped around and saw this sight in one of the unmodernised buildings, currently, sadly, used as a car park.

Back to the Hoe for a sandwich, a drive home along a wet M5 and via the grandparents to drop the boys off for a sleepover and back home for a glorious shower and shave.

Now watching Michel Roux from the safety of the sofa.

I've just finished reading The Idle Traveller which has got me thinking.

18 mile run to Bath tomorrow morning. It could go one of two ways!