Anyone live near Plymouth? Inspiration needed

[Benjaminsmummy]

DH, DS and I are going on holiday next week to a place near Plymouth (it's called Newton Ferrars or possibly Ferrers - can't remember).

It's DH's birthday while we are there and I just had the idea of making a sort of treasure hunt for him, visiting a few places and giving him presents wherever we go.

His birthday is on the Thursday and we're going on Saturday so will probably have seen quite a few places by then so anywhere a bit out of the way or different would be good. DS is 7 months old by the way.

Anyone in Devon out there? Please!!!

Don't live in Devon, but my Mum lives about 10 miles into Cornwall. Whitsand Bay is absolutely lovely when the tide is out - big sandy beach. It's a steep walk down, so if you've got a rucksack for ds, use that!

Rame Head (nearer to Torpoint) is also great for the views - will also need the rucksack for that one too.

You could always venture down to the Eden Project which isn't too far away from Plymouth. It's pretty amazing. Again, you'll need some way of carrying ds.

that's a start anyway!

i live near totnes (about 20 miles from plymouth) newton ferris is suppose to be lovely. have you thought of plymouth aquarium? they even have a daily feeding of the sharks - you could try and arrange for the diver to bring some treasure back from the deep! sorley tunnel near kingsbridge is lovely. my favourite place is totnes - very special and very child friendly! market day on friday and saturday very colourful,laid back continental feel to the town,(head to the top of the hill, past the clock tower)lots of hippies, vintage clothes shops brilliant veggie organic cafe called 'willows' very child friendly - they even have a family room with toys and books and a garden. more peaceful is dartington hall - 1000 acres of woodland and sculptures, lovely food at white hart. we recently hired a 12 man boat at totnes quay which took us along the river to ashprington - lovely walk around little hamlet 2 miles out of totnes has a buddhist college, monastery and retreat centre (if thats your bag!). if interested phone totnes tourist info and ask for 'river rat'. it cost £30 for 2 1/2 hours but depending on tides you could go for longer trips to dartmouth, dittisham, salcombe, kingsbridge - agatha christies house is somewhere along the riverbank.we love it so much we moved down here 3 years ago! hope this helps and have a lovely time

I second all of shrub's ideas. Dartmoor is always worth a visit as well to see the ponies.

if you do venture to salcombe - i would make it a short trip. its very beautiful but a very strange place. we always come back depressed - there are just too many yah yahs and i mean YAAAH YAAHS. lovely walks nearby though
oh god jimjams how could i forget to say dartmoor where's your favourite spot?

We're a bit limited at the moment as ds1 seems to be in a "refusing to walk on the grass on dartmoor" AGAIN mood! grrr grrr grrrr- very BLOODY annoying as going for a walk is just about the only thing we can do easily as a family. We used to go to a really nice spot near Yelverton (low moor) just for a runaround, but as soon as we arrive there now he says "go to granny and grandads" so we've given up on that. Princetown is our best bet at the moment as we can walk along the old railway track and he seems better with that. or sometimes up to south hessary. One day when he's more reliable we'll see if we can manage to get as far as nun's cross farm without him slamming the breaks on. It's a shame really as ds1 will walk for miles if the conditions are acceptable to him- although his shoes aren't allowed to get any water (or rain) on them at the moment! DS2 is happy to walk anywhere but is a lazy lump and starts to ask to be carried at the first hill.

My favourite spots are right in the centre of the high moor - miles from anywhere- but haven't managed to do that sort of walk for years.

Where do you go?

Lovely place to go - my mum lived there, make sure you walk around the river to Noss Mayo and have some food at the Ship Inn - yummy!

jimjams - very challanging for you, never knowing how ds1 will react to grass and conditions. i don't know how old your ds1 is but have you tried the fisherman waders type thing where they can go over the boots? i've got some from boden that do the trick. you really know your moor. we are of the stage where we drive around and find a hill then try and guess where we are, where we're going and where we've been

He's 5 shrub- autistic- there is no rhyme or reason for it (well there is but god only knows what). It's not the feel as he won't walk on it with shoes or anything. I don't think he'd wear the gaiter type things anyway. I think he's getting funny about all grass again (this surfaces every now and then) as they said at school he won't walk on the grass and when they have outside reading he jumps from the path onto his carpet tile. Also noticed he wasn't that keen to walk on my friend's garden last week. I get annoyed as when he was 2 we could go for nice long walks anywhere really- he just wouldn't sit on grass then.

At long as the refusal to go on the beach doesn't come back!

Did ten tors a couple of times as a teenager, and the odd abbots way- so you get to see a lot of moor then!

Hi Benjaminsmummy, we lived in Dartmouth (and Kingsbridge) until fairly recently. If you want to visit Dartmouth I'd park and ride ideally. Or there's a car park in the town but it all gets very busy so be warned! If you want a 1 mile circular walk from Dartmouth take the lower ferry, which is a car ferry that takes foot passengers and then from the other side of the river in Kingswear you could walk alongside the railway line (1 mile, mostly flat, it's doable with a buggy if you both carry it down the steps to the marina) from the lower ferry to the higher ferry and then take the higher ferry back over the water. It's a nice gentle riverside stroll with lovely views. I used to take ds on that one a lot to wear him out! Or you could just take one of the ferries over the river and back again for views of the naval college etc.

In Dartmouth Kendricks is a nice restaurant and good with children. They'll supply high chairs too and the food was good last time I was there. Also The Little Admiral is a child friendly hotel near the Market Square, and although I've not eaten there friends have stayed there and said it was wonderful. If you want a play park ask someone to direct you to Coronation Park where there are baby swings and lots of grass to loll about on.

We used to do a fab walk around Newton Ferrers, if you're walking types I'll dig it out and post it for you if you like. Can't remember if it's buggy friendly though but could check. Shrubs ideas all sound fab too, totally agree about Salcombe, there's something a bit depressing aobut the place IMO.

If you are National Trust members Buckland Abbey and Saltram are worth a visit.

We stayed near Tavistock recently and I can vouch for Buckland Abbey and there's another NT property not too far from that called Cotehele which we thought was lovely, nice gardens, a mill, woodland walks, cafe and stuff. We also went to the Eden Project which was fantastic, spent the whole day there. A friend also went down there recently and recommended the Lost Gardens of.... something (can't remeber the last bit, but it's quite near to the Eden Project) Hope you have a great trip.

Heligan is the last bit!

i remember reading on one of the mercury threads that one of your children has autism and you are training to be a homeopath - how is it all going for you?