Pendennis Day Trip
When Summer was going into fifth grade her summer time reading list had a book called The Wreckers on it. She chose that as one of her reads because at the time we were vacationing in the Bahamas and the Abacos area survived during lean times by salvaging shipwrecks. Legend goes that some folks may have not been exactly been model citizens when it came to erecting the iconic Elbow Cay Reef/Hopetown Lighthouse. So, she had a connection and that made the reading a little more palatable. It turned out to be a very challenging read! We actually read it together, making notes in the book, stopping to look up unknown expressions, and muddled through until the end, piecing together all of the puzzling bits to make a vivid picture of the life and times of people struggling to survive. (The book was set in 1700s Pendennis, England, a hundred or so miles south of Plymouth.)
Fast forward to present day and now Nicholas is the one entering fifth grade. The school no longer has The Wreckers on their summer time reading list, but we got special permission to read this book in place of one of the free choice titles. (My folks also read the book and we were all versed on the bleak existence of 1700s Brits on a spit of land stuck between the bitter Atlantic Ocean and the desolate moors.) We plugged away and finished the book just before leaving for England this year.
Now, to get to Pendennis from Plymouth wasn't exactly an easy task. I drove and my mom navigated. The kids each had their own rows in the back of the van. Summer mostly slept and Nicholas looked out of the window. We got lost only once and needed to back track eight miles but that was ok since it gave me the opportunity to recross the one lane bridge. Overall the driving wasn't bad. Getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the car through the back woods of England was quite fun!
When we arrived at Pendennis Castle we used our English Heritage passes we had previously purchased at Stonehenge to get in. Then we chose to have tea. Mom had the savory scone and I had the sweet one. Nicholas managed to dilly dally for ages while he feebly choked down the tiniest cheese sandwich. However, the chocolate cake disappeared in an instant when he was given the all clear. "Ya can't have any pudding if ya don't eat ya cheese!"
Once that was done we used the loo. Our first raised up toilet tanks so far. I've got to admit that it was kinda fun just to flush the toilet.
We toured around and let the kids play. They ran all over the grass, threw the water bottle like a ball, sat, rested, picked blades of grass and joined us every so often.
Sshh.
Be quiet.
Stand still.
Don't touch.
Hold my hand.
Hurry up.
Come on.
No!
Sit up.
Smile for the camera.
When the fort was being used during WWII, they installed tunnels and we got to explore those too. Spooky but awesome!
After leaving Pendennis we went on to find Little Dennis, an odd stone structure that was just open and obviously used recently for a party place with beer bottles and the remains of a bon fire. No bother to us. It gave us access to the sea and made for interesting photography opportunities.
Since we luxuriated around in Pendennis we didn't have time to do much else but to drive back to Plymouth and to swap stories with Shawn and Grandpa. They stayed in Plymouth to learn about military operations.
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