A bird's-eye view. . . . . . . . .

Staying on top of a cliff is quite exhilarating - so high up that a couple of our visitors

 admitted to having height anxiety when they stepped out onto the balcony with

the wind whipping off the bay.

We loved it and were out there at different times of the day, me with the 

camera of course taking photos for my memory bank, having never actually 

stayed in a place immediately above Torquay's harbor with

magnificent views across Tor Bay.

Getting down to street level around the harbor and town was another thing altogether.

These were the closest steps and at Bob's count are 277 - you just see a few here,

 then turn left for the remainder! They are very old, perhaps late 1800's, slippery 

when wet (which is much of the time - this is England!), seem to tilt forward, 

and have handrails missing in places.

 At the very bottom the security cameras talk to you - scared the heck out of me

 the first time as we went down very gingerly in the dark. I never did the climb back

 up - Bob did it once and found it quite hard going - a total of 554 steps within an hour! 

Our Boxing Day plans fell apart due to friends' becoming ill, and I already had the 

beastly cold. Staying in was not an option though. With so few days to see/do

 things we bundled up and walked the steps into town despite it being quite cold

and overcast.

 After walking around the inner harbor, watching a pair of preening swans, 

and stopping for coffee, we ended up snuggled here in the oldest Torquay pub,

circa 1540, ducking our heads under those low beamed ceilings, and carefully 

walking across the easy to trip on cobbled floors, even before a drink!

A glass of sherry for me, whilst Bob imbibed a local beer. The crowd was 

lively and made up of chatty locals along with a few out of town visitors,

such as us. We always manage to find someone to talk with in a pub!

Yes, those steps were somewhat unexpected! 

Another hometown surprise - one I will steer clear of on our next visit I think!

Brixham for freshest fish, tastiest crab. . . . . . . . .

Looking toward Brixham from Torquay.

As we crossed the bay by ferry to Brixham I looked back and saw the 

pink cottage where we were staying. Although I only had my Nikon point and shoot 

I was able to get some photos despite the great distance.

Earlier that morning, on our way to the harbor, we climbed up from the beach to the cliff path 

and walked along the top by the walls HERE in front of those houses above on the left. 

Loading the Brixham ferry at Torquay harbor.

Arriving in Brixham - cloudy skies but warm.

Brixham is famous as the town where the fishing trawler was improved 

in the19th century over the original British Dogger boats of the 17th century. 

Later the design of the elegant wooden Brixham Trawler spread across the world.

The William Prince of Orange statue - a great resting place for local gulls. This William

from the Dutch Republic became King William III of England.

Brixham's fresh crab sandwiches - the best anywhere - we always stop at the 

harbor for one of these!

Jasmin at the replica of Sir. Francis Drake's ship, the Golden Hind.
This favorite tourist attraction was actually constructed from an old fishing trawler, 
and they did a great job I must say.

We walked up and down the tiny lanes along the hillsides above the harbor 
where many of the original cottages still stand. 
I recently acquired just one photo of my paternal grandmother taken outside one 
of these cottages, but sadly don't know which one as there have been many changes 
to the facades. I know little about her as she put my father into foster care at a 
young age and he never wanted to speak of his real family.

Bob has been working online to learn more about the family - this is how we knew 
of the general area of the town where the family lived in the late 1800's to early 1900's 
(my father was born in 1900). 

Later, in Torquay, walking back along the sea road to 'our cottage' as the sun went 
down, was the perfect ending to a very busy day.