The Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis

While you are on holiday in the Lyme Bay area why not enjoy an evening’s entertainment in a theatre that has to be in one of the most wonderful settings for an entertainment venue in England.

The Marine Theatre is right in the heart of the delightful coastal town of Lyme Regis, overlooking Lyme Bay. If you are going to visit the theatre, do yourself a favour – go to the upstairs bar, buy a drink and then head to the outdoor balcony. You will have to go a long way to discover a more wonderful setting for a pre-show or interval drink. As you look forward to being entertained you can enjoy the most stunning views across Lyme Bay – worth the entrance ticket alone!

Forthcoming attractions at the theatre include Think Floyd, dubbed ‘the definitive Pink Floyd experience’, Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri and the imaginatively named King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys. However, the performance I am looking forward to the most is Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds. Adrian is best known as a comedian in The Young Ones, Bottom, and The Comic Strip Presents. He was a teenager when punk arrived and the songs of The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Jam were the soundtrack to his life through the late 70’s and early 80’s. For Adrian, punk was the folk music of its day and The Bad Shepherds bring punk and folk together. Yes, they play punk songs on folk instruments, punk with a Celtic feel – got to be worth seeing!

Underground passages in Exeter

Exeter is a pleasant city and worth a visit for a shopping trip or to enjoy a meal at one of the wide variety of restaurants in the city centre or on its riverside development. However, there is another side to Exeter or should that be another level?

Under the city’s streets there is a network of medieval passageways dating from the 14th century. These medieval passageways under Exeter High Street are a unique ancient monument.

The passageways were built to house the pipes that brought fresh water from natural springs in fields lying outside the city walls, into the heart of the city. The pipes sometimes sprang leaks and repairs to buried pipes could only be carried out by digging them up as we do today. To avoid this disruption the passages were vaulted and it is down some of these vaulted passageways that visitors can take guided tours.

Visitors to this underground attraction pass through an exhibition and video presentation before their guided tour. However, if you suffer from claustrophobia this probably isn’t the experience for you! Under fives are not permitted on the tours.

The underground passages are open all year and currently admission is £4.90 for adults and £3.40 for children (concessions and family rates are available). See the website for full details.

Great Dorset Steam Fair

If you are visiting the Lyme Bay area during early September you can take a trip into the days of yesteryear by visiting The Great Dorset Steam Fair. The Fair is held at the village of Tarrant Hinton, near Blandford Forum in the heart of the beautiful Dorset countryside.

The Great Dorset Steam Fair is in its 41st year and combines the world’s leading steam and vintage vehicle event with a selection of great music across five stages – the music ranges from country and folk to choirs and jazz.

The Steam Fair is widely recognised as the leading event of its type in the world with 2,000 exhibits, 800 trade stalls and over 220 full size steam engines. You will find steam engine exhibits, vintage vehicles, heavy shire horses, real ale bars, a food hall and a variety of craft stalls on the 500-acre site as well as an old time steam funfair.

The festival runs from Wednesday 2nd September to Sunday 6th September and tickets are on sale from tourist information centres across Dorset or you can buy them online.

The X53

One of the most wonderful ways of exploring The Jurassic Coast is to take a ride on The Jurassic Coast Bus Service (the X53). This bus travels along what must be one of the most beautiful and scenic routes in the country and connects Exeter, Sidford, Beer, Seaton, Lyme Regis, Charmouth, Bridport, Abbotsbury, Weymouth, Wool, Wareham and Poole (summer service). An Explorer Ticket offers unlimited travel along the route for a day. The ticket costs just £6.00 for an adult, £4.50 for a child or £13.00 for a family ticket (up to four people with no more than two adults).

Not only can you sit back and enjoy the views from the top deck while somebody else drives but you can get off the bus and explore the towns, villages and attractions along the route. The bus service is also ideal for walkers who want to walk along a section of the coast path as they have the option of either travelling out or back by bus.

The low floor buses run every two hours and tickets offer unlimited travel for a day. So why not hop aboard and let the bus take the strain as you explore this stunning coastline.

Otterton Mill flour

Where can you find food, arts and crafts, music, bread making courses and much, much more all set in one of Devon’s loveliest valleys and just a mile from The Jurassic Coast? The answer is at Otterton Mill, which is located between Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth on the banks of the River Otter.

Otterton Mill features a one thousand year-old working watermill, a restaurant, gallery and artist studios, a bakery, an award winning food shop and a music venue. The earliest written record of the mill is in the Domesday survey in 1068

Why not learn the timeless principles of traditional bread making from the mill’s Head Baker. Sessions take place in small groups within the bakery. You’ll learn the secrets of making the perfect loaf by hand, as you are taken through the techniques of mixing, clearing, fermentation, knock-back, cutting and scaling, hand moulding, proving and oven baking. The bread making courses are suited for any ability and are informative and fun.

Otterton Mill is set in truly beautiful countryside and after your visit you can take a stroll along the River Otter and enjoy its fantastic views and thriving wildlife – a great day out in a simply delightful spot.

The Philpot Museum in Lyme Regis

If history is your thing then take a trip to The Philpot Museum in Lyme Regis, where the story of Lyme and its ever changing landscape is told. From Civil war and rebellion, fossils and Mary Anning, literary Lyme to Lyme’s famous Cobb harbour – the museum vividly presents the history of this proud seaside town.

The museum is housed in a magnificent idiosyncratic listed building in the heart of the town overlooking Lyme Bay and the historic Cobb harbour. It was built in 1900 by Thomas Philpot and has recently been completely renovated.

The fortunes of Lyme Regis have been inextricably linked to the sea. For seven centuries trade has flourished and faded through its port, protected by the great wall of The Cobb. Fishing, smuggling, storm and shipwreck have left their relics and the collections at The Philpot are unusually rich for a small museum. Lyme’s lively local history is well represented by maritime and domestic objects and illustrated by paintings, prints and photographs. This part of the coast, known as The Jurassic Coast, is noted for its fossils and there are some excellent examples displayed in the geological galleries. The town’s literary connections, from Jane Austen to John Fowles, are illustrated in the new Writers Gallery.

The museum frequently stages interesting temporary exhibitions, guided fossil walks and a lively programme of talks and special events. Admission into the museum is £3.00 for adults with no charge for children and students.

Bicton Park

Take a trip to Bicton Park and enjoy over sixty acres of beautiful grounds with sweeping lawns, elegant water features and grand formal gardens. Over 300 years of horticultural history can be found in these magnificent gardens set in East Devon’s beautiful Otter Valley. Bicton Park has attractions that will appeal to all ages. There is the impressive Palm House, home to a fantastic collection of palms and tropical plants and The Arboretum, which has some of the most fantastic trees in the country. Wander and enjoy other attractions which include The Little House of Shells, the romantic Hermitage Garden, The Secret Garden, streams, woodlands, the lake and acres of informal gardens.

There is plenty to occupy younger members of any visiting party. You can explore the nature trail where birds can be seen feeding and heard singing and you can learn to identify their calls, you can play mini golf, or lose yourself in The Bigfoot Maze. The Bicton Woodland Railway offers a scenic ride around the park and is a treat for children and grown-ups alike. After all that activity you can take a break and enjoy a meal or snack at the Orangery Restaurant which has great views across the gardens.

Chicken friendly Hugh

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, celebrity chef, smallholder, television presenter, food writer and campaigner for chicken’s rights can often be seen around these parts travelling between his River Cottage HQ and his Canteen and Produce Shop in Axminster. If you fancy a culinary treat both are worth a visit.

The local produce store in Axminster, East Devon offers a collection of local and organic food & drink produce from the South West. The store stocks a wide selection of the best local and seasonal provisions including milk, eggs, bread, meat, poultry, beers and wines. The Axminster Canteen, which is annexed to the food store, serves snacks and meals during the day and is open for evening meals from Tuesday to Saturday.

If you want a real treat during August (you may wish to save up for this!) you can spend a summer’s evening in the garden at Park Farm, River Cottage HQ, dining alfresco on the best local produce. The evening starts at 6:00pm with canapés and a welcome drink. You will then be taken on a tour of River Cottage HQ, viewing the gardens and smallholding – any questions you might have about growing your own fruit and vegetables and running a smallholding will be answered by your hosts. You will be served a four-course set menu based around produce from the garden and the best ingredients from local organic growers. This is a real foodie treat for that special occasion.

Soak up more than 900 years of history on a visit to Forde Abbey, four miles south east of Chard on the Dorset/Somerset border. This elegant former Cistercian monastery is set in 30 acres of spectacular award winning gardens. The landscape has developed slowly since monastic times and it is constantly changing with the seasons and years. Its character in the spring is totally different from that of the summer or autumn. The gardens are open every day throughout the year.

The Tearoom is open daily until the 31st October and the food served at Forde Abbey is cooked in the Abbey kitchens using produce grown on the estate or sourced from local producers. The walled kitchen garden and the soft fruit grown on the estate provide a wealth of seasonal fresh produce. I must make special mention (and apologies to any vegetarians reading this) of the famous Forde Abbey Red Devon Beef, which often appears on the menu. All of the Forde Abbey beef comes from animals that have been born and reared at Forde. I thoroughly recommend a visit to the estate shop where you can buy cuts of beef to take home with you – it’s the best beef I have tasted.

July 2009 marks the 175th Anniversary of the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ arrest for forming a trade union in order to defend their livelihoods. Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset were charged in The Old Crown Court and Cells, Dorchester with taking part in an ‘illegal oath’ ceremony and sentenced to seven years transportation to the penal colonies of Australia. The real offence was that they had dared to form a trade union.

The sentences provoked an outcry, leading to the first mass trade union protest in Britain. The campaign eventually won free pardons for the Martyrs’ and they returned to England.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum tells the harrowing tale of the Martyrs arrest, trial and punishment. The museum has been re-designed into a modern, informative and educational exhibition, using interactive touch screen displays and graphic panels telling the story in text and images. The museum sets out the Martyrs’ story in four sections: Before the arrest, The Oath and Betrayal, Transportation and The Homecoming.