Cooking up a treat in Devon!

So, it was my 60^th birthday back in January and one of Mrs M’s little treats was a day’s fish cookery course at a place called “Manna From Devon” in Kingswear. A great idea; I enjoy cooking but I’m always slightly nervous with fish that I’m going to over cook it, or undercook it – this was just the job! Better still, the place was just down the road from Ramslade CC site. So Woo Hoo! A great excuse (as if one is ever needed) for a trip away in the van. Well I have to say that Ramslade is just about perfect – I’ve left a review on the site’s section so won’t go over it all again here.  The area is great – just down the road is the pretty little village of Stoke Gabriel, an ideal spot for that after dinner stroll. For tougher exercise, take the coastal path around here! The stretch from Kingswear to Berry Head at Brixham is a killer – up and down and up and down – we split the dog walking duties half and half (for reasons I’ve explained elsewhere) but poor old Harry has to do the whole lot, bless him – he’s never slept so well! Other highlights are the ferry across from Kinswear to Dartmouth which is a lovely genteel place (until regatta time) and a slightly easier coast walk from Little Dartmouth (NT car park) to Dartmouth castle and back. Brixham is close by and we also walked a stretch of coastline there. Just a tip for the tight-fisted (like me!) Car parking is very expensive in this area but if you head up to the area around Brixham Battery Gardens (just above Fishcombe cove) you can park on street all day for free and either walk down into Brixham or just laze around in the park end enjoy the view. We had a great week with perfect weather and there’s so much to do and see that we are already planning to return. And as for the cookery course? Well it was a great day, lots of hands on experience and I know two things now – I can cook fish reasonably well and I can wear blue plasters on my thumbs along with the best of chefs!!