Thursday, 6th April, 2023
We were a bit sluggish to get moving this morning after a very late
night. After enjoying a buffet breakfast at the Norfolk Royale
Hotel, we headed toward Torquay. After about an hour, we had what
was going to be a short break for a cup of tea but which turned out
to be almost an hour as we tried to work out how to get our Peugeot
to think in miles rather than kilometres and a few other settings we
wanted to change. This being achieved we set off again and arrived
at Torre Abbey 2:15pm.
There is very little left of the abbey church as it was almost
completely destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries under
Henry VIII. Other sections of the buidling did survive and, after
many years of various alterations and additions, was purchased by
the local council. After we had paid for our tickets, I asked the
attendant if they had a map we could follow. I was a bit taken aback
by her answer which was, "Sorry, we haven't got one, it's too hard
to map. If you get lost, just look for a lift and go down!" After we
had walked through the many rooms, we realised that what she had
said was true. It was very difficult even to work out which rooms
were on which floor. There are stairs all over the place which take
one to various floors but they are not of an even height. It would
be a wonderful place for a game of "Hide and Seek!"
After a very nice Devonshire Tea at the Abbey's tearooms, we
ventured to the Babbacombe Cliff Railway.
Disappointingly, it was closed for renovation. Our plans to visit
the model village were also thwarted as we
had not realised that the last entry was 90 minutes before closing
time and we arrived there an hour before!
On to Exeter! Much of the road was quite narrow and we went the
wrong way a couple of times (how people managed at all before the
advent of "Siri" was difficult to fathom). When we got to Exeter, it
took about 15 mins to actually find Leonardo Hotel but we eventually
got there and found another comfortable room in which to stay.
We had dinner at Burger King and then made our way to the Cathedral
for the Maundy Thursday Service. This was well-attended and the
large choir of boys and men provided much music during the two-hour
Service. The music consisted of the inroit "In ieiunio et fletu
orabant sacerdotes" by Thomas Tallis, the setting for the service in
G by Francis Jackson, "Ubi caritas" by Maurice Duruflé, "Sicut
cervus" by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Psalm 22 (plainsong,
sung by the men only) and "Tantum ergo" by Maurice Duruflé. The
hymns were "Come Down, O Love Divine" sung to "Down Ampney", "An
Upper Room Did Our Lord Prepare" sung to "O Waly Waly", "O Thou Who
at Thy Eucharist Didst Pray" sung to "Song 1" and "Of the Glorious
Body Telling".
When we left the relative warmth of the Cathedral, we were greeted
with a clear, cold night. When we got back to hotel, we decided a
drink would be nice. I had a port and Satoshi had a gin and tonic. A
very pleasant way to finish off a great day!
Our car for the next three months is
comfortable and easy to drive. It has a multitude of
technological possibilities but it is not easy to navigate the
settings to make changes.
The gates to Torre Abbey
A swan atop one of the gate posts
The Abbey is quite impressive at first sight.
The weather was kind to us again today!
A tree in blossom in Exeter
The western end of Exeter Cathedral