Photography by Mark Carnaby

5 miles - 5 miles of hills! this is where having a bike with gears is essential!
The kind of church & fluffy clouds setting you would expect to see on the outskirts of a country town
Lovely old water mill that has been converted into offices but still retains the old features
There was an old bike shop just nearby, I think they donated the bike...
Bulliver Bridge - the entrance to the South Devon Railway's Totnes Station
Modern diesel-powered GWR train crosses the bridge train line that the steam engine trains also use
Totnes Steam Railway Station
Steam trains leave from here going to Buckfastleigh (I rode there but this would be a fun ride to do)
The 6412 locomotive they brought from British Railways - it lluckily never made the scrap yard!
The controls of '6412' - steam, valves, goodness!!!
Beech-Nut Chewing Gum - only 1d (that's 15 pence in today's money)
Train fact's mini pocket booklets for sale - these are all different types of trains from steam to electric
Sign for the Liverpool Overhead Railway - the structure is made of wood, never knew this existed
Tourism poster for Paignton holiday breaks by steam train
Totnes historic market town c.907 and in the centre of the photo is the Eastgate
Delphini's Ice Cream Parlour - best gelato I have ever tasted in my life! (and I've enjoyed ice cream from all over the world)
Cherry flavoured - delicious!
That does make a change! (I bet the fixtures and fittings were though)
Toad of Toad Hall in a independent bookshop - cool beans!
Totnes Castle c.1066 - just after the Norman Conquest!

South Devon 2018 Cycle Touring Trip: 2 of 12

South Devon Cycle Touring Trip: Totnes

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Note: click on any photo to start a cool manual slideshow without the annotations!

The following photos chronicle my nine day South Devon cycle touring trip in September 2018 which was a double-first for me as I’ve never taken my bicycle on a long trip with me before and I had also not been camping for many, many years, needless to say there was a lot of planning involved! From getting a proper lightweight suitable tent and sleeping bag to fixing up my old (but trusty) hybrid mountain bike to cope with carrying the weight of my camping gear whilst on the road and traversing the trains.

The journey started by taking a train from Surbiton to Totnes via Woking, which took about roughly 6 hours (including an hour’s delay at Exeter St. Davids), then it took a good couple of hours to ride from Totnes to Ashbourne Woods in the rain, the misty stuff which actually helped because of the crazy hills I was sweating like a pig! And once I arrived it was dark, raining and I had to set up my tent…

…and so the adventure begins…

In this set of photos I cycle from my campsite in Ashbourne Woods to Totnes