MY STAYCATION MEMORIES

The sound of a steam train chuffing through the English Riviera in South Devon takes Patrick Tracey and David Beal back to 30 years of happy memories. They love it so much, the train-buff pair have turned their Carlisle garden into a tribute to the age of steam… Patrick writes: “We have regularly travelled on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway on holiday for almost 30 years, and when we lived there running a business in Teignmouth. “We loved it back in the days when they did fine dining and murder mystery expresses. This preserved branch of Brunel’s Great Western Railway is one of the UK’S most scenic, running above glorious sandy beaches, coves and viaducts, past Agatha Christie’s Greenway estate. “Enjoy scenery all along the coast, then through Greenway tunnel inland to run alongside the heavily wooded River Dart.

Then it travels towards Kingswear with Dartmouth on the other side, dominated by the Britannia Naval College where the Queen first met Prince Philip. Catch the ferry to Dartmouth, a rare rail station built without a track, and relax in its Royal Avenue Gardens. Or sit on the quayside watching the boats go by as you go up the embankment. “You can also take a cruise up to Totnes. We would often take a trip up on PS Kingswear Castle – the last coal-fired river paddle steamer in the UK. “In fact we love it so much that over the past 19 years we have transformed our bare ranch-style fenced backyard in Carlisle into a sunny, sheltered oasis garden. We decorated it with signs of station stops and even called our house Kingswear on the weather vane! “We raise a glass from our retirement Carlisle oasis to happy Devon memories and hope to be back there soon.”