With just seven days until I start working again I fancied a trip to the coast, especially given the fabulous weather forecast - summer is finally arriving in the UK! I chose Dartmouth because it is years (probably 20+ years) since I have been on the Paignton and Dartmouth Railway, I also got the chance to travel to Newton Abbot on a High Speed Train (far more preferable than a Voyager), I quite fancied fish and chips by the sea (admittedly it is really the estuary of the river Dart, but it is close enough!) and from memory Dartmouth was also a nice place to visit. The southbound journey with an overcast sky did make me have second thoughts about wearing shorts and even when stepping off the steam hauled service at Kingswear there was a chill breeze. By the time I had crossed to Dartmouth, purchased my fish and chips from 'Rockfish', a chippy which got great reviews, things started to warm up - thank goodness! Dartmouth really was a pleasant place to wander around and it also reminded me a little bit of Salcombe. There were some nice shops, plenty of narrow streets, pleasant gardens, interesting buildings and great views of the Dart estuary back across to Kingswear. I really did like it even if it was almost just for lunch! My return journey was pretty much a repeat of my outbound travels catching the ferry across to Kingswear (with enough time for a quick pint) and then boarding the steam hauled service to Paignton. I had enough time to wander to the harbour and along the seafront before catching the First Great Western service to Newton Abbot and then boarding the CrossCountry service (unfortunately a Voyager) back to Derby. Having left Derby at 0727 this morning I will be back at 2038 if all goes to plan. Oh, the fish and chips were good by the way!