On Sunday before the luncheon we embarked on the Port isaac Walking Tour (which we had taken three years earlier) mainly because Joan Ishibashi’s husband, Kantila Vaghela was with us on this trip. However the steep hills of Port Isaac proved extremely tiring and strenuous so he decided to pass. I have to admit, those hills are killers and my calves are really sore! Joan and I went ahead anyway even though Dave Morgan, our guide, was the same one we had three years ago. He is a frequent extra on the Doc Martin show and is one of only 25 residents of Port Isaac! All the other houses are holiday rentals.

On Monday, there was no filming so we decided to visit Lanhydrock, a huge country house and estate on nearly 1000 acres. Some sections of the house date back from the 1620s. This place made a huge impression on all of us for its enormous scale—this is a house for the super-rich, the aristocracy. I was especially impressed by the enormous kitchen, as big as a whole house which consisted of seven separate rooms—and I loved the garden!

The estate has been managed by the National Trust since 1953. This is what happens when families can no longer take care of these properties on their own. It’s hard to imagine that family members lived on the estate as recently as 1969.