Maghull and Lydiate U3A

47 Members set off from the Square bound for Torquay on Sat.13th November on a brilliant sunny day.  The smooth journey brought us to the Abbey Lawn Hotel in Torquay and on arrival our luggage was whisked away to our rooms and so were we.  Sunday dawned pouring with rain.  Some of us had a free day in and around Torquay while 3l of us went on a trip to the highly acclaimed Eden Project in Cornwall. It well deserves its’ reputation – very interesting but very hot.  Would not like to visit in the summer it would be unbearable.  Since our visit it has sadly been flooded in the recent Cornish floods and is currently closed – it wasn’t anything to do with us!!  We also visited the lovely old town of Totnes which boast lots of individual, interesting shops and is situated on the River Dart.  Our next day out was to Tavistock, again a lovely historic town with beautiful buildings and a most interesting market, called the Pannier Market.  This dates back to when donkeys used to have panniers carrying goods for sale. It is also the home town of the Duke of Bedford and Sir Francis Drake was christened in the local church.  Onto Dartmoor past the imposing Dartmoor Prison.  We had lunch in Princetown and then returned to Torquay.  Both days the weather was really kind to us – sunny but cold.  After celebrating both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, we made our return journey to Maghull.