I have wanted to visit Greenway for a long time. I hesitate to say it was on my bucket list as I have no intention of kicking the bucket just yet, but it was certainly on A List. There are various ways to get there but I decided to drive. I ignored the fact that I think my satnav seems to be suffering from a nervous breakdown whenever we arrive at a destination and we set off. It appeared to be a 25 minute drive. It took us an hour. I am slightly puzzled at my relationship with Hildegarde (I am calling her that as the satnav is of German origin and pronounces names in a most peculiar manner) as she seems to have a habit of telling me to take a turn up a street just as I sail past. When we are lost and she needs to ‘calibrate’ the route she takes her time and leaves me driving I know not where and swearing madly.
I will draw a veil over the drive except to say that I now now the surrounding countryside on the way to Greenways very well indeed. And, quite frankly, even if we had taken the straightest route we would still have gone down a long windy curly hair raising narrow road to get there. Meeting something coming the other way tested my driving skills to the limit.
Well we arrived and yes it was worth it. The house overlooks the River Dart and the views are wonderful. It was a lovely day, the sun had come out, a slight breeze so walking was a pleasure and I just loved it all. I had wanted to go for so long that I had wondered if I might feel a bit of a let down but not so.
The house is a comfortable homely sort of place. It feels like a home and that is not always the case when you visit a National Trust property. You cannot imagine kicking off your shoes and collapsing on a sofa. You could here. The cupboards full of china and knick knacks she and her husband Max collected added to this. Yes, there was fine china around, but also a lot of stuff that was probably bought because they liked it. I recognised a few cups and saucers in there as I had some the same. It all added to the ambience. But I will let the pictures below give you an idea...
The view coming up the hill from the river. Such a familiar frontage from those of us who have watched the Poirot series with David Suchet.
River Dart and the pleasure boat coming up the river
Here I am sitting on the wall of hte Battery. It was here that Amyas Crale painted his portrait of Elsa Greer and then died of poison. This was in my favourite Agatha Five Little Pigs.
And here is the river from the Boat house where the body of Marlene was found in Dead Man’s Folly
And some photos of the glorious grounds. I walked down to the Boathouse and the Battery and back. It took me an hour with rests on the way but so glad I did it.
A glorious place to visit. I would go again next week if I could but it is a long long drive to Torquay........
