Day 1 London to Dawlish, March 10th 2008.

Early March is not the time most would choose for a trip to the seaside, however this was a property scouting trip, and the idea was simple – see a place at its worst and if its good, then it can only get better. Thats a fine plan, except 2 days before we’re due to depart the news headlines are filled with severe weather warnings and the prediction of the worst storms for 30 years, and Devon is where its going to hit full force first.

With no option for a refund on cancellation, and taking the above idea to the extreme, we set off early morning on March 10th by train. It took some 4 hours to make the trip to Dawlish, first to London, then across to Paddington, then down to Exeter St. Davids and finally the short hop to Dawlish. Upon arrival the weather was not soo bad, however we were assured that earlier that day the main line had been closed due to the sea coming up onto the track, and the proof of this was the amount of debris laying all over the street, mostly sand and gravel washed up from the beach. A few hours were taken up by the need to search for a power cable for the laptop having discovered it had been left behind, and then there was time to check-in and sort a few other things out, which basically meant not alot was achieved that evening, and so dinner was taken in a local pub just up the hill.