Our Favourite Photos of England

Andrew loves a good pun, so he enjoyed the humorous signs in Dartmoor National Park.

England may be rainy (like our beloved Belgium) but that moody atmosphere makes for some great photos, if you’re prepared to get wet. Today we share a few of our favourite photos from our last trip to England.

While Andrew and I have visited England many times over our years in Belgium, it was a first for my parents. We decided that after London, we would visit a part of the country none of us had seen before, Cornwall and Devon. Most of the following photos are from that area, with the first few from our drive from London. I hope you enjoy them.

1. Big Ben from the London Eye

Big Ben as seen from the London Eye

London is a great city to visit but when the weather is bleak, it can put a bit of a damper on sightseeing. We stayed high and dry in the London Eye, but the rain made for a difficult photography situation. Between the raindrops on the glass and the bleak grey weather, this was one of the few photos I managed to salvage from the Weekend London Tried to Kill Me.

2. Stonehenge in the Rain

I’ve wanted to visit Stonehenge for as long as I can remember but it was never close to anywhere else we were visiting. So imagine our surprise when we discovered it completely by accident!

My Grandfather on my Dad’s side immigrated to Canada from England when he was young. My Dad and I were curious about the town he came from. As there was an alternate route to Cornwall via this town, we decided to check it out.

We turned off the main motorway and headed down one of the local roads. All of a sudden, I looked through the rain-streaked window and did a double take.

“Is that Stonehenge?!”

Andrew did a quick U-turn and we found ourselves in the parking lot of the illusive UNESCO site. There was one slight problem however…

Stonehenge – One of the great mysteries of our world.

I love this photo. It’s dark and mysterious, just as Stonehenge should be. This is one of only four photos I was able to take. Why, you may ask…

Soggy but Happy – the Cornfords at Stonehenge

Well, this photo was closer to the reality of our visit to Stonehenge, which lasted all of 5 minutes outside. The rain was coming down in buckets and showed no sign of stopping. At least I was able to cross another site off my World Heritage Sites List.

3. The Biomes of the Eden Project

The biodomes of the Eden Project – another ‘bucket list’ item achieved

Another major item on my ‘bucket list’ was visiting the Eden Project in Cornwall. This was the only photo I took of the exterior, while dodging between raindrops. You can read all about our visit to the Eden Project in our earlier post.

4. St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall

Dark and mysterious (see a theme here?) Saint Michael’s Mount, Cornwall.

Another accidental discovery while we explored the coastlines of Cornwall was St Michael’s Mount. This tiny island is the British equivalent to Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. On this blustery day, it certainly looked dark and brooding, perched just off the coast.

5. Dartmoor National Park

One of the best days of our road-trip in England was spent exploring Dartmoor National Park in Devon. The landscape is stunning, alternating between nearly impenetrable forests that bring to mind the Hound of the Baskervilles, which was set here, and rolling hills, criss-crossed with hedgerows.

Peeking above the hedgerows, we caught sight of the rolling landscape of Devon.

Dartmoor Nation Park is home to a variety of furry creatures. First up was an assortment of cattle.

These cows seem oblivious to the strange rock formation behind them.

I love the look of this shaggy Highland bull, but I sure wouldn’t mess with those horns!

The stars of the show though were the Dartmoor ponies. These ponies have free reign of the park and we expected them to be skittish and hard to spot. We were surprised to see them virtually everywhere, despite their declining numbers.

My Dad getting a close up look at a couple of Dartmoor Ponies

They also weren’t particularly shy. In fact, several came right up to us, including one nosey mare that was either very pregnant, or very successful at begging. The way she went after our ice cream cones, we expect it was a bit of both.

These ponies were trolling the parking-lots looking for handouts.

Wild and wonderful Dartmoor stole our hearts

Discovering Dartmoor, and its furry residents, was a wonderful way to wrap up my parents’ visit to Europe. We’re looking forward to discovering more hidden corners of the UK. Do you have a favourite place in England we should visit? Tell us about it in the comments below.