Today is Tony’s 65th birthday so we start the day with pressies. 🎂🎁🎉

We leave Okehampton around 10:45 so after a very easy journey we arrive before midday. The Cadeside site is tiny, only 16 pitches and doesn’t have facilities. Buts it’s a short walk into Wellington where we plan to have a birthday curry and a few drinks later!

After a late lunch in the van we wander into Wellington to explore and pick up a bit of shopping. It’s about 15 minutes walk up a gentle hill into the town. There’s not much obvious evidence of the connection to the Duke of Wellington himself other than than the The Iron Duke pub. His given name was actually Arthur Wellesley but he bought a manor around 1809 in Wellington and became the Marquis of Wellington. After the battle of Waterloo in 1815 he became The Duke. There is a monument to him but it’s a few miles out of town built on land he owned.

We have a pint in The Vintage Inn which has a good vibe so we may revisit later as it promises live music. A bit of shopping from the Co Op and then it’s back to the van for a cuppa and r&r.

Around seven we get ready and wander back into town. It’s now drizzly and windy. Our first stop is a bar called The Pub. It’s actually more of a wine bar but has a lovely happy vibe. Just a single large room with different seating areas and wide age range of customers.

Next we wander to The Green Dragon but decide not to wait to be served as it’s full of groups of loud and we’ll oiled men.

The Iron Duke pub in the centre of town is in the renovated old town hall. Inside there’s an amazing brick end wall, a fab ceiling, an interesting mezzanine floor and gorgeous lighting. We enjoy a pint on the mezzanine and then it’s off to the Tamarind Bay for a birthday curry.

Really delicious curry. I had the best onion bhajis I’ve tasted in a long time and Tony’s chicken patia was almost Gangee standard but not as good as the one Rach made him!

We return to The Vintage Inn for a drink. There is a band on playing blues very loudly so we don’t stay very long.

Our final stop is at our favourite The Pub. We sit at the bar, the first time since the pandemic started and enjoy the ambience. They run out of his beer of choice so I treat him to a double single malt with a splash of water of course. Happy birthday my love!

A good day in Wellington we are so glad we moved on!