Daily Mirror - 17.08.2019

mirror.co.uk SATURDAY 17.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^51

DM1ST

UK’s top seven steam railway journeys, from Boundless.co.uk: 1) The Jacobite: Fort William

to Mallaig, 2) Bluebell Railway: East Sussex, 3) Dartmouth Steam Railway: Devon, 4) Vintage

Trains: Birmingham, 5) Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways: Wales, 6) North Norfolk

Railway: Norfolk, 7) North Yorkshire Moors Railway: Pickering and Whitby.

commentary about the city’s attrac-

tions and history (£8.50 adult, £5

child, plymouthboattrips.co.uk).

Back in the Crowne Plaza’s top-

floor Marco Pierre White steak-

house, we watched the sun go down

and the boat lights below twinkle

into life. Marco’s menu was created

around his favourite childhood food

combined with modern classics.

More tongue-tingling scallops

with black pudding and crispy

pancetta, plus a scrumptious

Scotch egg with mustard sauce

were hearty starters. Our fillet

steaks that followed – mine

with peppercorn and brandy

sauce, Tim’s with a novel snail

and garlic butter – were as

idyllic as the seascape, while the

drunken fruitcake with a slab of

blue cheese made by Blur’s Alex

James was the crowning glory.

At under £10 for three courses, the

kids’ menu was great value – fish-

bite starters followed by crispy

chicken burgers then warm choco-

late brownies went down a treat.

The next day we caught the new

open-top sightseeing bus to Royal

William Yard – grand Grade II-listed

buildings that were once a Royal

Navy victualling centre (£5 adult, £3

child, oceancitysights.co.uk).

Nowadays it’s home to cool cafés

and shops, art studios and a handful

of chain restaurants. For finger-

licking homemade sausage rolls and

toasties filled with butter beans,

pesto and mozzarella, we stopped

off at the Column Bakehouse Café

in Ocean Studios, a social enterprise

creating opportunities for locals and

showcasing work by artists and

craftsmen (columnbakehouse.org).

Refuelled, we headed back to the

Barbican by boat, then strolled

around the plush marinas (cue

serious yacht envy) to the National

Marine Aquarium, the largest in

Britain with three enormous shark

and ray tanks (one year’s entry from

£15.25 adult, £11.65 child, national-

aquarium.co.uk).

Next door is Rockfish, part of a

small West Country chain of restau-

rants and another perfect place to

sample seafood (therockfish.co.uk).

The fish menu changes daily

according to what’s been caught

locally. I opted for red mullet, while

Tim went for the gurnard, both of

which had been landed overnight

and were served simply grilled with

as many chips or as much salad as

you want.

For a change of pace we spent the

following day at Mount Edgcumbe

Country Park, a short ferry-hop away

in Cornwall.

It’s packed with family-friendly

activities, from playing frisbee golf

to learning circus skills such as

trapeze ( free entry to park; charges

apply for activities. mount-

edgcumbe.gov.uk).

We hired electric bikes to enjoy

the stunning 10.4-mile coastline

while the historic stately home gave

us a glimpse into the lives of the

Earls of Mount Edgcumbe. Rosie and

Freddie loved dressing up in the

beautiful old-fashioned costumes.

Lunch was in the pretty Orangery

café – I can recommend the Cornish

cheese and onion marmalade

toasties – but a favourite bit was

learning how to screenprint with

artist Helen Round (one-hour family

workshop £60, helenround.com).

Helen showed us how an image is

transferred from sketchbook to silk

screen before letting us loose

printing gift tags, notebooks and

paper bags using one of her own

popular bee designs.

We spent the night glamping in a

quirky shepherd’s hut set in the

Grade 1-listed grounds with incred-

ible views. There’s a wood burner

inside, and it’s cosy and warm.

Back in Plymouth – Devon can be

a stretch by car so an ideal option is

to take the train as we did – we

treated ourselves to fish and chips

from the Harbourside which is

nestled in the Barbican and voted

one of Britain’s top three chippies, as

well as the healthiest (harbourside-

fishandchips.co.uk).

The perfect end to our Ocean

City break.

Get there

Plymouth

Mount Edgcumbe

House and

Country Park

2 miles

Plymouth

Mount Edgcumbe

House and

Country Park

2 miles

Sorry, we cannot answer

all individual queries

TOMORROW

Exploring America’s Capital Region,

family fun down in Dorset, mad for

Madrid, dog-friendly breaks, top

deals, Hotel of the Week

[email protected]

@MirrorTravelEd @MirrorTravel @marjorieyue

OCEANS OF

PLEASURE

■ B&B for a family of four at the

Crowne Plaza hotel in Plymouth costs

from £109 a night. crowneplaza.com,

0371 423 4906

■ A Shepherd’s Hut at Mount

Edgcumbe Country Park starts at £98

a night for up to four. mountedgcumbe.

gov.uk

■ GWR runs hourly trains between

London Paddington and Plymouth

from £28 single. gwr.com

■ Plymouth Summer of Fun family

events on until August 31.

■ Tourist info: visitplymouth.co.uk

FRESH IDEAS (Clockwise from top)

fish supper, shepherd’s hut, Freddie

and Rosie dress up, & with mum Fiona

SUPREME
VIEWS
Smeaton’s
Tower

Ruby star Harry

tries world travel

BY JULIE DELAHAYE

Getting paid to travel the world sounds like a

dream job, but for Irish sportsman Harry

McNulty that became a reality when he landed

Royal Caribbean’s Shore Apprentice role.

His task? Exploring the globe and trying out

excursions available to passengers, while

sharing his experiences on Instagram.

So far, the rugby union player, who plays

alongside Love Island winner Greg O’Shea,

has enjoyed adventures in Alaska, Japan and

even the cruise line’s new private island

Perfect Day at CocoCay.

He told Mirror Travel exclusively: “Juneau in

Alaska has been my favourite port of call so

far because it’s so wild.

“All of the shore excursions that I did were

exhilarating; from the helicopter ride to the

top of a glacier, then the dog sledding around

it, to sea plane glacier tours, zip lining and axe

throwing. I mean it would be really hard not to

have a lot of fun on an Alaskan cruise!”

Applicants had to submit videos or photos

to try and bag the job, but it was Harry’s short

video of all his previous adventures in the likes

of Fiji and Dubai which won the votes of the

judging panel.

A cruise

holiday had yet

to make the list,

although Harry

admitted he

didn’t think it

would turn out to

be nearly as

exciting.

“I kind of

expected people

to be sat around,

waiting to get to

the next

destination, but

it was the

opposite,” he

admitted. “There

were so many

options for things to do, places to eat, places

to explore.

“There is no way you could ever be bored.”

Of course, with so much to pack into these

three weeks, it’s been impossible for Harry to

try it all – and there’s one onboard experience

he’s determined to have.

“I wish I was able to do my private

30-minute FlowRider lesson (it’s the first surf

simulator at sea) on board Navigator of the

Seas,” he admitted. “But I had so much to

pack into the three-day sailing that I didn’t

manage to squeeze it in. But I reckon the rest

of the boys on the rugby team are going to be

keen to try a cruise once they see what I’ve

been up to, so that can be one for next time!”

SMOKIN’ Harry at Little

Havana, Miami

KIMONO Harry at

Golden Pavilion, Kyoto