George was late up this morning, so by the time we had finished coffee at the Crofters café it was 11.20 when we finally set off along Colston Road and up the cycle path to Dartington. At the Cider Press Centre we noticed that the Tog 24 shop was now in the main building, and since Michael recommended their gloves for cycling we popped in to look around. It was an impressive shop and it didn’t take long for George and John to decide that they wanted the Russia ski gloves, which were the closest equivalent to Michael’s gloves.

Continuing along the cycle path we couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of a large black dog with an enormous plastic cone around its neck: his twin brother looked amused as well.

When we arrived at the weir we discovered that the controversial HEP station that had been under construction for over a year was now working and virtually complete apart from some landscaping tasks. The two enormous Archimedes screws generate up to 35kW of electricity which could supply 700 homes, although this particular installation will be used to power the school and industrial estate. The only problem was that so much water was going into the generator that there was virtually nothing left for the weir, which looked abandoned and forlorn. We were assured by a local that the weir does flow after spells of rain, but it looks like it could remain totally dried up over a hot summer.

We continued along the path to Brutus Bridge and then headed up the main street, stopping below the arch to admire a magnificent and friendly long-eared owl that was being displayed by someone from the Rare Breeds Trust.

The food market was in full swing as it was the third Sunday of the month. We spent considerable time wandering around before we settled on some hot food to buy – Dillan got a venison pie and George had a Thai stir-fry. George was all for riding on to the Ashprington path to eat it, like we did last time, but it was chilly today and Michael had plans for a hot drink afterwards so we ate it on a convenient bench nearby.

After hot chocolates in one of the deliciously-warm cafés below the arch we took the path past the Guildhall, rode down Castle Hill and then climbed Barracks Hill to Dartington. The youngsters were given a choice of the usual route or the “slight climb” to Rattery and chose the latter, although John couldn’t help chuckling at Michael’s description which he felt sure made it sound a good deal less arduous than it actually was. He was right of course, but everyone was fast today and anxious to keep warm, so after a bit of bike swapping on the way up we were soon heading down Pennywell hill to Buckfastleigh. If only Michael had remembered to zip up his fleece pocket his phone might not have jumped out onto the road; fortunately it only suffered damage to the glass.

We got home soon after 4pm and finished the afternoon with a game of Supreme against a tough computer-controlled opponent.