Better late than never (Mon, 19 June)

Posted on June 25, 2006
Filed Under Outside Dublin, Summer, Cornwall, culture, holiday | Comments Off

I finally made it to Newquay today but not before I nearly had a near-death experience while skirting the Northern edge of Exmoor National Park. More about that later.

Not too many odd traffic signs today. The strangest set I saw were near Otterhampton, Staffordshire. The set consisted of a cow enclosed in a red triangle with a pair of amber lights beneath and the legend, ‘cows crossing when the lights are flashing’. Funny how the badgers in Wales are fair game while cows get special protection in Staffordshire. Staffordshire seemed very agreeable, as you English might say. All the farms had quaint names like, ‘Old Water farm’, Grisley’s farm’, ‘Claypits’. I used to live in the UK and got into ‘real ale’. I thought I’d hit paydirt when I saw a sign for Burton. If memory serves, Burton is/was the centre of the Universe for real ale drinkers (excellent combination of hops and water). I turned off the main road in great anticipation but, unfortunately, Burton was just a bend in the road. Not even a pub! Where’s the ‘Trading Standards’ when you need them.

I spent an enjoyable few minutes contemplating possible marketing campaigns after I drove past the ‘Castle of Comfort’ hotel, vaguely near Minehead. Maybe you’re thinking of fluffy pillows and scented candles right now. Maybe I’ve a filthy mind because I was thinking of entirely different things (hehe).

The first Spar shop I saw was in St Audries. I haven’t seen too many corner shops, to be honest. And it’s kinda sad because the community, or what’s left of it, has nowhere to go to bind together and communicate with each other. Most of the areas I drove through were agricultural and very rural. How does the farmer, working his 100 acre farm, find out the local gossip? Everyone has to own a car and everyone has to drive 20 miles to a superstore (at least, that’s what the roadsigns call them) to get the shopping. It’s a downward spiral. Think about it. It’s already happening/happened in our towns. When was the last time you said ‘hello’ or acknowledged a stranger as you walked along a city street? As an Irish person, I think it’s odd that the council puts up community noticeboards in the little villages I stopped in (e.g. Watchet). How sad it that the council (whose HQ is 100 miles away?) has to tell you what’s going on in your community.

The first time I saw the sea today was in Kilve.

I didn’t see any McDonalds, which was good. I hope there aren’t any in Cornwall.

Oh yeah, my near-death experience. It’s pretty steep going into Lyntton. It’s even steeper leaving Lyntton and heading across the Exmoor National Park. Leaving Lyntton, the roadsign advised carvans to take the toll road as Lyntton Hill ahead had a gradient of 1:4. I’m not sure what that means but I think it means the road rises 4 metres for every 1 metre you go forward. Oh crap. I going uphill and I’m in second gear. I’ve done U-bends before so what could possibly go wrong as I’m slowly going up a hill in second gear? The road was covered overhead by trees and there must have been some water run-off from the moor and one U-bend turned out to be wet. The front of the car started to go and, sad git that I am, all I could think was, ‘I don’t want to be killed by a caravan coming downhill. I don’t want to be killed by a caravan’. Of course, being a man, I just applied a bit of opposite lock, the car recovered and I continued on my way. However, being mindful that I didn’t want to scare any caravan-drivers, I did slow down until I cleared the moor. One has to be considerate of other road users! Tally-ho.

I finally made it to the Hotel Bristol in Newquay. It looks pretty nice and it offers wireless internet access. It’s part of the ‘Best Western’ network of hotels and that’s usually a good sign. Update: I can’t work out the Internet access. The server is giving me an I.P. address but I can’t log on. My computer diagnostic software is basically saying the access point is playing silly buggers but right now, I don’t care. Newquay awaits.