Catching up in Cornwall

Despite my concerns my son and daughter are having a lovely time in Cornwall. On Saturday morning they enjoyed a long walk along the coast path around Trevose Head towards Harlyn. She took this photo of Mother Ivey's Bay looking towards Merope Rocks, that view holds so many happy memories for me, I wish I was there with them. 

Later in the day they went to Padstow and despite the choppy sea they braved a boat trip around the offshore islands to see the puffins and other sea birds. A boat trip on the Jubilee Queen while on holiday has become a bit of a family tradition, but personally I prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on dry land even on the calmest day! I braved the trip once and I was lucky enough to see puffins, but the braver members of the family have seen dolphins, seals, puffins and many other sea birds.

They spent Sunday visiting their grandparents and then their aunt, uncle and cousins. They even visited Windy Ridge, one of my favourite restaurants. Apparently it has been given a facelift since I last visited, they enjoyed their meal very much; another reason for me to visit Cornwall again very soon! 

Storms batter South West coast as 'monsoon' weather hits Britain - The Telegraph

My younger daughter had spent weeks planning a long weekend in Cornwall with her brother and a friend from university. She really isn't the camping type, but they had arranged to spend the first couple of nights 'under canvas' before moving to more civilised surroundings for the remainder of their stay. She is a confident driver and she has made the journey a couple of times before, but I'm her mum and I can't help worrying especially as she planned to make the journey during the night - and that was before I saw the weather forecast!

"Strong winds, possibly up to gale force, are expected from the afternoon onwards in south-west England particularly Devon and Cornwall," forecaster Mark Seltzer from the Met Office.

When I saw the warnings from the Met Office yesterday I was seriously worried, I wouldn't have enjoyed driving to Cornwall in those conditions and I really wanted her to postpone her journey until the morning.

"Winds will increase this afternoon in Devon and Cornwall and there could be gusts of 60 to 65mph, or even 70mph on exposed coasts and headlands......"

My daughter is as stubborn and determined as her mother and she wasn't going let a little matter of the weather spoil her plans. She is also half Cornish and the call of the sea is very strong - it took her dad years to adapt to living so far from the sea. So soon after midnight they set off on their journey - and I began to worry! I had made sure that they were as well prepared as possible, but I was still worried. It was a very long night but thankfully they got to Padstow in time for breakfast. My daughter said that the journey had been very wet and very windy, so it was a challenging driving experience.

I really wish that they could have had better weather, it sounds as if they had a nice day despite the rain and according to my daughter the sun came out later on. Padstow holds so many happy memories for our family and it is nice to be there whatever the weather. However camping is a different story, I doubt my daughter would have enjoyed it even in perfect summer weather. She wrote on facebook that "Camping is most certainly not for me" and she went on to inform the world that she will be sleeping in the car tonight! Perhaps she will appreciate the comforts of home after this. I hope they stay safe and have a lovely day tomorrow.

Cold Feet

Thursday 3rd June

The weather forecast was very good and it was a shame to waste a good beach day, so we got ourselves organised and headed off to Padstow early so that we could get a good parking space (which didn't involve walking up a very steep hill). Sam wanted to buy a present for his girlfriend and Laura wanted to buy some rock and have a look at the clothes shops. I just wanted to get some nice photos and to enjoy the atmosphere in one of my favourite places. Robbie bought a pastie, but Laura and I preferred sausage rolls and Sam insisted on a chocolate brownie instead.

On the way back we made a quick trip to Tesco to get more capsules to treat Robbie's 'man flu' and a few other essentials. Robbie has now infected Laura and me with colds, he is still sniveling but now he has another injury to take his mind off it. This morning he sliced a lump off his lip while shaving, his cry of agony was a little over the top, but it does look painful.

We were back at the beach by lunchtime, it was almost too hot to sit outside for long but the sea is still a bit chilly until you get used to it. Robbie and I went for a walk along the beach but I was the only one who got my feet wet!

Getting There

Saturday 29th May

It was a reasonably good journey. We stopped at the services on M4 and Robbie managed to sleepwalk to the Gents and back but within seconds he was comatose again and his latte travelled all the way to Taunton before being tipped away. This time he didn't stay awake long enough to go into the services, he was sound asleep again as we travelled into Cornwall. Sound was the operative word, the soundtrack was really irritating, I tried to throw a deaf ear and focus on Radio 4, but Sam who was sitting behind Robbie was almost overcome by the temptation to silence him.

We arrived in Padstow early enough to have our choice of parking spaces, just as well as the spaces are a bit tight and parking a seven seater can be challenging when it is busy. It was at this point that Robbie discovered that he had forgotten his rucksack containing his wallet, money, bank cards, passes, ipod and charger, phone charger and the countless other essentials that he drags around with him. Predictably he had a strop, he sat there arms folded and lip sticking out a mile, he even tried to blame me for making him forget it, but I have to admit that he got over his strop fairly quickly. We had a picnic breakfast, then we had a look at the shops and had a wander around Padstow before having lunch at our favourite cafe by the harbour.

We arrived at the Caravan at about 3pm, it is a new one this year and very nice. The view as ever is wonderful but by the time we had unloaded the car and unpacked I was too tired to take much notice of anything and I was fast asleep long before the Eurovision Song Contest came on television - I'm sure I didn't miss much!

Unmissable!

We spent the morning in Padstow today, Laura wanted to shop for jewellery and Robbie wanted to indulge his passion for pasties. I didn't really want to buy anything, so while they shopped I wandered around taking photos of all my favourite places. We spent the afternoon on the beach, it was lovely, totally still and warm, but just a little bit misty, it was the sort of day wish would last for ever. When we came back up from the beach, I was so lucky to have my camera because a butterfly settled right in front of me and I was able to get some very close shots. I have never seen so many butterflies as I have in the last couple of days.

On the subject of photos, I waited until it was almost dark to photograph Robbie's shorts and amazingly my camera survived! As you can see with shorts that loud there is no chance of losing him on the beach.

How to Measure Time

Holidays are measured out in toilet roll, we start with a large pack tucked into the cupboard under the sink and gradually the pack becomes smaller until only a single roll remains and the holiday is almost at an end. We glance at the contents of the fridge and wonder if we will manage to eat it all without wasting food and we make absolutely certain that we don't run out of tea bags or coffee! However there is one cupboard whose contents has not diminished, in fact what started as a little pile of magazines has grown significantly over the fortnight. Robbie loves his magazines and newspapers and he is extremely reluctant to part with them. He promised me yesterday that he would sort through his pile and get rid of as much as possible, but unsurprisingly the pile remains un molested and Robbie is finding every excuse under the sun to avoid 'doing the deed' and if I'm not very careful he will sneak the whole lot into the car to be taken home. What possible use are copies of last week's Guardian, in fact more to the point what use is today's Guardian! They are certainly not going to be taken home with us!

Robbie has been busy with his jigsaw and hopefully he will finish it today. I enjoyed taking photos yesterday, I managed to get some shots of some of my favourite shops and landmarks in Padstow, then in the afternoon when it was low tide I got some lovely shots of the beach. I love taking photos, and it is lovely to look at them later and relive all those happy holiday memories.

The Highs and Lows of Newquay

The Coast around Newquay

It was another early start today, we had to get Laura to Newquay by 9am to catch her train. The train wasn't due to depart until 9.40am but Robbie wanted her there early because he said it would get very busy. It was a very misty morning, so I chose not to take the coast road to Newquay, it is challenging even when visibility is good because it is very narrow in places and there some amazing hills and very tight turns. It is no fun when you meet a bus coming in the other direction! I didn't fancy my chances taking that route with the added complication of thick mist, so we took the other route.

We got to Newquay in good time and I dropped Robbie and Laura at the station. It really doesn't deserve to be called a station, it must be the most depressing place in the South West. I have seen some pretty grim bus stations, but I have never encountered such a miserable excuse for a railway station. It is dark, grimy and unloved, in fact it takes grim to a whole new dimension. If that is the first experience visitors have of Newquay I'm surprised they bother to even get off the train. I have seen photos of Newquay Station in previous days when it was still a proud part of the railway network. Now every hint of it's former glory has been stripped away and it is a pathetic apology for a station, Network Rail should be ashamed. At a time when we want to encourage greater use of public transport in order to reduce our impact on the environment surely the government should be sorting out the rail services to popular holiday destinations, and in the case of Cornwall they need to sort out line speeds too - you could do the journey from Newquay to Par faster on horseback than by train at present!

Sam and I went off to park the car while Robbie stayed with Laura to see her safely on to the train. We didn't spend long in Newquay, but we enjoyed an alfresco breakfast at Subway and then we stocked up on food supplies for the caravan. It had turned into a lovely day in Newquay, but as we drove home we realised that the mist had not cleared around Padstow, it was a warm and pleasant day but the mist clung to the coast all day.

Padstow

We made a relatively early start this morning, by holiday standards. I was the first up, but when I went to have a shower I had to clean first because I found that we had our own private beach in the shower basin - Sam! He had showered after going to the beach yesterday and (being a boy) he didn't notice that he had deposited half the beach in the bathroom. It is a brilliant shower, I could stay in there all day.

By 10am we were in Padstow ready to take a leisurely look at the shops. Laura found a lovely fair trade jewellery shop called Uneeka on Saturday and she wanted to go back to buy a couple more items. We looked at lots of other shops and I took advantage of the early start to take some photos while Padstow was relatively quiet, nothing opens until 10am. It was a dismal morning, but not raining and not cold, it brightened up later in the day so we can't complain.

We stopped at a nice little cafe for a bacon roll and a cup of tea. Poor old Robbie was really struggling to walk today and it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain, but he enjoyed his bacon roll. I hope you like the photos of Padstow.

Later in the afternoon we went for a walk along the coast path. We walked towards the lifeboat house because there is a bench where we can sit and watch the sea birds and surprisingly we can get an excellent phone signal there, there is no signal in the caravan. The lifeboat had gone out earlier and as we looked out at the sea we spotted it coming back, so we watched as it made the approach and was winched back up the ramp to the boat house.

Padstow Lifeboat

I was sad to hear that one of my favourite artists Beryl Cook has died. I loved her larger than life characters, they always seemed to have great confidence and to be enjoying life immensely, with just a touch of wickedness. She had a unique style and she will be much missed.
Beryl Cook Paintings

Getting There

Friday passed in a blur of activity, we were packing and preparing for our holiday and it all seems to take so much more time than you anticipate. We took Meg to the kennels after lunch, it is not the nearest but it has a very good reputation and Meg seems to like it there, she loves ball games and as long as they play with her she will be happy. The cats are staying at home, Emily will look after them at the weekends and grandma (my mum) will be in charge during the week. Fortunately Dave's eye is better now so he will not need any more medication, that is just as well because he is not the most grateful patient and I don't want mum or Emily to be scratched to bits.

By 7pm the car was packed and the house was more or less acceptable, after a quick meal I retired to bed so that I would be well rested for our early start. The alarm woke me at 2am, bed seemed very attractive but I forced myself to get going, it took drastic measures to drag Robbie from his bed, but after a shower and 3 Weetabix he was a little more human. It always takes longer to do those last few jobs than you expect, and Robbie kept us all waiting, but by about 3.50am we were on our way. Robbie promised to stay awake to talk to me, but he was snoozing before we had left Northamptonshire!

With three slumbering passengers and only a talking book to keep me company I had a quiet drive towards Oxford and then down to the M4. I wanted to make the most of the early start so I drove on until the second services on the M4 before making a comfort stop, they all moaned when I woke them up and turfed them out of the car. After a quick visit to the facilities and a walk around in the cool morning air I felt sufficiently refreshed and awake to continue. Sleeping Beauty was nodding again before we had rejoined the motorway but it was a good drive, I didn't see any road works or traffic cones at Bristol (there is a first time for everything) the M5 would have been better without the multitude of caravans, but there were no delays and before long we had passed Exeter and headed into Cornwall on the A30. At last I could turn off towards Camelford, Wadebridge and the Atlantic Highway, I love that bit of the journey. By 9am we were parked by the quayside in Padstow enjoying a very welcome hot chocolate, for me this is the best place in the world.
We spent the day in Padstow exploring the shops, enjoying lunch at our favourite restaurant and watching all the activity around the harbour. We booked into the caravan at 3pm and by 5.30pm the luggage that had taken almost a week to gather together and pack was unpacked and put away and I could finally relax and enjoy the amazing view across the bay. I will add some photos later.

It is hardly surprising that I was exhausted, but I stayed awake long enough to see Graham Norton's continuing search for a Nancy and then the beginning of the Eurovision Song Contest. I don't usually watch Eurovision, but I really like Andy Abrahams and I wanted to see the British entry. Thankfully it was very near the beginning and after watching several more increasingly bizarre entries I retreated to the bedroom and the relative sanity of Radio 4! That was the last I remember until I was awoken this morning by a yell from the en suite – Robbie had burned his bum on the heated towel rail!

An Uplifting Experience! 05.06.07

Robbie said that he got teased so much because of yesterday's entry in the blog that he deserves a bit of time off tonight so I have had instructions to entertain readers with another account of my experiences at work, but more of that later. I have to just mention that Robbie is sitting here in his PJ's rambling on and on about the layout of Padstow station c1920 and why they needed a turntable. It is my own fault I shouldn't have left the Branch Line to Padstow book on the bed.

Sam announced that he wants some Van's trainers. He stressed that they have to be Vans because no other brand will go with the laces he has bought! He and Robbie are so alike sometimes.

Right then, back to the account of my experiences at work. In my previous job I had to take my turn 'on call' to deal with emergencies that occurred out of hours. The residents knew that it was really for housing related emergencies, but over the years I encountered a variety of very creative 'emergencies' and I develop a diverse knowledge because advice was sought on everything from budgies to bowels, so there was very little that genuinely surprised me.

It was Boxing Day and I was on call. I was contacted by a resident who was clearly in some discomfort. Apparently he was at a loose end and for no logical reason this fifty year old man had overdosed on someone else's viagra tablets. The inevitable occurred and he was unable to rid himself of the 'evidence' so for reasons best known to him he contacted me for help. I am not sure what he expected me to do about it. I advised him that it was well beyond my job description and if he was worried he should seek medical help. However I happened to know that the 'cure' recommended for the effects of viagra is a pack of frozen peas applied to the swollen area. He said that he would try it, but he phoned several more times to update me on progress, or to be more accurate his lack of progress. I tried to be tolerant, but it really was not my responsibility and I had told the man how to access medical help. He rang yet again (and interrupted my meal) to report that problem had not diminished at all. I advised him that time would resolve the problem, but until then he would have somewhere to hang his hat! He didn't phone again. He survived unscathed, but hopefully a little wiser!

If Only You Could Freeze Time 31.05.07

We decided to have a day in Padstow and we all split up to follow our own interests. Robbie made straight for his little bookshop and the girls headed off to buy presents and to look at clothes. Sam hadn’t completely given up on the possibility of buying a super soaker water gun – no way! He had lots of other things in mind too – all equally unsuitable but we had a good look around the shops anyway and he didn’t go home empty handed

Robbie has established a tradition of buying a tee shirt or top from Padstow each year. This time it was a white tee shirt, I don’t recall what was on it, but he seemed happy with it so that’s the main thing. We had a nice lunch in Padstow before heading back.

This evening we walked along the coast path towards Harlyn and the skylark field. It was warm and still and we were able to stand and listen to the skylarks as they soared high in the sky and sang as if they were bursting with enthusiasm for life. If only you could freeze time. As always I had my camera with me, I didn’t have a long enough lens to have a hope of capturing a picture of a skylark, but I did get a rather pleasing picture of a snail – they don’t move quite as fast. Robbie has learned a fair bit about wildlife since we have been together and he is even starting to recognise bird song now.

Newquay - The VW Camper Van Capital 29.05.07

Today was much better, a lovely sunny day with very little breeze. I was able to go out and take some photos from the coast path and Sam enjoyed some time on the beach. We could have spent the entire day on the beach, but the children (and Robbie) were bursting to go to Newquay, so at midday we headed off for some serious shopping. Robbie and the girls love the surf fashion and enjoy checking out all the shops. Sam likes all the gift shops and is increasingly interested in fashion as well. I like to visit Newquay, but I am always happy to drive away again after an hour or two. It is a bit too loud and brash for me to want to stay too long. It is a very odd mix really, hotels bursting with geriatrics and a loud clubby town bursting with young people behaving as if they were on an 18-30 holiday. It is good to get back to good old sedate Padstow. The best thing about Newquay as far as I am concerned is the camper vans. It is the capital of the VW camper van; it is absolutely bursting with them. There is something about them that I can’t explain, but I would love to own one.

Sam and Laura bought lifeguard tops, they look quite good. I made an early start on my Christmas shopping and bought my first two presents! Robbie, well what can I say, I simply don’t have the words to express my frustration. Today he struggled to live up to his shoe size nevermind his age! Sometimes I think he does it on purpose, just to enjoy making up again!

An Awesome View 27.05.07

The view from our window is awesome we look out over Mother Ivey’s Bay towards Trevose Head and the new lifeboat house for the Padstow lifeboat. Perhaps there are more beautiful places in the world, but there is nowhere I would rather be. Today is wet and windy but it is still beautiful looking out towards Trevose Head and watching the waves break around Merope Rock.

Time is a luxury, today I had nothing to clean or iron and no gardening to do, so I was able to just sit comfortably looking out of the window and listening to the Archers, total luxury! Robbie says that his workmates think he is sad for listening to the Archers, but they don’t know what they are missing. I have been addicted to the Archers since I was 9 (and that is a long time

An Early Start 26.05.07

The demands of GCSE and A Level exams have restricted our holiday in Cornwall to one week this year, so I was determined that we should make the most of our time. I have never enjoyed the ‘pleasures’ of a packed motorway and Bristol is always a black spot as it seem to be the cone storage capital of UK. I decided that we would get everything ready on the Friday, go to bed early and then set off at 2am on Saturday morning.

Everything went more or less according to plan apart from a bit of procrastinating from Robbie in the morning. Believe it or not he had to ring control to check on the progress of his ‘empties’ at 2am! He wanted us to leave a bit later as he calculated that we would then have a chance of seeing one of his trains as we went along the motorway. He got his wish, as we didn’t set out until 3.15 am and I did indeed see a train as we travelled down the motorway, but Robbie (who intended to stay awake to keep an eye on me) was ‘Z’ing by the time we passed Oxford and he dozed all the way to Cornwall, so he missed it. He said it was the wrong train anyway. I also saw a fox cross the whole motorway, but everyone else was asleep and missed it. We had an excellent journey; we arrived at Padstow just after 8am having made one comfort stop on the way. That gave us plenty of time to explore all the shops and to enjoy brunch at one of our favourite restaurants.

Robbie and I headed for the little bookshop that we love, he was very restrained and only bought one book, but I bought two, A Pictorial Survey of Great Western Branch Lines and A Portrait of the Atlantic Coast Express. I was dragged away by Laura and Emily; they had been checking out the designer shops and wanted to ‘show me’ what they had found. They jointly purchased an Animal handbag which they intend to share, but both have their eyes on other clothing as well. Maybe we should have stayed at home! Sam bought a decision dice and a gruesome pen that defies description, but he has his sights on greater things too!

We got to the caravan by mid afternoon, it has been upgraded since last year and it is absolutely beautiful. By the time we were all installed and tidied up and the shopping had been fetched and packed away, I was exhausted. I went bed before Dr Who, leaving the ‘boys’ to enjoy the flat screen LCD TV.