Hello all
I'm parked up on Exmoor
having found a spot which is fairly close to Porlock, so that I can
get up early tomorrow and trundle down the ridiculously steep road to
a crafty little parking spot that I have found nearish to the bus
stop where I will catch the bus to Minehead. I have little or no
signal so will be unable to send this blog until tomorrow morning at
the earliest. If I am realistic I will probably struggle to master
the technical issues in the morning with not much time to spare
before the bus comes. Either way I will get the hang of it and make
sure that I am parked in an area where there is a signal which is at
least strong enough to send the blog.
The Journey to the Start
So, I left home at
about 2.00, having spent the morning packing some last minute stuff
and doing a bit of vegetable gardening including digging up leeks.
It was good to get
going after all the preparation, but just 15 minutes later I popped into Sainsbury's because they
have a Timpsons there. I have decided to take some good advice and
get a second van key. At the kiosk, the bloke who it appears is an expert in many
things (dry cleaning, shoe repairs and key making) explains that a new key will be
£69, I gulped, and gave him the go ahead. He said it would take 30 minutes. I wandered around Sainsbury's
for a while then went back.
He said “ Can you
call back for it tomorrow”.
“I thought you said
it would be 30 minutes”.
“Well I am pretty
busy”.
He did look pretty busy
and there was a queue when I arrived. I took my key back and left him
to get on with his shoe mending and dry cleaning. I still have just
the one key. I will have to be extremely careful with it.
It was a very uneventful drive
up to Minehead this afternoon. I listened to two Radiohead Albums on
the way - “Amnesiac” and “ In Rainbows", so I arrived in a cheerful and buoyant frame of mind.
When I got to Minehead I drove straight to the sea front and parked up outside
Butlins. Then I wandered along the prom trying to find the start of
the South West Coast Path. After a while I started to wonder if I had
either passed it or whether it was further on so I decided to ask a
local person.
I stopped at the crazy
golf and asked a woman who worked there if she could tell me where
the start of the path is?
“Um, what path?”
“The South West Coast
Path. It probably is a big monument or something.”
“Sorry love, can't
help you I'm afraid.”
“Not to worry.” I
said and walked on.
About 150 yards further
on I found the monument which I have to say was hard to miss being
about 12 feet tall. I took some photos then walked back to the van.
As I passed the crazy golf, she was tidying away some stuff next to
the path, so I decided that I would tell her where the monument is,
so that she would know for future inquiries.
So I did.
And she said, “Well, I'm VERY sorry
dear. I was only doing my best. Next time ask someone else”. Then
she stormed off back to her kiosk. I decided that there was nothing
to be gained, for her or for me in trying to explain that I too was
only trying to be helpful. Oh well!
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| It's Big |
Being in Minehead took me back to the holidays that I had there with my family when I was a child.
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| Meal time with the family in an enormous eating hall. I'm the good looking one next to my dad. |
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| Two photos that look are from the approximate time we were there. |
One strong memory I have is this - on our last day of a brilliant week, all four of us were given enough money to buy a milkshake each which was quite a treat. We all had different flavours and relished the novelty. Then we squeezed into the Hillman Husky for the return journey home. It is a long and winding road from Minehead to Totnes and I don't think we got many miles before one of us threw up with a cascade of pastel coloured horribleness. We all followed suit with various shades. Not a pleasant journey at all.
But, they really were great holidays.
I'm finishing this blog off at the end of day one.
I'll write another that covers my first day of walking - stay tuned and alert.
Take it easy.
Rob.
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