A rest day

Today I was able to take full advantage of having travelled to Cornwall a day early. Having caught up with my original schedule yesterday, I had only 40 odd miles to go today and with not meeting Richard, (an old Navy oppo,) until 14:30, there was no hurry to leave the campsite either. A good thing as it turned out since it rained during the night and was still drizzling at 7 by which time I would normally have been on the road.

The hills from the campsite just east of Fowey were kinder with a slight sense that the geography had changed.....almost imperceptively since they were still mountains by Norfolk standards. None-the-less I made good time and ws able to stick to my small country roads.

Richard's one carriage train duly arrived 5 minutes late...UK rail network standard time... and we launched ourselves down the ridiculously steep hill that the village of Gunnislake had chosen to perch itself on. A half hour cycle saw us in the town centre of Tavistock from where we would in a short while launch ourselves up onto the summit of Dartmoor. All day the tops of the hills had been obscured by low cloud. I had watched masses of rain pass to the north of me, wondering all the time which one had my name on it, but thus far the Gods were being kind to me.

Lizzie and Ann's Uncle Stephen lives in Tavistock, however, so a planned stop for tea and cakes was duly honoured. In the 45 minutes we stayed we took on the health service, the forthcoming general election and the state of his beehives. The latter being by far the most interesting. I couldn't help noticing one thing down here though. As far as the political map is concerned, you are either Conservative or Lib Dem and more interestingly it seems, that to become a prospective Conservative candidate from Lands End to Tavistock, you have to be female and blonde! How does that work then Dave?

The pull up onto Dartmoor was surprisingly painless. The hill though seemingly endless was not too too steep, so it was just a case of getting the head down and the legs spinning.


I had been ordered by my father in law to visit the Two Bridges Hotel, where the previous summer I had introduced him to the Devon Cream Tea. This particular establishment serves up probably the best there is and on this occasion it was more than I could face. The half pint of Jail Ale, so named because it is brewed at the Dartmoor Prison, was however just the tonic.

At the end of 49.5 miles and after supper, we crawled into Bellever YHA. My first experience of youth hostelling, I am hooked. What a great location too.