My Bank Holiday weekend

I'll try and keep this post from being TOO long, but bear with me if I ramble. There's a lot to fit in.

Saturday 28 May

Woke up, finished packing. Had breakfast. Tom drove me down to the A40, where the Oxford Tube (a coach, not a train) bus stop was. As we got the last bag out of his boot, the bus pulled up - good timing. About 9.20am by this stage. I got on with my e-ticket purchased online the day before, and off to London!

Arrived in London under 2 hours later. Had a long wait in Victoria Coach Station, waiting for my 1pm coach to Cornwall. But I did have an interesting and entertaining chat with Phil, a guy who sat on the floor beside me. He had gotten through half his bottle of Jack since earlier that morning. He wasn't drunk. Yet. Well not much. OK a bit. But he had some interesting thoughts about Oasis and Manchester - he was a City fan, and an ex-Oasis fan, with the tattoo to prove it.

At 1pm I got the news that my bus had a puncture, and they'd find us a replacement coach, just wait, wouldn't be long. At 2pm I was boarding the replacement coach. That took me as far as Bristol, which we reached at about 5pm. At Bristol we had to unload all our bags off the bus, and put them all on a new double-decker coach which would take us as far as Plymouth. We got to Plymouth by about 7pm. At Plymouth, I had to take my bags and get on yet ANOTHER coach, which would take me to Wadebridge, the village I had chosen as my destination. I knew nothing about it, it just looked fairly central according to the maps and info in my North Cornwall Guide 2005.

Arrived in Wadebridge at around 9pm, and headed up into town to find somewhere to stay. Yes, a Bank Holiday weekend, in a village, in Britain's surfing capital county, and I hadn't booked ahead. Well, I'd emailed one B&B, but they'd said they were full, so I was leaving everything in the hope I'd find something when I got there.

The Molesworth Arms pub was full, so they sent me down the street to the Swan Hotel. That pub was full, and sent me across the bridge to a B&B. No answer at the doorbell, so I checked the Ship Inn next door. The guy at the bar told me they were a food and drink only, not accommodation, inn. But he gave me directions to another B&B, called Keresen, just up the road and round the corner. So I went there, and they saw me coming from their living room window, and opened the door to me with this look on their faces. I said "You're full, aren't you?" and they told me that they were - as of 5 minutes previous, thanks to another referral from the Ship Inn. If I'd been 6 minutes earlier...

The very kind lady, Ann Braithwaite, told me to wait, and called a friend of hers, Derek Champion, who had a B&B. He had a room free, so she drove me over there ("You'll never find it," she told me), and told me I could come back to her B&B for the rest of my stay - and to drop my bags off in the morning so I didn't have to lug them all over Cornwall. I stayed there one night, and the next morning after breakfast Derek drove me back over to Keresen, and I left my bags in the room that was ready for me.

Recommended B&B:
Derek Champion
Goosey Cottage
Wadebridge
Cornwall

Sunday 29 May

Having left my bags in the room, I walked down into Wadebridge and rented a mountain bike. I rode it along the Camel Trail (an old unused 17-mile railway line converted to cycle/walking track) to Padstow (about 5 and a half miles). Then I took a ferry across the inlet to the town of Rock, which is apparently a favourite summer haunt of Hugh Grant and Prince William, among others. From Rock I cycled back to Wadebridge on the main roads, a journey of about 7 miles. Then back on the Camel Trail, eastward this time, for the almost 6 mile journey to Bodmin. Having reached Bodmin, I turned around and cycled back to Wadebridge. Total elapsed time: about 4 or 5 hours. Total elapsed distance: Somewhere around 25 miles. Total elapsed sunburn: arms and hands. Then I sat in the park and read for an hour. Then I went back to the B&B for a 2-hour nap. Then to the Ship Inn for a pint and some food. Then back to the B&B to have a shower, relax and watch a video in my room. There was a number of videos under the TV cabinet in my room, so I watched Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels: Director's Cut. And then SLEEP!

Monday 30 May

Woke up, had breakfast, and walked down into town. I just missed the first bus (it was a bank holiday, so there weren't many buses), so bought a newspaper to see what was going on, as well as a logic problems book to keep my mind entertained. I lay in the park enjoying the sunshine, and then at 11am walked over to the Tourist Information Centre to pick up a few brochures. Having grabbed a few things of interest, I walked back to the bus station (a covered bus stop and a parking lot) to wait for the 12.25 bus to take me to Tintagel. While waiting, a Canadian traveller struck up a conversation with me. She lived and worked in Edinburgh, but was hiking and bussing around Cornwall for the weekend. We talked about a few places in Europe, and then got on the bus. I got off at Tintagel, and she continued on to Boscastle.

Tintagel, for those of you who don't know, is the legendary birthplace of a certain Welsh warlord called Arthur. You know, he kicked the Saxons out of Britain in about AD 500 before they came back a few centuries later to stay. Apparently they have found remains of Roman and Dark Ages buildings at the site, but the main castle ruins today date from the 12th or 13th Century. Some Norman duke wanted to associate himself with the legend of Arthur, to get more loyalty from his local subjects. Or something like that. Anyway, it's a fantastic site. I joined English Heritage, so got in for free. And will continue to get into EH-owned sites for free... and discounts in Wales and Scotland. Yay! There are great views across the cliffs of the coast at Tintagel. And wildflowers everywhere. Seagulls nesting halfway down between the ruins and the sea. I was at the castle for about 2 hours, and took a lot of photos here.

I caught the bus back, and once again met up with the Canadian. This time we introduced ourselves. Her name was Amanda. We talked about all the things we'd seen and learned. She'd been to a Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, which apparently suffered from too much text in the displays. Back in Wadebridge, we went to the pub for a couple pints and some food. And the Darts semi-finals were on Sky Sports! :) Anyway, I now have the offer of a place to stay in Edinburgh, which is good.

I went back to the hostel and enjoyed "The Living Daylights" from the video collection, followed by the funny mockumentary "Drop Dead Gorgeous" on BBC1. Then sleep...

Tuesday 31 May

Went into town, posted the postcards at the Post Office (funny place to go, really). Then caught the bus to Plymouth, and changed onto a coach back to London.