In the week before the Bank Holiday, pre-invasion of the caravans and motorhomes, I drove down to Daymer Bay to meet with my niece, Carole and her husband, Pete. As I travelled along our typical Cornish lanes, I fleetingly wondered how the drivers of those homes on wheels would cope with negotiating roads that were little wider than their holiday homes.
Well, this week I found out, because for several miles I was forced to follow a very shiny, very new motorhome. I never got out of 3rd gear and often had to revert to 2nd gear or 'stop'. Each time a car came in the opposite direction, he stopped! Nothing could get past his vehicle, not even a bicycle. At one such stop and an impasse where nobody moved, we were only able to continue when the approaching car had to reverse a considerable distance before the MH driver dared to edge past without having to touch the Spring growth of grass and wildflowers on either side. It took me 70 minutes to complete a journey that usually took half an hour.
And so to return to my Daymer Bay excursion - light traffic on the roads, no hold-ups on the lanes, even on the single track road leading down to the Bay; just 2 separate cars coming in the opposite direction, easily avoided by squeezing right in to the hedge and pulling my wing mirror in.
And look at the beach - on a very sunny, warm day it wasn't exactly crowded!!!
,At that point my camera told me that the memory card was full! So no more photos, but it was a really nice afternoon spent with my family; we had Cornish Pasties for lunch (of course!) and several brews of tea and a long, long catch-up. then the wander along the beach which Benji and Rosie (Carole's elderly Staffy) thoroughly enjoyed, having all that space to run around.
On the way home I decided to stop at Colliford Reservoir in the car park at the side of the Dam. However, a new height barrier had been erected since my last visit and although I slowly crept underneath it (as you do) it ripped the top of my aerial off! Gutted! To make matters worse, I was unable to take Benji for a walk along the Dam and along the opposite shore because, also new since my last visit, there was a big notice on the gate saying, 'No Dogs allowed in this area'.
So I sat in my car, deleted a few old photos and was able to get a few shots of the Reservoir and an errant ewe and lamb who had escaped from a nearby field to sample the more interesting herbs and foliage at the side of the car park.
And so to home, dinner for Benji and a restorative glass of wine for me while my dinner cooked!
