Friday 11 June 2021

A catch-up with visiting family - and not a lot of photos!


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!!!

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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!



 

15 comments:

  1. Although Cornwall needs the tourists, of course, I do feel for the residents such as yourself and my brother & sister in law (who live in Bodmin but work in Padstow). It's bad enough here in Somerset in the summer, some areas we avoid altogether during the summer hols. I do enjoy your photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sooze; sorry about the shortage of photos this time (I have a new memory card on order, but it's taking aaaaaages to be dispatched).
      I generally stay near home in the holiday season because strangers to Cornwall can't cope with our narrow lanes. So glad I have a garden where I can sit in peace and read my Kindle, surrounded by birdsong and the gentle hum of the bees.

      Delete
  2. Daymer Bay - that brings back memories. Our favourite beach when our daughters were young.

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    Replies
    1. It's one of my favourites too, Sue. But not when it's packed, so I like to go after the tourists have gone home. There's a lovely walk between Daymer and Polzeath, as I'm sure you know.

      Delete
  3. Such a beautiful beach, looks like a wonderful place for a visit.

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    Replies
    1. Oh it really is! There are toilets atnthe side of the car park and a cafe with outside seating - but when I have a day out, I always take a camping burner, water, milk, coffee and teabags, plus mugs, kettle, a few snacks, etc. just in case there's no handy cafe.

      Delete
  4. Now that's my kind of beach :) I like the views of the reservoir, especially the second pic. A shame you couldn't do the walk you wanted - maybe the notices are because of the sheep?

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    Replies
    1. Mine too, Eunice. I was so disappointed with my visit to the reservoir; I shall find a different car parking area next time (there are lots of pull-ins around the Lake because it's HUGE). I cannot understand the dog ban, nothing to do with sheep because they are all in fenced fields - the ewe & lamb in my photo were escapees, not regular inhabitants of the car park. There's a lovely walk which starts from that car park, setting out across the Dam, (gates at either end) then continuing around the shoreline of Colliford Lake for a long, long way. But now - only if you don't have a dog!!! Grrrrr!

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  5. beautiful pics, I've never been to Daymer Bay, will have to check it out. As a motor-homer I can sympathise with you, we only have a small one and luckily my hubby is used to driving big vehicles, so hes a pretty adept driver and doesn't mind a hedge or two, but we do try to stay away from small tracks for that very reason..

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    Replies
    1. I used to pull a caravan, a little 2-berth, and read up on how to load it, manoeuvre it, especially reversing into a pitch - and was confident to take it out on fast roads to narrow lanes. It's a good feeling to drive on to a site and pitch it perfectly! Daymer Bay is up the hill out of Polzeath, a turning on the right. ;)

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  6. With all the foreign travel restrictions I fear the "new motorhome driver" problem is not going to go away any time soon.

    Unfortunately the turnaround times for rental vehicles does not seem to include any tuition in driving them. Just because I can (and I felt like it!), last month I emailed enquiries to a couple of hire companies in Scotland asking about renting a MH and saying I had not previously driven a large vehicle. The response from both was "don't worry about it, you will be fine, and the fully comprehensive insurance will cost ££££".

    So clearly no checks on my driving ability or the affect their vehicle would have on anyone else. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG! That is awful. So they really don't care if their vehicle gets badly damaged because the comprehensive insurance will cover it. What an attitude - and how callous the attitude towards their customer who could possibly get hurt, injured - or worse through lack of care. Disgusting - and frightening.

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    2. Absolutely right. I was ticked off about the apparent disregard for what might happen to someone else's property, or worse - if an inexperienced driver caused an accident which injured someone innocent.

      Both companies were very keen to convince me how easy it was to hire a motorhome and brushed off any other concerns as nothing to worry about.

      Delete
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