A Summer Road Trip (cont'd 2)

Jottings from the pages of a road trip journal ...

1977 August 22 (Mon)

At 9.15 am we got up and the proprietor came around to collect the camp fee of 80 pence. After a cold breakfast of cereal, milk plus bread and jam we packed up the tent as it looked like rain again. Not forgetting our cagoules this time, we put on our walking boots and headed for the Cheddar Gorge again. Indeed Cheddar has capitalised on the attractions of the Gorge and numerous gift shops line the road before the Gorge. It was pretty crowded and traffic was ever flowing. We too contributed our share - we bought Cheddar cheese and 'genuine' Somerset cider. The cheese was good but the cider a bit strong.

At 3 pm we left for Wells and after some driving around finally got a parking space just opposite the famed Cathedral. This beautiful Cathedral, with its beautiful carvings in the west front fast deteriorating, needs some 1.5 million pound sterling for restoration!

We left for Glastonbury after an hour, only passing it and catching a glimpse of the famed Tor. On our way to Taunton the unexpected happened - our wind screen was shattered by loose chippings on the road thrown up by a passing car. For a moment we were shocked, me imagining the worst. Then we pulled up at a petrol station nearby and they called a mobile wind screen replacement Unit for us. We had to wait two hours for it to come and another hour for the screen to be replaced. So finally at 8.30 pm and 32 pounds 40 pence poorer we left for Taunton. After passing Taunton, we parked for some dinner of Cheddar cheese and biscuits  Then we sped off for Barnstaple. The moon was bright and the sky was clear. At Barnstaple, we parked and went into our sleeping bags.

Notes: Glastonbury Tor - hill with the roofless St. Michael's Tower; Barnstaple is a river-port in North Devon

August 23 (Tue)

(CNB 1977)

At 6.30 am we left for Bideford, and by 7 the sun was bright and beautiful. We stopped by a river to have breakfast. On the way we picked up a hitchhiker till Newquay. From Newquay we went to the seaside town of St. Ives and stayed overnight at a farm camp there. We explored the town centre for two hours till 10.30 pm before calling it a day.

Notes: St. Ives is in the South-western tip of Cornwall; remember the nursery rhyme "As I was going to St. Ives"?

August 24 (Wed)

St. Ives

Around 2 am we had to abandon tent - it was raining cats and dogs! Only at 11.45 am did we head towards Penzance, a port/harbour town in Cornwall. At the Promenade we had our lunch of Cornish pasty and chips. By 3 pm there was great sunshine as we left towards Lands End, the most westerly point of England. We then went to a caravan park with a great sea view at St. Just but had to forget about spending the night there because it started raining again with the occasional strong wind. So we chose to double back to St. Ives to spend another evening in the town - playing Bingo! It was rather quite late to go back to the farm camp so we found a quiet spot to park and slept in the car.

August 25 (Thu)

In the New Forest (MB 1977)

We were up at 8 am and went on to Hayle, a small town at the mouth of the Hayle River. There we had a wash up and breakfast. Then on to Bodmin, and Exeter in Devon.  The Exeter Cathedral was impressive to say the least. We went into the shopping centre, where off the High Street, we had our lunch at the 16th century Ship Inn (said to be one of Sir Francis Drake's favourite tavern).  We then headed towards Salisbury. In the New Forest, we set up tent at Lyndhurst, a village of Hampshire.

August 26 (Fri)
At 11.30 am we set out for Bournemouth, another seaside town along the coast, with nice sandy beaches and a pier. Then we went on to Salisbury, the city famous for its cathedral. After that it was on to Amesbury before finally reaching the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain at nearly 6. After spending some time gawking at the stones, we went back to Amesbury to overnight.

August 27 (Sat)

Brighton Pier CNB)

Only in the afternoon did we leave for Winchester, Chichester, and Bognor Regis  for our final destination of the day - Brighton. This town in East Sussex is popular for its beach with day trippers from London, being less than an hour away. We walked into the town centre, going by the interesting lanes and shop fronts. The Royal Pavilion of Indo-Saracenic architecture and Oriental interior never fails to impress although this was my third visit. We walked the Brighton beach before having dinner of fish and chips near the Brighton Pier.


August 28 (Sun)
We had an early morning breakfast at the seafront before leaving Brighton for Margate (in Kent), which we reached at noon. This seaside town, another traditional holiday destination for Londoners, was infamous in the 60s for gang violence (between mods and rockers). We set up tent in a nearby camping ground, before walking the town and beach till late evening.

August 29 (Mon)
From Margate we headed for the neighbouring seaside town of Ramsgate at mid-morning. We spent many hours at the seafront, especially at the Ramsgate Pleasure Park.

August 30 (Tue)
12 - Tunnel?  3.30 - B? (Journal entries incomprehensible/missing from here on; but we got back home to Chorlton-cum-Hardy alright!)