Yesterday once more E-Book

Geoffrey Peyton

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

A week in the pleasant village of St Minver, Cornwall in September 2013. As a hardened rambler, I found the public footpaths and bridleways a plethora in abundance for my feet to get carried away with expansive scenery that I find emotionally breath taking. Visits to Port Isaac, Port Quin, Padstow and many other delightful villages, make an excellent break from the hardships of the working week.

Leseprobe

Geoffrey Peyton

Yesterday once more

To all of Cornwall. I love your country. 'Cover photo; St Minver, Cornwall.BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Yesterday once more.

 In 2011, I visited Cornwall for the first time in more than 40 years. The reason for the seven day holiday was more for a switch of scenery, rather than the obvious sea, sun and sand. I myself desired a return to my own personal county of haven, and that is Cumbria. But that would be inequitable on Pam, who, unlike me, would have preferred another option in a different direction rather than the north of England. So we decided on somewhere along the northern tip of the Cornish Coast, and Padstow seemed a pretty choice.

The nearby village of St Merryn was to be the setting for our seven day home early that September. The week was pleasant and warm, and my Karrimor walking boots were put to full use for seven whole days, and a thorough pounding they did take. But for that entire week as I did my compulsory morning and evening walks, I would still have preferred to be hiking the fells of the Lake District, rather than the flatter gradient of Cornwall. But after the long week of the sights of golden sands and the crystal clean ocean had ended, and I was sitting in my back garden supping an emotional homecoming beer, it suddenly dawned on me that I was depressed at the thought that I would have to endure at least another six months before I would be on my happy travels once again. And so it was then that I realised that I was possibly suffering from a contradictive version of homesickness.

Although I have lived in the city all of my life, I felt that my true life is on rural land, living and sharing joyfully, the naked pastures with the wildlife of a non industrial panorama. So as the months went by and the hell of Christmas had disappeared, the booking of our summer holidays became the higher priority.

I asked Pam if she would like a return to Cornwall, and with little hesitation, she replied, “Oh yes”.

That was great news for me, and we had a brilliant week around and near the town of St Ives.

I was now in love with Cornwall, and it seemed that an early September week long break will now be the normal procedure for each years penultimate adventure break. And after watching an episode of the ITV hit drama ‘Doc Martin’, I suggested (or insisted) that Port Isaac looked like a nice place to spend the week of this year of our Lord, 2013. An honourable nod of Pam’s crown put clearance for me to book a week there via the internet.

The only downfall when one is making a reservation so early on in a calendar year, and that is you see the months ahead that you have to endure until the day finally arrives for ones departure. Booking in January meant that we had another eight months to wait. That, I thought, is far too long, and the days would simply be too sedate and monotonous. But apart from the obvious latter of boredom, the weeks passed by very quickly, and as I am writing this nonesense, there are now only eleven days to go before I am finally rid of the shithole that is Birmingham, and then my feet can take me away to wherever they bloody well like for an entire week from the 30th of August 2013, until the tragic day of our return on the 6th of September.

Of course it has not been complete misery for me personally for those past eight months, as I have been to Wales twice, and had had my usual trip to the Lake District. But they have been more of the truncated breaks, rather than seven days. Those extra two or three days may seem little to you, but to me they are an extra lifetime. For instance; our visit to the lakes are from arriving on Monday afternoon, and departing very early on Friday morning. That means that I will have only three whole days to venture the plains from dusk till dawn. But when you book the whole week from Friday to Friday - let’s say, that actually gives my footsies six complete days, and that is double the ante.

So with less than a fortnight before we depart, I will count the days down by scratching 11 vertical lines on the wall of Pam’s living room with a thick black felt tip pen, crossing each day off diagonally until it is time for the off. Well of course I won’t really do that, but I certainly will be counting them down in my head for a hopefully quick decline on the waiting game.

I find that the perfect weather for long hiking is something in the region of between 15 & 20 degrees Celsius, as you are neither too cold nor too hot. The forecast for the week ahead in North Cornwall ranges between 12 & 15 Celsius in the mornings, 17 and 21 during the day, and back down towards the aforementioned temperatures at evening times.

These are the very few times in my life that I actually believe that there may be a God looking down upon me and saying, “Well, I guess the little shit deserves something back for all of the excrement that I have tossed in his direction over the last half a century”.