Extra bonus? If I do not have internet access, I won't have any last little RenCenter or PTCRA work dribbling in through my email.
I'm on my way (at last) to Cornwall and the Eden Project. I expect some issues with connecting transport from St Austell to the hostel. It's about 9 miles, as far as I can tell. There is a bus (the 526) from St Austell (hopefully leaving from the train station!) that goes to Mevagissey. And through to Gorran Haven. And - theoretically - there is some way of hopping off somewhere near there and being close to the hostel. Boswitch. Or some such. I have it all written down. Yeah. I did look it up, and it's Boswinger. Boswinger. Better remember that
So here we pass through some flat (Surrey? Sussex?) countryside somewhere west of London. That's grand. No pictures yet. That will be happening. I had a look at the guide book again, and it looks like Lizard Point might be a pleasant (more than pleasant) to stroll around. I have already acknowledged a dozen times over that I can't possibly visit all the places in London, let alone in England, that I am interested in. So I must stop trying to add bits. I've been pretty successful so far cutting myself back and going back to the places I am interested in that I have been to.
Yesterday was funny day. Coming back from Cork to London almost felt like coming home. I don't know if that is funny or somewhat scary. Maybe not "home" in Piccadilly per se, but home like relaxed, I know what I'm doing, where I'm going sort of "home". The last time I felt like that was after living in Cork for about a year. I wonder if Tony would ever consider moving to or near London. I sincerely doubt it. I was sitting on the train from Heathrow listening to some woman rambling on about how the place she was staying was so appalling, she couldn't have her parents there, and what was she going to do, and how was she going to pay her bills and how could she round up enough money to move to another flat, that she had to do these things. In fact, she never stopped talking to your man.
Cork was actually a bit dreary this trip. Wet and depressed, pretty much all around.
I think the woman on the tannoy who keeps saying "buffy" is actually saying "buffet"...
Later.
I did eventually arrive at the hostel in Boswinger. There was some truth in the note in the guide to England that remarked that the hostel was remote and difficult to get to. At least the weather was good; because the backpack feature of my bag was not particularly useful. Perhaps it would have been had I not had so much other stuff I was schlepping around. The next time I decide to use the bag as a backpack, perhaps I should actually test drive the pack full...In any case, I arrived at the hostel not too much the worse for wear. The countryside is nearly unspoiled. There is actually a village called Boswinger, but as far as I can tell, there is nothing there but a slightly greater concentration of houses/farms and a Methodist church. There is a nearby larger village (or perhaps two?) - Gorran Churchtown, which has a church (big surprise) and a shop/post office and a moribund pub. Hmpf. Also the bus stops there. The other is Gorran Haven, where the bus also stops, and by all accounts there are pubs (and presumably shops). Looking out over the houses, fields, farms, and sea, I am reminded
of Ireland 30 years ago. Mind you, I think the structures in Cornwall are a little better maintained. Or just maintained. The thing that always struck me about Irish building practices (for the last 500 to a 1000 years), is that they only got one chance to build the structure. Whatever happened after that was up to the weather and whatever skill the builder had. I have never seen so many ruined bits of old buildings. Some got built upon, some just gradually became one with the land again...
This does not really seem to be the case with constructions in Cornwall. Not a lot of ruins, or ruinous houses. Although the ravages of the weather and time are present (as in the state of the Gorran Parish Church), the buildings are all being used, and usable. The roads are just as narrow and terrifying to walk on. Mind you, the Cornish drivers (at least the ones during the day) seem to be somewhat less random than their Irish counterparts.I like the hostel very much. It's quiet (possibly because of the time of year - late October). It is, in fact, remote. It is very well maintained. It is attractive. It is clean. The room is comfortable. The beds, although bunk beds, are much less like army cots. I do like the duvets much better than the army blankets...
No comments:
Post a Comment