LEJOG day 6: Bodmin to Camelford
I apologise in advance for this post, it's not sure where it's going. I spent a bit of today convinced it was going to be a "today was not much fun" post; then it was going to be a "I was going to complain but now I've had a cup of tea everything's better" post; then a "no, really, today was an unmitigated disaster" post, which would have been an exaggeration; but now I'm sitting in a very comfy chair in a B&B with a cup of tea and all bets are off.
Right, now the meta-blogging is out of the way, let's get on with it. I gave myself (and the lady at the B&B) a lie-in this morning on the basis that a) today was meant to be a rest day until Bodmin Moor robbed me of it and b) the actual walk today was less than 14 miles so I needed to leave late in order to arrive in time for tea. As I left Bodmin, I called my parents ("I'm leaving now. Yes, I'm still doing this. Yes, I know I'm mad" [some parts of this conversation may have been fictionalised for comedic effect]) and then the B&B I was walking towards in Camelford. I got a beep, rather than a ring, and hung up and walked on.
The Camel Trail is very nice, and as one of my friends predicted back in January, I loved it. I had a few little breaks and sauntered along - overall my average pace today was a very moderate 3.08mph- and found "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" got stuck in my head. I had a cream tea instead of lunch at a café at the end of the Trail - called Snail's Pace! - and generally didn't really quite feel in my usual mood somehow. Then I climbed a very long hill into St Breward and hit the Camelford Way- one of three green-diamond paths I followed throughout the afternoon- and found myself in really quite a grump for no clear reason whatsoever. But the kind of grump a cup of tea and a warm welcome at a B&B is guaranteed to fix. Hence being all ready for "I thought today was a bad day and then I had tea and now it's all fine".
I think part of the grump came from walking on a Sunday, part from it having been great weather- so I could very easily and safely have gone over the Moor- and part from a particular set of fields that looked suspiciously moor-like and seemed determined to turn my ankles. I seemed to have between 3 and 4 miles to go for about two solid hours.
So there I was, finally with less than a mile to plod through, having climbed a hill through a very pretty bluebell wood, and I called the B&B again, and got an answer. "Oh hi!" I said, "my name's Louise, I'm staying with you tonight, just a quick call to say I'll be there within half an hour." "We're closed," she said, "and I'm out of the country."
She wasn't quite that blunt, but the effect is the same. Anyway, she apologised, I carried on walking, she texted me the number of another B&B in town, and now I'm sitting, as I said, in a very comfy chair having finished my cup of tea, and there's a bath in my en suite and I have no intention of or need to leave the building until after breakfast.
I've been asked by a few people if I'm being sponsored. I'm not: if I wanted to raise money for charity, the most effective way would be to work out how much this is going to cost, and then donate that amount to charity myself. I'm doing this because I want to.
That being said, if you felt moved to offload some spare cash, in no particular order, here are some places to do so:
The Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS)
Bliss
The Natural History Museum
Any of these cost-effective, underfunded charities improving health in less fortunate parts of the world
Distance: 14.48 miles
Time: 4h35, sort of, not including wandering around town and finding the B&B
Percentage completed: 7.6%
Boot cost per mile: £0.51
Lunch: cream tea, with two scones, jam on first, despite carrying lunch with me all day
Last night's accommodation: Scrumptious, Bodmin- very pleasant and homely, and she sat to chat with me over breakfast which was nice- complete with pictures of the grandchildren which I know some people would find tedious but I flippin' love baby pictures :)
Cherry trees on my way into Bodmin for dinner last night
I imagine a conversation like this:
"Hey shall we all have our rooves at the same pitch?"
"Nah, that's what everyone else does"
Bodmin jail
A view
Hey, does this look like a moor to you? And do those clouds look somehow ominous?
The ceiling of the porch of a church I stopped at. My phone camera recognised the face as a face
Bluebell wood!
Right, now the meta-blogging is out of the way, let's get on with it. I gave myself (and the lady at the B&B) a lie-in this morning on the basis that a) today was meant to be a rest day until Bodmin Moor robbed me of it and b) the actual walk today was less than 14 miles so I needed to leave late in order to arrive in time for tea. As I left Bodmin, I called my parents ("I'm leaving now. Yes, I'm still doing this. Yes, I know I'm mad" [some parts of this conversation may have been fictionalised for comedic effect]) and then the B&B I was walking towards in Camelford. I got a beep, rather than a ring, and hung up and walked on.
The Camel Trail is very nice, and as one of my friends predicted back in January, I loved it. I had a few little breaks and sauntered along - overall my average pace today was a very moderate 3.08mph- and found "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" got stuck in my head. I had a cream tea instead of lunch at a café at the end of the Trail - called Snail's Pace! - and generally didn't really quite feel in my usual mood somehow. Then I climbed a very long hill into St Breward and hit the Camelford Way- one of three green-diamond paths I followed throughout the afternoon- and found myself in really quite a grump for no clear reason whatsoever. But the kind of grump a cup of tea and a warm welcome at a B&B is guaranteed to fix. Hence being all ready for "I thought today was a bad day and then I had tea and now it's all fine".
I think part of the grump came from walking on a Sunday, part from it having been great weather- so I could very easily and safely have gone over the Moor- and part from a particular set of fields that looked suspiciously moor-like and seemed determined to turn my ankles. I seemed to have between 3 and 4 miles to go for about two solid hours.
So there I was, finally with less than a mile to plod through, having climbed a hill through a very pretty bluebell wood, and I called the B&B again, and got an answer. "Oh hi!" I said, "my name's Louise, I'm staying with you tonight, just a quick call to say I'll be there within half an hour." "We're closed," she said, "and I'm out of the country."
She wasn't quite that blunt, but the effect is the same. Anyway, she apologised, I carried on walking, she texted me the number of another B&B in town, and now I'm sitting, as I said, in a very comfy chair having finished my cup of tea, and there's a bath in my en suite and I have no intention of or need to leave the building until after breakfast.
I've been asked by a few people if I'm being sponsored. I'm not: if I wanted to raise money for charity, the most effective way would be to work out how much this is going to cost, and then donate that amount to charity myself. I'm doing this because I want to.
That being said, if you felt moved to offload some spare cash, in no particular order, here are some places to do so:
The Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS)
Bliss
The Natural History Museum
Any of these cost-effective, underfunded charities improving health in less fortunate parts of the world
Distance: 14.48 miles
Time: 4h35, sort of, not including wandering around town and finding the B&B
Percentage completed: 7.6%
Boot cost per mile: £0.51
Lunch: cream tea, with two scones, jam on first, despite carrying lunch with me all day
Last night's accommodation: Scrumptious, Bodmin- very pleasant and homely, and she sat to chat with me over breakfast which was nice- complete with pictures of the grandchildren which I know some people would find tedious but I flippin' love baby pictures :)
"Hey shall we all have our rooves at the same pitch?"
"Nah, that's what everyone else does"
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