Month: March 2019

This is overlooking Ilfracombe. There is a path that goes all along the coast. Although distances look insignificant when you see them on a  map it can take you 30 minutes to go from one small feature into another. This is us after about half an hour walking. When I say 'us' I mean the view of the town. We took it easy and visited an adjacent collection of holiday chalets. Costs are quite...

The weather showed signs of being halfway decent with most of the mist gone so after a very large breakfast – I try to eat enough to keep me going for most of the day – we caught the No. 21 bus from Ilfracombe to Westward Ho! The latter is the only place name in the UK with an exclamation mark attached. As is the case on a rocky and undulating coastline, it can take you for ever to go from A to...

The journey from Midsomer Norton to Ilfracombe in North Devon is less than 100 miles (actually 97.3 ) but actually takes three hours because you maintain - if you are lucky - an average speed of 30 miles an hour give or take an allowance for the odd caravan.  I forgot that we were passing Hinkley point country, the massive white elephant that will deliver electricity to us for the bargain £900 a...

First, an item you will not expect,  possibly the worst baked bread ever, possibly arising from a fault in the bread making machine. When I tapped it, there was a slightly hollow sound about it and when we cut the first slice we realised why. Stun horror shock.  The brilliant thing about bread making is that it is cheap to experiment with loaves. All the ingredients are about £0.60 UK I don't...

I renewed acquaintance with Barry, an affable chap I met at a talk on 5G a couple of weeks ago. We seemed to be on the same wavelength. He described himself as a stoic. Stoicism goes back to Greek philosophy and claims that the path to happiness for humans is found in accepting the moment as it presents itself by not allowing oneself to be controlled by the desire for pleasure or fear of pain....

I awoke early, about 7:30 AM, to find a bright blue sky with no clouds. We have not been to our regular haunt for many months, the famous Cheddar Car Boot event, which is open every Sunday rain or shine as they say. Having said that, it's much more fun and more interesting to go when it is not raining so you can see some of the hundreds of tables laid out with people trying to get rid of their...