Friday 15th June 2001 - Day seven, Manaccan, Helford, Truro, Newbury Prev

What a comfortable night. After a few days of sleeping on various fields a real bed was very welcome. I started repacking my bag at a quarter past seven after leaving everything open to dry overnight, and went for breakfast at eight O'Clock. It was the full works, cereal, fruit juice, full fried breakfast, toast and marmalade washed down with coffee from one of those plunger things that I can never remember the name of.

The owner offered to run me down to the ferry in his car which was very kind. He thought that the ferry left at ten past nine. After zipping down country lanes at speeds that had me hanging onto my seat we arrived at the end of the track to the ferry with one minute to spare. I said goodbye and ran down the track but there was no need to hurry. You had to open up a big circular sign to reveal a large yellow disk to summon it. After a few moments I saw a boat leave the other side and begin to weave its way between other moored boats and yachts. As he approached the jetty I closed the sign up and climbed aboard.

On the way back he stopped by a couple of yachts and picked up mooring fees. He said he had to pick them up early because these yachts had a habit of slipping in and out again before he could collect, and the bigger they were the worse they were. He had already seen one slipping away as he got his ferry out. As to the weather, it was bright and sunny but he thought that there would probably be showers later. He was wearing his wet weather gear but was getting too hot in the morning sun. I had the impression that he hadn't seen a forecast but that he had worked there so long that he just felt the weather and knew what it was going to do.

I paid the £1-60 fare as we approached the other side and asked where the nearest bus stop was. It was straight up the hill and I made it in about fifteen mintues. The next bus which surprisingly went to Truro and not Falmouth was at 10:36 (They seem to be every 2 hours 10:36 to 16:36). I had fifty minutes to wait.

It was three minutes early and did a neat three point turn in the junction. I climbed aboard and paid £2-00 for a single to Truro which was a bargain compared with the Penzance to Lands End jaunt. The bus wound along narrow roads picking up occasional passengers. I reached down to loosen my boots that were still wet so that my feet could breathe a bit and by the time I finished I felt distinctly car sick.

There were more country roads and more stops including a place called Flushing. There was a Flushing Post Office, and following the schoolboy sense of humour I presume there was also a Flushing pub or two and some Flushing public toilets.

The centre of Truro was congested and everyone got off the bus early. I had seen a sign to the railway station some distance back so I knew that I was going to have to walk a bit, still I'd had practice. I bought a few presents for home, and a pastie and bottle of fizz for lunch. I walked along quickly asking directions as I went. The railway station is up hill from the town centre. I arrived with a quarter of an hour to space, paid the excess fare for travelling on a Friday and waited on the platform with my boots off, soggy socks airing in the breeze. I couldn't take my boots off in an enclosed space for fear of prosecution for being a public nuisance - they had been wet for over 24 hours and they were evil.

In five minutes the train arrived and whisked me off to Exeter for the change to Newbury. At Plymouth we crossed the IK Brunel bridge again very slowly. At Exeter I had a twenty minute wait so I went and found a quite bit of the platform and removed my boots. From nowhere a chap talking on a mobile phone appeared and stood right next to me jotting down numbers in a little book and using the window ledge for support. He kept glancing at me with a look of disdain on his face. It was his fault, I didn't ask him to come and stand next to me and my feet. Luckily the train was running about five minutes late so my feet had a bit of extra air before I had to confine them to the damp boots again.

Just before it arrived I wandered over to the crowded platform and luckily one of the doors stopped right in front of me. I found an excellent seat where I could stretch my legs out and keep an eye on my rucksack. I arrived back at Newbury just as my wife parked the car. For once I had the luxury of being driven home. I finally removed my boots in the safety of the back garden.

Previous page, Day six, 14th June 01, Coverack to Manaccan.

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