A Holiday in Cornwall - Part Two

Welcome back!

 

Tuesday 25th September

Although we'd been in Cornwall for four days we had yet to visit the seaside. The county is famous as a holiday destination but when you visit in late September you have to accept that the weather might not be at its best. This was definitely proving to be the case and although the forecasters were promising better weather later in the week, we were still enduring some pretty wet weather. But at least it was nowhere near as bad as that being experienced in other parts of the country where severe flooding had occurred.

However, undaunted we decided today to head for Cornwall's premiere seaside resort - well, that's if you're about 16 and have little interest in anything other than getting drunk. Newquay on the North Cornwall coast has long been regarded as the centre for surfing in the area. Alongside that it developed as a major family holiday resort.

Sadly, in recent years it has been getting a reputation for some of the more excessive behaviour of younger people. Lucy told me that it often makes headlines on the local television news for the behaviour of its younger visitors. In the past I've had a couple of holidays in the town but I haven't been back for well over 25 years and I was interested to see what it was like now.

So, we loaded up Lucy's car and headed for the town. On the way a misunderstanding between the driver (Lucy) and the navigator (me) led to the wrong road being taken. Yes! - our 4th mistake in as many days. This was turning out to be an impressive record and hopes were high that we might be able to make it to the end of the week with at least one error per day.

The error resulted in us approaching the town from a different direction from the one intended. However we soon found a car park close to the railway station and began our visit. Yes, a railway station! Newquay is one of only three Cornish resorts that still have a mainline railway connection, the others being St Ives and Looe. Many other places used to be rail-served but most of those went in the 1960s.



Cornish Sunshine in Newquay

We headed into the town centre by way of several charity shops. Once in the centre we found a coffee shop and had our morning refreshments. The town centre wasn't too bad with a reasonable selection of shops. The weather by now was quite sunny and so we tried to get as close as possible to the sea for some photos. Unfortunately the town itself is elevated above the sea and a decent to the beach would have to have been matched by an uphill push for Mandy's chair on the way back.

However, we found a small park with some excellent views northwards along the coast and settled on this for a photo session. This proved to be an ideal spot, although I couldn't help noticing the almost every building nearby seemed to be a nightclub or some form of drinking establishment. It was pleasant enough in the late morning sunshine, but perhaps it would be somewhat different in the early hours of the morning when all the party-goers were turning out.

After our photo stop we headed back to the car park and paused at the station to make use of the toilets. To describe them as disgusting would be generous. I'm not certain whether or not they were part of the station but any organisation should be ashamed of such a public facility. They were all in a poor state of repair and dirty. To cap it all there was a large pot-hole in front of the door to the disabled toilet. Just what a wheelchair user wants.

Having survived this ordeal by public convenience we made it back to the car park and headed out of town. My verdict on Newquay after over a quarter of a century? Well, I know the social habits of the population have changed in this time and so it wasn't a real surprise to find much of the town geared up to meet this need. Whether this makes it suitable as a family destination I'm not sure and whatever the case I doubt I'll return at any time soon.

So, having done Newquay we had to decide were to go next. One of the leaflets supplied when we checked in at the cottage was for "Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm". Notwithstanding the unusual spelling of "cider" (Lucy insists they've got it wrong and who is going to argue with a Somerset girl), it sounded like a good idea for somewhere to go. It has to be admitted that a major attraction was the promise of a clotted cream tea. There was no way we were going to spend a week in Cornwall without indulging in this delicious treat at least once. So off we set!

We got there with no further navigation errors and parked. A lovely young woman greeted us at the gate and offered all sorts of options for touring the site. I only realised later that this was in fact the hard-sell as although entry  to the site was free, the tours being offered were anything but. However, the three of us had our sights set on something more important - a lovely clotted cream tea.



What We Came For

We soon found our way into the restaurant and bought our cream tea. One rather cute feature of the restaurant was the way a number of small birds were flying around inside. This gave it a lovely rustic charm, until that is one of the "dropped its load" close to our table. That brought it home to us that these cute feathery things were in fact a bit of a health hazard. But this didn't stop us enjoying our tea.

Mandy Makes a New Friend

Afterwards we went for a tour of the farm buildings and of course the shop. It was clear that an effort had been made to provide wheelchair access to the site, with ramps being provided. The the courtyard, however was a different matter. With cobblestones and drainage channels it was a nightmare to navigate. I could tell that Lucy was getting concerned about damaging the wheelchair but thankfully none occurred.

As well as the cider presses and bottling works and all the other associated equipment, there were also a number of farm animals on display. I wasn't too sure what these had to do with cider making, but they did add a degree of interest and cuteness. Mandy took a particular shine to a shire horse that was on display in the stables under the restaurant. It was a first-class performer as it stood so still, we wondered at one point if it was real. But the occasional flick of its tail and shake of the head proved it was still with us.

We also made our way with some difficulty to the farm animals area, only to be greeted by a field empty, apart from a very long looking pig. At least I thought it was one pig, until the front part got up and moved around. But it was a very long way off.

Our final call was at the shop and a chance for from tasting and purchases. The cider I tried was delicious and I had to buy some. Lucy also bought a bottle along with some Elderflower wine. Then it was time to head back to the cottage.

We'd decided on fish and chips for our meal this evening and so Lucy and I headed off to Camelford where the nearest one was located. As we entered the shop we saw it was full of people waiting for their orders to be ready. It's the moment all of us dread when faced with a sea of faces looking at you. And looks a-plenty we got. But that was it. There was no unpleasantness at all and the staff we warm and friendly the whole way through. And the meal was delicious!

 

 

Wednesday 26th September

In spite of the continuing abysmal weather, we still harboured a desire to "get onto the beach" and get some photos. There had even been talk at one point of paddling, but this idea seemed to be receding rapidly. The forecast for today wasn't at all promising but we figured that they might just be wrong, or we might get lucky and find an unexpected piece of good weather by the sea. So, armed with this hopelessly optimistic outlook, we headed for Polzeath.

This had been our choice as the maps indicated a cap park by the beach, and there was some degree of shelter from the open Atlantic Ocean. However, when we arrived we found that the car park was not only by the beach but was actually on the sand. This might be OK for the wide tyres of a motor vehicle, but we felt that a wheelchair with its narrow wheels might easily get bogged down.

So, we headed off looking for somewhere more suitable, but by this time it was clear that we weren't going to be blessed by anything resembling decent weather. After a drive of about 2 miles, we ended up about a third of a mile away at New Polzeath. Unsurprisingly the weather wasn't any better there but Lucy and I decided that we had to brave the elements if we were to get any photos. Mandy, demonstrating a level of common sense that neither of us could muster elected to stay in the car.



The Cornish Riviera - New Polzeath

Well, we got our photos and one of them is shown here. If I look completely windswept then all I can say is that the camera on this occasion isn't lying. It was appalling and I'm only glad that I managed to keep something of my dignity. By the time we returned to the car Mandy was beside herself with laughter. She said that watching the two of us trying to get photos in such impossible conditions was one of the funniest things she'd ever seen.

It was at this point we gave up on the seaside for the day and looked for somewhere else to spend the rest of the day. We decided to head for Wadebridge, a market town not too far away. The market day is Thursday so unfortunately we were there on the wrong day for that. However, with a pedestrianised main shopping street we were hopeful of doing a bit of shopping and, most importantly, finding some refreshments.

By the time we got there the forecast rain had caught up with us and was giving the town a good soaking. Nonetheless we pressed on in search of something to drink. I've previously been to the town by myself and a fine summer Sunday. There wasn't much open but it was a pleasant place to spend a while just wandering around. However, and a wet September day and with one of the party in a wheelchair it was very different. We were getting very wet and whilst trying to get Mandy into and out of the disabled toilet it was brought home to us just how selfish people can be. Whilst trying to back her chair out onto the pavement, Lucy found that no-one would give way to her. In fact we got the impression that some of them would have walked over us rather than give us some space.

We headed on into the main street looking for a cafe but there was an almost complete lack of them. Finally we found one and went in. It was small, very cosy and intimate and a TGirl's favourite nightmare. Everyone looked at us, rather like the previous evening in the fish and chip shop. But again, there were no problems and we got the refreshment we so badly needed by this time. In fact, by the time we left the Australian who appeared to be running the place was quite talkative with me and for a brief moment I wondered if I was being chatted up. That would have been a new experience but in all honesty I think he was just being friendly towards us.

By this time we were beginning to feel that Wadebridge in these conditions held very little attraction for us and so we made our way back to the car park. On the way I had to use the ladies again and whilst doing so Lucy and Mandy were nearly flattened by two idiot commercial drivers. They seemed to be trying to find out just how fast you could drive around the narrow streets of a Cornish Market Town. In the end we were thankful to get out of there.

The day was really falling to pieces but it was too early to head back to the cottage and so Lucy suggested heading to Bodmin. Having been there on previous occasions I wasn't very optimistic that it would be any better. In fact it turned out to be the best call of the day.

By the time we arrived the rain had stopped, which makes so much difference to how you perceive somewhere. Our first stop, as ever, was somewhere to get some refreshment and as the time was getting on some food would also be a good idea. I took us to a cafe just off the main shopping street that I knew from a visit some years earlier. Once there one sight of the menu proved it had been a good move and soon we were all tucking into giant sausages in bread roils, and delicious they were too.



Group Photo in Bodmin

After that we wandered up the main shopping street, taking in the usual clothes and charity shops. I found a lovely dog-tooth pencil skirt in one of them and just had to buy it With the shopping finished we made our way into the public park alongside the car park and took advantage of the duck pond for a few photos.

The last stop in the town was a supermarket to pick up some more supplies. Whilst there we were given a demonstration of how badly the blue-badge disabled parking scheme is being abused. Lucy and myself were walking back to the car when a young couple roared into the car park with little regard for anyone else and went straight into a disabled bay. Once they'd leapt out of their car and headed for the supermarket without any apparent difficulty, I wondered back to their car and sure enough, they had a blue badge. Lucy had been trying unsuccessfully to get such a badge for Mandy. It's idiots like this abusing the system that make it harder for genuine applicants to get their own badge.

Our last call before heading back to the cottage was for fuel for my car. The next day we were heading to Land's End for a few first and last photos. Read more about this in the next and final part of my holiday blog.


See you in Part 3......!

Susan XXX


A Holiday in Cornwall - Part One

Cornwall is the most South-Western county in England and has for a long time been a favourite holiday destination for many people. Remote from the major population centres of much of the country, it boasts some of the best coastal scenery in England as well of a rich and varied history, as well as being slightly mysterious.

The county has long been a personal favourite with memories of holidays from years ago and more recently a genealogical connection discovered. I usually make a point of visiting Cornwall at least once a year. Of course with recent changes in my lifestyle it became an ambition to spend some time there in my female persona. I did manage a day out as Susan during a holiday there in 2011, but it remained a goal to spend much longer there as a woman.

My chance came earlier in the summer when my good friends Lucy and Mandy invited me to share their holiday cottage in North Cornwall with them for a week. Their friend who had originally booked the cottage with them had to pull out and so I was delighted that they asked me to take her place.

Saturday 22nd September

The plan was for me to drive to Taunton and meet up with Lucy and Mandy at their home. From there we would drive together to Cornwall. Driving from the South East of England to the South West on the A303  on a Saturday can be difficult, even out of the holiday season with traffic building up at certain points, especially where dual carriageways end. The worst one is Westbound at Stonehenge in Wiltshire and in the past I seen queues for traffic travelling West stretching back as far as Andover - a distance of nearly 15 miles.

So, I decided to leave as early as possible in order to reach Taunton by lunchtime. Now, getting away on holiday can be traumatic enough in my usual life, but doing it as a woman brings a whole new dimension. Where a suitcase is usually enough for a week, this holiday required three, plus a couple of holdalls. Then of course getting all this in the car, putting on my makeup and getting away by 9.00 in the morning left me feeling that I really needed a holiday to get over just leaving home.

But, get away I did and thankfully the roads didn't live up to my fears and the journey was easy and relaxing. In fact I had plenty of spare time which left me able to turn off the A303 at Ilchester and go across country to Taunton via Langport. This road was much quieter than the main route and far more picturesque. But I still arrived at Taunton rather early. Lucy and Mandy were expecting me late morning and I knew they were heading into town first thing for a "power breakfast". So, to avoid arriving before they got home I parked up for while to read the paper.




Enjoying the sunshine at Belstone Services

Eventually I reached their house and found them both busy getting ready to leave, with the cleaning of their car almost finished and the packing about to be finished off.. Soon, lunch was served and at 2.00 we were off on the final leg to Cornwall. The roads were reasonably trouble free and as we couldn't take over our cottage until 4.00 we were able to take the journey at leisure.

We stopped at Belstone services near Okehampton in Devon for a break and of course an ice cream. Here was our first chance to take some photos, something that was sure to be a feature of the forthcoming week. Soon we were on our way again and by 4.00 we had arrived and were checking into our cottage.

Lucy and Mandy had booked a cottage at Hengar Manor, which is a holiday park at St Tudy, just outside Camelford in North Cornwall. They had been here before but that was in the days before Lucy. There was some concern that a place which is essentially family orientated might have problems with trans women like ourselves. However, from the moment we booked in to when we left we experienced nothing but friendly service from the staff.



Relaxing in the cottage after a busy day

Having unpacked, to a degree at least, Lucy and myself set off to pick up supplies for the week. We headed for Wadebridge where there is a large supermarket just outside the town. For a Saturday evening the place was quite busy. However, we concluded, based on the sort of clothing being worn and the generally lost looks on many faces, that most of them were holiday makers like ourselves stocking up.

Our shopping didn't seem to take too long and soon we were heading back to the cottage. This was when the first of what was going to be a series of navigation errors occurred. Trying to find our way across country to the cottage, we ended up rather lost and even our maps didn't seem to help on this occasion. The best answer in these cases is to head for somewhere you know and work it out from there. So we headed to Camelford and took the road we'd used earlier in the afternoon.

We were soon back and Lucy cooked us the first of what would prove to be a series of lovely meals. After that it was time to relax after a busy and and start to plan the rest of our holiday..

Sunday 23rd September

Just as the weather forecast had promised the day started wet, but we had taken this into account. The plan was to visit an indoor market that was being held near St Austell. Given the poor weather forecast for the day it seemed like a good idea. We all enjoy shopping and a market is always a good place to try for a bargain.

On the way there the second navigation error of the week occurred when we found ourselves at the gates of the Eden Project. Quite how this happened I'm not sure as I had been busy trying to send a text from my mobile, something I don't do very often. But whatever the case it was quickly decided that none of us wanted to visit the site as we'd all been there before and it was hardly the sort of weather for it anyway.

Quickly we got ourselves back on the right track and soon arrived at the venue for the market. These events can be quite good or not, depending on so many factors. To be honest there was a lack of bargains, at least as far as clothes were concerned. But the worse thing was how crowded it was and this made if difficult for getting the wheelchair around.

For those who are unaware, at present Mandy is suffering from a long term problem with one of her knees and while she is waiting for the medical profession to help her out she is using a wheelchair to increase her mobility. A feature of this week, for me at least, was just how difficult it can be to navigate a wheelchair around the streets and venues of our so-called enlightened country. Sometimes it's the facilities, or more likely the lack of them. But sadly, a lot of the time it's the people. Sometimes it's the lack of awareness, other times it's a lack of thought. But as far as I could tell mot of the time people are so wrapped up in their own world that they show no consideration for others less fortunate. Have you ever had difficulties pushing a trolley around a busy supermarket? Then hopefully you'll know what I'm getting at.

The patrons at this market were no better then usual and we soon tired of trying to make a good job of it. So this, combined with a lack of decent bargains led us to leave sooner than we might have done. We headed into St Austell town centre for some much needed refreshment and some decent shopping.



"The China Cafe" in St Austell, with two extra customers

We weren't to be disappointed as although it was a wet Sunday lunchtime, the shopping centre was quite good. Apparently the area recently competed a major makeover and although we weren't seeing it at its best, it was still a pleasant experience. After a much needed caffeine top-up we hit the shops and were generally pleased with what we bought.


Me and "Bergerac"

Towards the end of our tour of the town centre we were greeted by a fascinating work of art. "The China Cafe" is a life-sized mural covering the whole of the side of a building facing the shopping area. It depicts the fictional cafe, named after the nearby china clay industry with which the town has long been associated. The "patrons" of the cafe include 14 famous people who were either born in the town or who have lived there at some time. These include the author Daphne du Maurier and the actor John Nettles.

Needless to say none of us could resist getting photos of ourselves in such illustrious company and two of the shots are shown here.

Soon, though it was time to head back to the cottage. Lucy was preparing a joint of roast beef for our Sunday dinner and of course time was needed to prepare it. The journey back was less eventful than the outward one and we were soon back, looking forward to our roast dinner and settling down to watch a re-run of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Monday 24th September 

Today it was my turn to do the driving and after some discussion we decided to head for the City Truro. This is the county town of Cornwall and held the promise of some good shopping. Once again the very indifferent weather we were experiencing affected our choice of venue, and we figured that if it did rain there would be plenty of cover.

This was the first time we had put Mandy's wheelchair in my car and the first impression was that it wouldn't fit. Although overall my car is slightly larger than Lucy's, on mine the roof at the back slopes downwards and this means there is less height in the luggage area. This meant that although the wheelchair would fit in, we couldn't close the door. However, after a bit of trial and error we finally succeeded. This was just as well as it would have been unfair if Lucy had ended up doing all the driving.

The journey there took about 45 minutes and was uneventful, apart from me taking the wrong exit and a roundabout near Bodmin. Three days and three navigation errors! We began to speculate whether or not we could keep this up and manage an error each day of our holiday.

We parked in a car park close to of the city's Lemon Quay shopping area and headed to the very large branch of Marks and Spencer for refreshments. M&S cafes are usually very good and you can always guarantee getting a nice drink. However, I have noticed recently that they are becoming a victim of their own success, being often crowded and with long queues when being served. The Truro branch was no different and although we managed to find a table, Lucy seemed to be a long time before she arrived with our drinks.

There was also an annoyance when we were trying to find the toilets. Usually there are located close to the cafe and that's where we headed. However, after some fruitless searching we found them next to the lift we had just come out of. Some pretty poor signing had led us to miss them entirely.



Truro - After the Rain

Anyway, suitably refreshed we had a tour of M&S and then headed out into the street - only to find it was pouring down. Fortunately our next shop was right next door, so we managed to avoid a soaking. By the time we went back into the street the rain had stopped and the sun was shinning. So it was time for some photos.

The rest of our shopping trip was fairly uneventful, apart from some fool who gave us a wolf-whistle. Lucy was sure it was intended for us but as we were walking together at the time it wasn't possible to say who it was meant for. So in the true spirit of sisterhood, we decided to share it.

The experience of pushing the wheelchair around the older part of the City was more reminiscent of our visit to Bath earlier in the summer. Narrow, uneven pavements and cobblestones might look quaint and "olde-worlde", but they are a nightmare for anyone trying to navigate the streets in a chair. Then we had a wheelchair malfunction. One of the push-rims that are attached to the main wheels broke. To be more exact it was one of the fixing brackets. Lucy was quite rightly annoyed as these were new, better quality ones she had recently obtained. A quick inspection showed that the break was due to poor quality materials. We hoped that we would be able to effect a make-shift repair once back at the cottage. But for today, it meant that Mandy would be unable to propel herself around the shops.



Leading the Cow by the Ear

Lunch was taken at a coffee shop where it has to be said the service was much better than we had experienced in M&S earlier. On the way back through Truro we headed headed for their indoor Pannier Market, but before getting there we found a delightful life-sized statue of a cow which was crying out to be used as a prop for some more photos. And that of course it what happened.


By the Truro River - in Truro

We made our visit to the pannier market but to be honest it wasn't that impressive and we were soon through there. Then it was back to the car park and into the adjoining supermarket for some more supplies.
Whilst here we took one last photo opportunity by the river before heading off back to the cottage. The journey home was uneventful and once back there Lucy and I took advantage of the dry weather for a wonder around the grounds and, naturally, a few more photos.


Later on we were able to make the necessary repairs to Mandy's wheelchair. This meant she would be able to propel herself around the shops and give the extra independence she deserved.



That's the end of the first part of my holiday blog. I had intended originally to do this all in one go. However, the size of it is increasing and in order to make it more manageable I will publish it in at least two parts and quite likely three.

See you in Part 2......!

Susan XXX