roemin around

It sure is an interesting site. There are a large number of vans are here for the annual 10 day C&W festival and many of the occupants are wandering about with stetsons, spurs, Indian feathers and anything else vaguely country. The entertainment at all the bars is country music at night. It's still windy with a few showers so I put up the windbreak allowing me to cook outside for a change. I spent the afternoon fishing in the lake and caught a few small fish. Rosemary went to Burnham on Sea, on the bus. She bought some red mullet and halibut, amongst other things, for dinner that I cooked on the Jamie. We walked back to the main festival venue in the evening and browsed around all the western clothes in the pop-up marquees. We passed a couple of sheriffs on mobility scooters! Some very expensive genuine cowboy hats for sale and some only £5 'made in China' copies. We went to the beach on the way back to the van and actually saw the sea. It's been low tide ...

We left the Porlock site at 11:00am, wearing shorts for a change, heading towards Burnham on Sea. Stopped off at Minehead for a snack at the Somerset Steam Railway and again at the historic harbour at Watchett. Had a conversation with a Nuventure owner who also owned a farm in Wales with a CL and we looked at the small art exhibition on the harbour We decided on a site called Northam Farm at Brean, between Burnham on Sea and Western Super Mare, for a couple of nights. Surprised to find that it has a free fishing lake and a country and western festival about to kick off. In fact nothing like a farm at all, but that's the entertainment sorted. Yee haa. It's still windy with the odd shower but not cold. We are getting closer to home, but not giving up yet.

We spent most of the day exploring Appledore. It's a fascinating maze of narrow alleys on either side of the Quay. Every cottage seems be different style or colour with many obviously holiday lets. Even so it had a very friendly village atmosphere but parking must be a nightmare in season. Rosemary tried to buy a book based on the recent events in Leicester (Lcfc and Richard iii) at the pop-up Waterstones at the book festival but they were sold out. However the author Michael Morporgo, who was at the event, left some signed plates to stick in his books. We left after lunch just as the clouds descended and the light rain set in. We went to Instow on the other side of the estuary to get another (murky) view of Appledore before heading East towards Minehead. It was another drive in mist and rain through Barnstable and Lynmouth before we stopped at Porlock for the night. That's the place with the notorious 1 in 4 hill that burnt out clutches in the old days.

The wind is back to normal, the van has stopped shaking and it is drizzling, so we stayed on site till midday before going to Boscastle. It's an attractive long village beside the river terminating in a small fishing harbour. It's famous for being devastated when the river flooded in after freak rain on the nearby moors in 2004. Unfortunately it was still dull and misty as we left after a couple of hours and we needed headlights on the way to Bude. However by the time we arrived in Bude the sky had cleared and we sat on the prom drinking tea in hot sunshine. But it did not last and it was 5:00pm after all. Decided to do a one night stop at a Britstop for a change. We chose a quayside car park in Appledore, near Bideford. We noticed signs for a book festival as we drove in and arrived to find the car park crammed with festival goers. There are some well known celebrities like Jeremy Vine and Mitch Tonks. Rosemary may go and buy a book tomorrow. We had both pasties and fish a...

The promised rain arrived by dawn, mostly sideways. Our grass pitch was pretty waterlogged and the window started leaking slightly but we got away without any problems. We went to Bodmin Gaol, to be somewhere dry, in the morning during a brief respite in the weather. Parking in the tiny car park was challenging and caused Rosemary to have some wet knickers. The Gaol was quite interesting, as gaols go, at the same time depressing. Some of the punishments for quite trivial misdemeanors were incredible. There is a working hanging shed, reconstructed from genuine parts, but the last hanging at Bodmin was in 1909. Next stop was Tintagel, a beautiful place on a sunny day no doubt. We looked around the old post office, a medieval cottage, saved by the NT and then had a hot meal in a village cafe. Just caught sight of King Arthurs castle without the long walk down the drive in the rain. We are stopping the night at Trewethett Farm site, on a hard standing. It's between Tintagel...

After the rain last night we awoke to a lovely sunny morning. After breakfast outside we set off for the Cornish north coast. Arrived in Padstow at lunch time but could not find anywhere to park. It was heaving! So next stop was Rock on the other side of the estuary, the home to countless millionaires and a playground for young royals apparently. The specials board at Mariners restaurant included rib of beef for two, with trimmings, for £90. We found a more modest offering at £11 for roast Sirloin of beef, or roast pork, with trimmings. Huge portions no room for pudding.The alternative lunch was a ferry across the estuary to Padstow for Rick Steins fish and chips, but not enough time on the parking ticket. We went on to Polzeath beach where the surfers were making the most of some big waves. Finally we made our way to a CC site at Camelford, for one or two nights, to sit out a forecast day of heavy rain. No WiFi or 3g, just wet campers but quite cheap.

We took the van to the huge park and ride where there is also a brand new Waitrose and Cornish Food store. We took the bus into Truro and looked around the markets and visited the cathedral. The cathedral is one of the most recent to be built and is very impressive with less gold and finery than most. Popped into the food festival again for a few cheese samples and a local hot dog. More street food stalls had appeared since yesterday. Started to rain heavily so we headed back to Waitrose to buy some comfort food for supper and returned to site. Its now pissing down. We may not be able to hear X factor if it doesn't stop soon! Had a WhatsApp from Katie in Budapest.