None shall pass – Driving in Cornwall or Why the Bike is Best
You come to Cornwall for the history, for the scenery, for the quaint little fishing villages and are then flummoxed by the god-awful roads. Fear not we have some solutions.
First off, we completely understand that you have just spent what felt like fifteen hours on the road. We understand that your journey planner said it would only take four. We understand your disappointment when you thought that Bristol was in the South-West and that surely you must be nearly there. We know you are surprised to discover just HOW much more road there is after Exeter. I’m afraid that if you have only just passed Exeter you are still not there yet. Why not stop for a bit, cry, bang your head against a brick wall, regroup and prepare for the roadworks ahead. Pack sedatives for the children.
So yes, we totally and utterly understand that you are tired and exhausted. We do the journey all the time, we all know how awful the A30 and the M5 are. Look at it this way, you have joined the club, you are that little bit more local than you were yesterday. In years to come, you can laugh and roll your eyes in horror when someone mentions driving to Cornwall.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, you have arrived in a frazzled heap and then you have to contend with our road infrastructure. Here’s what we recommend when you get to your destination and get out of your car. Park it wherever has been recommended and do not return to it for 24 hours. Honestly, I can’t stress this enough. We are not unaware of, or unsympathetic to, your herculean efforts to get here and the fact that you want to make the most of every minute, but a tired and grumpy you is not the best person to bring to the party. Relax where you are, chill, go for a wander, get on a bike, look at the stars, listen to the waves, soak in the bath, read a book. Rest, unwind, recharge. You are here, it is beautiful. Sleep.
When you feel fully re-charged you may attempt to get back in your car but please remember city-like driving won’t cut it here. Not one bit.
Driving in towns and the countryside – Problems
Are you ready for roads whose hedges tower over you, tall enough to block out the sun, zig-zagging ever deeper down the hill, ever tighter until you have to pull in your wing mirrors, what will you do if you meet a car, a horse or a cyclist? Meeting flocks of sheep, cows, deer, children, pheasants is all quite likely. Slow down.
In summer our population explodes. Our roads are built to just about cope with a population of around 500,000. In August there are roughly twice as many people staying in the county. This represents a couple of issues. The first most obvious one is space. Our roads just aren’t up to that sort of volume. The second problem is that a very large number of drivers on the road aren’t used to driving on our roads, are baffled by the Cornish planners’ obsession with mini roundabouts (we loathe them too), and don’t know the width of their own car. Some of them are pulling caravans. I know, what fun!
Solutions
First things first, re-calibrate your sat nav. Most sat navs are set for the most direct route. Turn that mother off right now. Sat navs have no comprehension of how bad Cornish lanes can get. That said, we quite like our roads, our country lanes are extremely pretty, their high narrow hedgerows are full of flowers and wildlife and granite. Our village lanes are so narrow that you can lean out the window and into the bakery. (A small exaggeration but only just)
Secondly, decide if you know how to reverse; reversing is more than leaving your driveway backwards or doing a three point turn on a nice wide road with lots of visibility. If you can’t reverse and I can’t stress this enough, consider whether it is worth risking driving in Cornwall. Also, as an aside, learn how to reverse.
Driving in towns and the countryside – Problems
Are you ready for roads whose hedges tower over you, tall enough to block out the sun, zig-zagging ever deeper down the hill, ever tighter until you have to pull in your wing mirrors, what will you do if you meet a car, a horse or a cyclist? Meeting flocks of sheep, cows, deer, children, pheasants is all quite likely. Slow down.
In summer our population explodes. Our roads are built to just about cope with a population of around 500,000. In August there are roughly twice as many people staying in the county. This represents a couple of issues. The first most obvious one is space. Our roads just aren’t up to that sort of volume. The second problem is that a very large number of drivers on the road aren’t used to driving on our roads, are baffled by the Cornish planners’ obsession with mini roundabouts (we loathe them too), and don’t know the width of their own car. Some of them are pulling caravans. I know, what fun!
Solutions
First things first, re-calibrate your sat nav. Most sat navs are set for the most direct route. Turn that mother off right now. Sat navs have no comprehension of how bad Cornish lanes can get. That said, we quite like our roads, our country lanes are extremely pretty, their high narrow hedgerows are full of flowers and wildlife and granite. Our village lanes are so narrow that you can lean out the window and into the bakery. (A small exaggeration but only just)
Secondly, decide if you know how to reverse; reversing is more than leaving your driveway backwards or doing a three point turn on a nice wide road with lots of visibility. If you can’t reverse and I can’t stress this enough, consider whether it is worth risking driving in Cornwall. Also, as an aside, learn how to reverse.
Driving through coastal villages. Problems. (Solution below)
Problem One
By and large, coastal villages are the worst. They have evolved over centuries and are cramped and winding. They have never been bombed and rebuilt, they have never been gentrified, they have never been modernised, when you wander through the streets of Mevagissey, Fowey, Looe, St Ives etc you are heading back in time, a long way back, and one thing those fishing communities didn’t bear in mind were cars. And yet cars now drive through them. Some lanes are just too narrow but despite this, some drivers still attempt them in the notion that if they exist, then they can be used. They exist because a horse and cart used them, are you a horse and cart? No. Then don’t try them. If someone in the street waves at you and tells you that you can’t get through, listen to them, don’t ignore them. What are you thinking? No one is pulling your leg. It isn’t a Cornish tradition to send motorists the wrong way. We are genuinely trying to help. Are you concerned that you have come so far that you don’t think you can reverse out? Honestly, going forward is not going to improve the situation.
Problem Two
Lots of roads in Cornish villages are two-way despite being barely one car wide. This is because a one-way system would require a detour of over five miles. Trust me, where we are able to, we install one-way systems, if we haven’t it’s because the solution is worse than the problem. Honestly, we don’t need you to point it out to us. Muttering darkly that traffic lights might help doesn’t cut any mustard because again, trust me, if they would help, we would have done it.
Problem Three
Equally if a local tells you that you won’t be able to turn right in your high sided van accept their wisdom and reverse. Or you could decide that you know how to drive your van, you know its dimensions and you know what you are doing. Ten minutes later having gouged your van, the shop walls, attracted a crowd who are all helpfully shouting instructions at you, you can now choose to reverse, although of course now you have six cars behind you and the entire village is stuck in a gridlock.
Problem Four
You drive along a street only to discover there’s a car parked in the middle of the road. There are a few options, if it’s a side street, just reverse back out and take a different route, if it’s a main street, then just wait. Or you could lean on your horn like a bad-tempered fool. I’ve known people that have heard that imperious noise and promptly switched the kettle on. It helps if you put yourself in their shoes. Why have they left their car in such a staggeringly inconvenient location? Generally, it’s deliveries or pick-ups, dropping the children off, loading up a sick pet, unpacking the shopping. These are our homes and shops, this is the only way we have to get to our front doors, trust me it’s far more frustrating for us to live with on a daily basis than it is for you who have been here for a whole minute and are unlikely to ever be stuck here again. Your leaning on the horn, gesticulating wildly or even shouting at us (this actually happens a lot) will not make us go any faster. So chill your boots, if you see no sign of life after a minute or so, give a little toot, someone will appear from somewhere with a friendly wave. If it’s a side street the car/van could be there for a while, if their boot is open it’s a clear sign they are staying for a while. Reverse. Just do it. Or get into a slanging match with a tradesman who isn’t moving and has told you the alternative way to get out of the village. Passers-by may be entertained by the exchange but you won’t be, your passengers will be mortified and the rest of the day will be foul. Just reverse.
Indeed, you may find that it is you having to stop all the traffic as you unload. Don’t worry, we all have to do it. No one is going to shout at you and if they do they won’t be local. Just unload, smile, give that wonderful British what-a-nightmare grimace to the cars behind and then drive off as soon as you can.
Problem Five
Oncoming traffic on a road one car wide. This is a complete pain and also a regular occurrence on Fore Street in Mevagissey. The best and quickest way to deal with this is to reverse and give way. Failure to do so promptly means that lots of cars stack up behind you. This does not now give you the upper hand (ha! I can’t reverse now, he’ll have to back up) because he also has lots of cars backing up behind him. This results in all the little lanes in the village backing up.
Sadly you may find yourself in a position where you genuinely can’t reverse because of the traffic behind you or that they only have ten yards to reverse whereas you have half a mile. These situations are desperately trying. I have seen many occasions where the person who can’t reverse gets out of their car to explain the problem to the person that won’t reverse. Often the person that won’t reverse hands the keys over to the other person who then reverses their car for them. Trust me, lots of us have done it.
Sitting in your car refusing to move, refusing help and refusing instructions helps no one. And again, leaves you feeling angry and miserable.
BUT THERE IS A SOLUTION
All these villages have large car parks on the outskirts. Park here. And by outskirts, I don’t mean you’ll need to catch a bus in, a three-minute walk and you can go skinny dipping. Why not,? It will amuse the fishermen. You can park your car in the large, flat, wide, roomy carparks and then wander into the village in a happy and relaxed manner. You can watch the boats bobbing around, pop in and out of the shops and look at wonder at the chap that refuses to reverse his car ten yards and snarl up the entire village.
So there we are; adjust your sat nav, learn to reverse, make use of car parks on the edge of the villages and never ever lean on your horn. Oh and don’t park on sand.
Better yet. Get on your bike!
All posts are written by Liz Hurley, author of SCRIBBLES FROM THE EDGE and LOSING IT IN CORNWALL These two books are collections of her columns, written for the Cornish Guardian. They available from Amazon as e-books or paperbacks as well as from Hurley Books.
May 11, 2017 @ 12:25 am
the best solution is to stay at home, our roads are just fine until droves of idiots turn up driving at 40 mph everywhere and clogging up COrnwalls logistic arteries…. poor driving is the real issue here, generally from tourists
May 12, 2017 @ 4:38 am
Totally disagree 🙂 all are very welcome in my eyes.If the police, lorry drivers and coach drivers can get it wrong it’s not just a tourist thing.
June 8, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
Hi Liz This reminds me of THAT road in St Ives which is vertical from Porthmeor beach. Back in the 70’s when cars weren’t as robust. Remember my family and I watching this car struggling to get up it………… only to roll all the way back down!
May 11, 2017 @ 12:25 am
the best solution is to stay at home, our roads are just fine until droves of idiots turn up driving at 40 mph everywhere and clogging up COrnwalls logistic arteries…. poor driving is the real issue here, generally from tourists
May 12, 2017 @ 4:38 am
Totally disagree 🙂 all are very welcome in my eyes.If the police, lorry drivers and coach drivers can get it wrong it’s not just a tourist thing.
June 8, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
Hi Liz This reminds me of THAT road in St Ives which is vertical from Porthmeor beach. Back in the 70’s when cars weren’t as robust. Remember my family and I watching this car struggling to get up it………… only to roll all the way back down!
May 13, 2017 @ 5:56 am
Brilliant story and I love your description of flower heads nodding at the roof of cars. So perfect. I’m glad my article brought back good memories!
May 13, 2017 @ 5:56 am
Brilliant story and I love your description of flower heads nodding at the roof of cars. So perfect. I’m glad my article brought back good memories!
May 11, 2017 @ 12:25 am
the best solution is to stay at home, our roads are just fine until droves of idiots turn up driving at 40 mph everywhere and clogging up COrnwalls logistic arteries…. poor driving is the real issue here, generally from tourists
May 12, 2017 @ 4:38 am
Totally disagree 🙂 all are very welcome in my eyes.If the police, lorry drivers and coach drivers can get it wrong it’s not just a tourist thing.
June 8, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
Hi Liz This reminds me of THAT road in St Ives which is vertical from Porthmeor beach. Back in the 70’s when cars weren’t as robust. Remember my family and I watching this car struggling to get up it………… only to roll all the way back down!
May 11, 2017 @ 12:25 am
the best solution is to stay at home, our roads are just fine until droves of idiots turn up driving at 40 mph everywhere and clogging up COrnwalls logistic arteries…. poor driving is the real issue here, generally from tourists
May 12, 2017 @ 4:38 am
Totally disagree 🙂 all are very welcome in my eyes.If the police, lorry drivers and coach drivers can get it wrong it’s not just a tourist thing.
June 8, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
Hi Liz This reminds me of THAT road in St Ives which is vertical from Porthmeor beach. Back in the 70’s when cars weren’t as robust. Remember my family and I watching this car struggling to get up it………… only to roll all the way back down!
May 12, 2017 @ 1:41 am
I hope this is tongue in cheek….I have been travelling to Cornwall for years and not everybody who visits your beautiful county drives like an idiot….no sat nav….common sense and maps…please don’t paint us as all the same
May 12, 2017 @ 1:41 am
I hope this is tongue in cheek….I have been travelling to Cornwall for years and not everybody who visits your beautiful county drives like an idiot….no sat nav….common sense and maps…please don’t paint us as all the same
May 12, 2017 @ 9:01 am
Great blog but I can’t see the pics, your photo gallery has errors when viewing on I pad. Images are half in half out of the box
May 12, 2017 @ 10:57 am
Will have a look. The photos crashed the site last night, so definitely a problem with the gallery. Mind you 18K people have looked at this post in the past 24 hours so a bit mad 😀
May 12, 2017 @ 9:56 pm
its hillarious, im up road in dorset an thought we had the holiday makers bad but at least our roads are wide an not 7 foot hedged. must visit cornwall soon, maybe end of season though when its quiter 🙂 dont want to be part of the problem haha
May 12, 2017 @ 9:01 am
Great blog but I can’t see the pics, your photo gallery has errors when viewing on I pad. Images are half in half out of the box
May 12, 2017 @ 10:57 am
Will have a look. The photos crashed the site last night, so definitely a problem with the gallery. Mind you 18K people have looked at this post in the past 24 hours so a bit mad 😀
May 12, 2017 @ 9:56 pm
its hillarious, im up road in dorset an thought we had the holiday makers bad but at least our roads are wide an not 7 foot hedged. must visit cornwall soon, maybe end of season though when its quiter 🙂 dont want to be part of the problem haha
May 12, 2017 @ 9:01 am
Great blog but I can’t see the pics, your photo gallery has errors when viewing on I pad. Images are half in half out of the box
May 12, 2017 @ 9:01 am
Great blog but I can’t see the pics, your photo gallery has errors when viewing on I pad. Images are half in half out of the box
May 12, 2017 @ 10:57 am
Will have a look. The photos crashed the site last night, so definitely a problem with the gallery. Mind you 18K people have looked at this post in the past 24 hours so a bit mad 😀
May 12, 2017 @ 9:56 pm
its hillarious, im up road in dorset an thought we had the holiday makers bad but at least our roads are wide an not 7 foot hedged. must visit cornwall soon, maybe end of season though when its quiter 🙂 dont want to be part of the problem haha
May 12, 2017 @ 9:30 am
This is just brilliant and so true of West Dorset too Liz which is where we live. We learnt very fast about reversing, which I find increasingly difficult now I where glasses and aren’t as supple as I used to be, so I’ve handed over the car keys too! We’ve lived in the High Alpujarras mountain range in southern Spain and have had to negotiate precipitous and vertiginous villages and tracks, goat tracks, like narrow drovers roads. Once when moving out of a rental we did get our Honda CRV right down to the bottom of Busquistar pueblo and up around the other side to load up. The entire village were out watching, scratching their chins, no one congratulated us , as helped John do a 30 point turn! Tourism is vital to the South West, so we need to put up or shut up! The A35 here turns into nightmaresville from Easter onwards, with Motorhomes and caravans getting even bigger each year it seems, with so many accidents. The way you write is erudite, humous, insightful and pragmatic. I salute you and the lovely lanes and drovers roads aof all the glorious counties.
We can’t have the glory (Jurassic coast, Salcombe, Dartmoor, Zenna, St Ives, with its wonderful Tate, Hepworth and the beach ) without the hoards of visitors. There by the grace of god go we. Thank you, I shall follow you now. Geraldine. HIgher Eype. Dorset.
May 12, 2017 @ 9:32 am
This is just brilliant and so true of West Dorset too Liz which is where we live. We learnt very fast about reversing, which I find increasingly difficult now I where glasses and aren’t as supple as I used to be, so I’ve handed over the car keys too! We’ve lived in the High Alpujarras mountain range in southern Spain and have had to negotiate precipitous and vertiginous villages and tracks, goat tracks, like narrow drovers roads. Once when moving out of a rental we did get our Honda CRV right down to the bottom of Busquistar pueblo and up around the other side to load up. The entire village were out watching, scratching their chins, no one congratulated us , as helped John do a 30 point turn! Tourism is vital to the South West, so we need to put up or shut up! The A35 here turns into nightmaresville from Easter onwards, with Motorhomes and caravans getting even bigger each year it seems, with so many accidents. The way you write is erudite, humous, insightful and pragmatic. I salute you and the lovely lanes and drovers roads aof all the glorious counties.
We can’t have the glory (Jurassic coast, Salcombe, Dartmoor, Zenna, St Ives, with its wonderful Tate, Hepworth and the beach ) without the hoards of visitors. There by the grace of god go we. Suggestion to anyone, considering the trip, watch “RV” with Robin Williams, one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. Thank you, I shall follow you now. Geraldine. HIgher Eype. Dorset.
May 12, 2017 @ 9:32 am
This is just brilliant and so true of West Dorset too Liz which is where we live. We learnt very fast about reversing, which I find increasingly difficult now I where glasses and aren’t as supple as I used to be, so I’ve handed over the car keys too! We’ve lived in the High Alpujarras mountain range in southern Spain and have had to negotiate precipitous and vertiginous villages and tracks, goat tracks, like narrow drovers roads. Once when moving out of a rental we did get our Honda CRV right down to the bottom of Busquistar pueblo and up around the other side to load up. The entire village were out watching, scratching their chins, no one congratulated us , as helped John do a 30 point turn! Tourism is vital to the South West, so we need to put up or shut up! The A35 here turns into nightmaresville from Easter onwards, with Motorhomes and caravans getting even bigger each year it seems, with so many accidents. The way you write is erudite, humous, insightful and pragmatic. I salute you and the lovely lanes and drovers roads aof all the glorious counties.
We can’t have the glory (Jurassic coast, Salcombe, Dartmoor, Zenna, St Ives, with its wonderful Tate, Hepworth and the beach ) without the hoards of visitors. There by the grace of god go we. Suggestion to anyone, considering the trip, watch “RV” with Robin Williams, one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. Thank you, I shall follow you now. Geraldine. HIgher Eype. Dorset.
May 12, 2017 @ 9:32 am
This is just brilliant and so true of West Dorset too Liz which is where we live. We learnt very fast about reversing, which I find increasingly difficult now I where glasses and aren’t as supple as I used to be, so I’ve handed over the car keys too! We’ve lived in the High Alpujarras mountain range in southern Spain and have had to negotiate precipitous and vertiginous villages and tracks, goat tracks, like narrow drovers roads. Once when moving out of a rental we did get our Honda CRV right down to the bottom of Busquistar pueblo and up around the other side to load up. The entire village were out watching, scratching their chins, no one congratulated us , as helped John do a 30 point turn! Tourism is vital to the South West, so we need to put up or shut up! The A35 here turns into nightmaresville from Easter onwards, with Motorhomes and caravans getting even bigger each year it seems, with so many accidents. The way you write is erudite, humous, insightful and pragmatic. I salute you and the lovely lanes and drovers roads aof all the glorious counties.
We can’t have the glory (Jurassic coast, Salcombe, Dartmoor, Zenna, St Ives, with its wonderful Tate, Hepworth and the beach ) without the hoards of visitors. There by the grace of god go we. Suggestion to anyone, considering the trip, watch “RV” with Robin Williams, one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. Thank you, I shall follow you now. Geraldine. HIgher Eype. Dorset.
May 12, 2017 @ 9:32 am
This is just brilliant and so true of West Dorset too Liz which is where we live. We learnt very fast about reversing, which I find increasingly difficult now I where glasses and aren’t as supple as I used to be, so I’ve handed over the car keys too! We’ve lived in the High Alpujarras mountain range in southern Spain and have had to negotiate precipitous and vertiginous villages and tracks, goat tracks, like narrow drovers roads. Once when moving out of a rental we did get our Honda CRV right down to the bottom of Busquistar pueblo and up around the other side to load up. The entire village were out watching, scratching their chins, no one congratulated us , as helped John do a 30 point turn! Tourism is vital to the South West, so we need to put up or shut up! The A35 here turns into nightmaresville from Easter onwards, with Motorhomes and caravans getting even bigger each year it seems, with so many accidents. The way you write is erudite, humous, insightful and pragmatic. I salute you and the lovely lanes and drovers roads aof all the glorious counties.
We can’t have the glory (Jurassic coast, Salcombe, Dartmoor, Zenna, St Ives, with its wonderful Tate, Hepworth and the beach ) without the hoards of visitors. There by the grace of god go we. Suggestion to anyone, considering the trip, watch “RV” with Robin Williams, one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. Thank you, I shall follow you now. Geraldine. HIgher Eype. Dorset.
May 12, 2017 @ 9:48 am
Love this Liz! As I delivery driver in Cornwall I’ve seen all sorts of terrible (and comical) driving – from locals and tourists alike! Calm and patience is definitely the only way to deal with Cornish roads.
May 12, 2017 @ 9:48 am
Love this Liz! As I delivery driver in Cornwall I’ve seen all sorts of terrible (and comical) driving – from locals and tourists alike! Calm and patience is definitely the only way to deal with Cornish roads.
May 12, 2017 @ 1:19 pm
Just read the article with keen interest, will be arriving from the US in June. Appreciate the tips! To make the driving more interesting for us we’ll be driving on the opposite side of the road!! Fun times!
May 13, 2017 @ 6:01 am
You’ll be fine the roads are too narrow to have two sides! Just joking, it really is mostly fine, have a fabulous time, it really is great over here.
May 13, 2017 @ 3:51 pm
Lol… in that part of the world, there isn’t an opposite side of the road! Some of Wales is similar, if you’re heading there. Like the lady says: learn to reverse! 😉
May 12, 2017 @ 1:19 pm
Just read the article with keen interest, will be arriving from the US in June. Appreciate the tips! To make the driving more interesting for us we’ll be driving on the opposite side of the road!! Fun times!
May 13, 2017 @ 6:01 am
You’ll be fine the roads are too narrow to have two sides! Just joking, it really is mostly fine, have a fabulous time, it really is great over here.
May 13, 2017 @ 3:51 pm
Lol… in that part of the world, there isn’t an opposite side of the road! Some of Wales is similar, if you’re heading there. Like the lady says: learn to reverse! 😉
May 12, 2017 @ 5:27 pm
Living in Cornwall we all know how difficult it can be driving around the county on our lanes. The answer is drive a little slower and be patient. Most people give a smile and a wave if you give way and vice versa. July and August is particularly busy I usually visit the quieter places off the beaten track and get back to the beaches before or after this busy period. Welcome the Emmets, live and let live and enjoy life. Monty Python sums it up Always look on the bright side of life.
May 13, 2017 @ 6:00 am
Couldn’t agree more, we live in such an incredible place, of course everyone wants to visit us. 🙂
May 12, 2017 @ 5:27 pm
Living in Cornwall we all know how difficult it can be driving around the county on our lanes. The answer is drive a little slower and be patient. Most people give a smile and a wave if you give way and vice versa. July and August is particularly busy I usually visit the quieter places off the beaten track and get back to the beaches before or after this busy period. Welcome the Emmets, live and let live and enjoy life. Monty Python sums it up Always look on the bright side of life.
May 13, 2017 @ 6:00 am
Couldn’t agree more, we live in such an incredible place, of course everyone wants to visit us. 🙂
May 12, 2017 @ 5:27 pm
Living in Cornwall we all know how difficult it can be driving around the county on our lanes. The answer is drive a little slower and be patient. Most people give a smile and a wave if you give way and vice versa. July and August is particularly busy I usually visit the quieter places off the beaten track and get back to the beaches before or after this busy period. Welcome the Emmets, live and let live and enjoy life. Monty Python sums it up Always look on the bright side of life.
May 13, 2017 @ 6:00 am
Couldn’t agree more, we live in such an incredible place, of course everyone wants to visit us. 🙂
May 12, 2017 @ 6:59 pm
Get a LandRover Defender, preferably about 15 years old with all the front, rear and side protectors. Then see how fast BMWs, Mercedes, etc can go backwards in narrow lanes, especially here on Dartmoor!
May 13, 2017 @ 5:58 am
My sister used to have a little swb landy, great cars. Held together with rust, rivets and sheer bloody mindedness!
May 12, 2017 @ 6:59 pm
Get a LandRover Defender, preferably about 15 years old with all the front, rear and side protectors. Then see how fast BMWs, Mercedes, etc can go backwards in narrow lanes, especially here on Dartmoor!
May 13, 2017 @ 5:58 am
My sister used to have a little swb landy, great cars. Held together with rust, rivets and sheer bloody mindedness!
May 13, 2017 @ 4:33 am
Thanks for the memories this brought back of my cousin and I, Yankees through and through, making our way to our ancestral village of Wendron a few years back. I guess we should be grateful our great-grandfather came from inland and not one of those darling “PortWenn” coastal villages….but Wendron was challenge enough. Getting there and exploring, we encountered plenty of those tiny lanes where flowers nodded at the car roof on both sides–flowers rooted in STONE walls. And lay-bys were almost nonexistent.
But we loved Cornwall and decided our great-grandfather would never have left for America if there’d been more of a market for his stonemasonry at home…or his mother’d had fewer children.
We found Wendron church –it dates to Norman times–amazing, and there’s a knight or knightish person lying under the floor there who’s been there 700 years or so and is probably among our relatives. And at the pub near the church, we’d no sooner gotten in line for the bar than we heard American voices ahead of us saying “I DO wish we could have found Joan Pryor!”
I looked at Janet and she looked at me. We’d been searching parish records et al online for months before our Cornwall trip — trying to find the marriage of our two great-greats, one of whom was named Joan Pryor.
Trouble seems to be that c. 1790, every other female child in Wendron parish was named Joan Pryor. But we made nice new friends in that bar. And other, wonderful new friends I’d made doing online genealogy drove us all over mid-Cornwall and then brought us back to tea at their stone cottage. We’re still in touch.
Our only disappointment was searching every plot of that blessed Wendron churchyard for our great-great grandparents’ graves, to no avail….and then, on our last day, over maps in Truro, with no time to go back to Wendron, learning that there was ANOTHER churchyard beyond the wall across the road.
And now I’m 86 and too old to drive even in Dorset (where I have other ancestry) or Yorkshire (ditto), let alone in Cornwall.
But I’ve got wonderful memories from all three counties. Great-great-grandparents, rest in peace.
May 13, 2017 @ 4:33 am
Thanks for the memories this brought back of my cousin and I, Yankees through and through, making our way to our ancestral village of Wendron a few years back. I guess we should be grateful our great-grandfather came from inland and not one of those darling “PortWenn” coastal villages….but Wendron was challenge enough. Getting there and exploring, we encountered plenty of those tiny lanes where flowers nodded at the car roof on both sides–flowers rooted in STONE walls. And lay-bys were almost nonexistent.
But we loved Cornwall and decided our great-grandfather would never have left for America if there’d been more of a market for his stonemasonry at home…or his mother’d had fewer children.
We found Wendron church –it dates to Norman times–amazing, and there’s a knight or knightish person lying under the floor there who’s been there 700 years or so and is probably among our relatives. And at the pub near the church, we’d no sooner gotten in line for the bar than we heard American voices ahead of us saying “I DO wish we could have found Joan Pryor!”
I looked at Janet and she looked at me. We’d been searching parish records et al online for months before our Cornwall trip — trying to find the marriage of our two great-greats, one of whom was named Joan Pryor.
Trouble seems to be that c. 1790, every other female child in Wendron parish was named Joan Pryor. But we made nice new friends in that bar. And other, wonderful new friends I’d made doing online genealogy drove us all over mid-Cornwall and then brought us back to tea at their stone cottage. We’re still in touch.
Our only disappointment was searching every plot of that blessed Wendron churchyard for our great-great grandparents’ graves, to no avail….and then, on our last day, over maps in Truro, with no time to go back to Wendron, learning that there was ANOTHER churchyard beyond the wall across the road.
And now I’m 86 and too old to drive even in Dorset (where I have other ancestry) or Yorkshire (ditto), let alone in Cornwall.
But I’ve got wonderful memories from all three counties. Great-great-grandparents, rest in peace.
May 13, 2017 @ 5:56 am
Brilliant story and I love your description of flower heads nodding at the roof of cars. So perfect. I’m glad my article brought back good memories!
May 13, 2017 @ 6:54 am
Brilliant! You didn’t mention that a Cornish “hedge” is a type of drystone wall and not very forgiving if hit or the rural roads with grass growing down the centre ….
And this applies to the majority of villages along the British coastline… park and walk …. trust us: you’ll enjoy it more!
May 13, 2017 @ 6:54 am
Brilliant! You didn’t mention that a Cornish “hedge” is a type of drystone wall and not very forgiving if hit or the rural roads with grass growing down the centre ….
And this applies to the majority of villages along the British coastline… park and walk …. trust us: you’ll enjoy it more!
May 13, 2017 @ 6:54 am
Brilliant! You didn’t mention that a Cornish “hedge” is a type of drystone wall and not very forgiving if hit or the rural roads with grass growing down the centre ….
And this applies to the majority of villages along the British coastline… park and walk …. trust us: you’ll enjoy it more!
May 13, 2017 @ 6:54 am
Brilliant! You didn’t mention that a Cornish “hedge” is a type of drystone wall and not very forgiving if hit or the rural roads with grass growing down the centre ….
And this applies to the majority of villages along the British coastline… park and walk …. trust us: you’ll enjoy it more!
May 13, 2017 @ 12:55 pm
I think it’s the same in any tourist area. I used to have an old VW Type 2 bay window camper – the same as those normally depicted with a clutch of surf boards on the roof. The front bumper resembled a white iron girder – if it got scraped I had a can of paint at the ready. I never had any problems!
May 13, 2017 @ 12:55 pm
I think it’s the same in any tourist area. I used to have an old VW Type 2 bay window camper – the same as those normally depicted with a clutch of surf boards on the roof. The front bumper resembled a white iron girder – if it got scraped I had a can of paint at the ready. I never had any problems!
May 13, 2017 @ 2:03 pm
I do not know whether to smirk or just laugh. I must admit I cheat and use the train/bus/size 12 feet when I’m in Cornwall. But my cynical laugh is because I live on the Hereford/Welsh border where the lanes are similar, lots of lovely right angled blind bends but we are infested with Mumsies driving the spare farm truck – a thumping great Nissan, Mitsu or Volvo – to take the children to school. One sweet little thing sits on a cushion to see out of the windscreen and can’t reverse at all. Another attaches blocks to the pedals as her dumpy little legs can’t reach. So you see driving the school bus I’m well trained in idiocy. How is Padstein these days?
May 13, 2017 @ 2:03 pm
I do not know whether to smirk or just laugh. I must admit I cheat and use the train/bus/size 12 feet when I’m in Cornwall. But my cynical laugh is because I live on the Hereford/Welsh border where the lanes are similar, lots of lovely right angled blind bends but we are infested with Mumsies driving the spare farm truck – a thumping great Nissan, Mitsu or Volvo – to take the children to school. One sweet little thing sits on a cushion to see out of the windscreen and can’t reverse at all. Another attaches blocks to the pedals as her dumpy little legs can’t reach. So you see driving the school bus I’m well trained in idiocy. How is Padstein these days?
May 13, 2017 @ 2:03 pm
I do not know whether to smirk or just laugh. I must admit I cheat and use the train/bus/size 12 feet when I’m in Cornwall. But my cynical laugh is because I live on the Hereford/Welsh border where the lanes are similar, lots of lovely right angled blind bends but we are infested with Mumsies driving the spare farm truck – a thumping great Nissan, Mitsu or Volvo – to take the children to school. One sweet little thing sits on a cushion to see out of the windscreen and can’t reverse at all. Another attaches blocks to the pedals as her dumpy little legs can’t reach. So you see driving the school bus I’m well trained in idiocy. How is Padstein these days?
May 13, 2017 @ 4:10 pm
Doubt we would have too much difficulty as we get plenty of practice living on the Norfolk Broads . We don’t have car parks though just a drainage dyke system so if you get out at the wrong place you can get very wet.
May 13, 2017 @ 4:10 pm
Doubt we would have too much difficulty as we get plenty of practice living on the Norfolk Broads . We don’t have car parks though just a drainage dyke system so if you get out at the wrong place you can get very wet.
May 13, 2017 @ 4:10 pm
Doubt we would have too much difficulty as we get plenty of practice living on the Norfolk Broads . We don’t have car parks though just a drainage dyke system so if you get out at the wrong place you can get very wet.
Obstacles on the road | Neil Cox Hypnotherapy | North Cornwall
May 13, 2017 @ 4:49 pm
[…] Let’s face it life can get pretty much discouraging at times can’t it. Every time it happens we wonder if we will get by the next situation. For a bit of light hearted reading I always love to remind myself about this blog about driving in Cornwall […]
Obstacles on the road | Neil Cox Hypnotherapy | North Cornwall
May 13, 2017 @ 4:49 pm
[…] Let’s face it life can get pretty much discouraging at times can’t it. Every time it happens we wonder if we will get by the next situation. For a bit of light hearted reading I always love to remind myself about this blog about driving in Cornwall […]
May 13, 2017 @ 8:26 pm
Please, if you need a 4×4 with double cab, a trailer or caravan and worse still, a roofbox… try to remember that your Chelsea Tractor is not the same as ours.
If you look around inside the cockpit of your Jumbo sized vehicle, you may find that you’ve got more than you paid for. Amazingly, the likes of BMW Porsche & Lexus have included a free set of indicator’s.
If you could try to locate these before you hit the Tamar, learn what clever functions these freebies do, you may find that we will only hate with with a passion usually reserved for Ginsters, rather than Dewdneys carrot laden monstrosities.
We thank you in advance and ask that due to brexit, you get your currency exchange sorted promptly. Your English Pounds are only worth 0.78 Cornish Groats, do don’t even think of buying a second home down here.
May 13, 2017 @ 8:26 pm
Please, if you need a 4×4 with double cab, a trailer or caravan and worse still, a roofbox… try to remember that your Chelsea Tractor is not the same as ours.
If you look around inside the cockpit of your Jumbo sized vehicle, you may find that you’ve got more than you paid for. Amazingly, the likes of BMW Porsche & Lexus have included a free set of indicator’s.
If you could try to locate these before you hit the Tamar, learn what clever functions these freebies do, you may find that we will only hate with with a passion usually reserved for Ginsters, rather than Dewdneys carrot laden monstrosities.
We thank you in advance and ask that due to brexit, you get your currency exchange sorted promptly. Your English Pounds are only worth 0.78 Cornish Groats, do don’t even think of buying a second home down here.
May 13, 2017 @ 8:26 pm
Please, if you need a 4×4 with double cab, a trailer or caravan and worse still, a roofbox… try to remember that your Chelsea Tractor is not the same as ours.
If you look around inside the cockpit of your Jumbo sized vehicle, you may find that you’ve got more than you paid for. Amazingly, the likes of BMW Porsche & Lexus have included a free set of indicator’s.
If you could try to locate these before you hit the Tamar, learn what clever functions these freebies do, you may find that we will only hate with with a passion usually reserved for Ginsters, rather than Dewdneys carrot laden monstrosities.
We thank you in advance and ask that due to brexit, you get your currency exchange sorted promptly. Your English Pounds are only worth 0.78 Cornish Groats, do don’t even think of buying a second home down here.
May 13, 2017 @ 10:00 pm
Liz – planners don’t decide to put mini roundabouts at road junctions – highway engineers do. I’m one confusing us with planners is a pretty bad insult!
Nick
PS don’t blame me for the junctions in your neck of the woods – I live and work in Hertfordshire.
May 13, 2017 @ 10:00 pm
Liz – planners don’t decide to put mini roundabouts at road junctions – highway engineers do. I’m one confusing us with planners is a pretty bad insult!
Nick
PS don’t blame me for the junctions in your neck of the woods – I live and work in Hertfordshire.
May 15, 2017 @ 7:24 am
Before WW1 my grandfather was a doctor in Lostwithiel. When he visited his patients in Polperro he would back his car down into the village so that he could get out again. Apparently his car was the first one registered with a Cornish number plate YY1
May 15, 2017 @ 7:24 am
Before WW1 my grandfather was a doctor in Lostwithiel. When he visited his patients in Polperro he would back his car down into the village so that he could get out again. Apparently his car was the first one registered with a Cornish number plate YY1
May 15, 2017 @ 7:24 am
Before WW1 my grandfather was a doctor in Lostwithiel. When he visited his patients in Polperro he would back his car down into the village so that he could get out again. Apparently his car was the first one registered with a Cornish number plate YY1