Jogle Blogle – Day 63

Warning – this Blogle may drip on the floor. Apologies for the blurry image above, it was hurriedly snapped through a film of water!

In the Jogler’s opinion there is nothing more miserable than trudging along through incessant rain. Day 63 was to be such a time. It was reminiscent of the beginnings of the trek up near John O’Groats, but now that he was on the final approach to Land’s End he had been hoping for something rather better. It was not to be. If there was to be any consolation, however minor, at least the rain was warm.

Feeling magnanimous now that the end was in sight (the Jogle is set to end on Day 65) he treated the Jogleress to breakfast at the local Morrison’s, but even munching their way through a multipack of granola bars did little to raise the spirits.

 

 

 

 

Splashing out of Newquay the Jogler briefly considered running away to join the circus, but Sue talked him out of it as they had both left their unicycles at home.

 

 

 

 

They floated by a rather nice thatched Cornish pub, with the usual smuggling reference. Depressingly it was shut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another common Cornish theme – everywhere sells award winning pasties, but as they sloshed by and having only recently consumed enough fibre to line the bottom of your average rabbit hutch neither were hungry enough to put the claim to the test.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later however, hunched against the torrent, as the driving rain became horizontal they were forced into a pit stop at Perranporth golf club for tea and a slice of cake in a vain (and largely unsuccessful) attempt to lighten the mood

 

 

 

 

 

The Jogler only deigned to take a few soggy snaps (never have Blogle HQ received such a paucity of photographic evidence throughout the duration of the Jogle) as the pair squelched despondently toward Portreath, their overnight stop where they would attempt to dry out before repeating the exercise tomorrow. And if that, dear reader, plays on your heart strings enough, then please consider donating to Steve’s chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, on his ‘just giving’ link at http://bit.ly/2Tzmjwi

Today’s stats are rather damp, but I have wrung them out as best as I could. Join them again on Day 64 for which the forecast is sadly similar.

Mileage: 21.2    Total: 1145.7

Steps: 45,780    Total: 2,349,105

Time taken: 7 soaking hours 55 drenched minutes and five drowned seconds

Jogle Blogle – Day 62

Did you just read Day 61’s account of my brother’s marathon trek? That’s right, you’re not mistaken – there are two posts today as we endeavour here on the Blogle to catch up with the real time events of the Jogle. As you already know we’re always at least a day behind here at Blogle HQ as we wait for the Jogler to relay his account of the day’s events (and then extensively re-write it because quite frankly it does get a bit ‘dry’). No honestly, you ought to see some of the stuff I get sent here it’s enough to make you…

…Oh sorry, did I drop off again?

Anyway, here we go again. Ready for a bit of alliteration? Praise please to Peter and Pam at Padstow – o.k. that’s enough of that – they run the B & B where the Jogler and Jogleress overnighted. Generously they donated to Macmillan Cancer Support on Steve’s ‘just giving’ page at http://bit.ly/2Tzmjwi  on this charity walk from John O’Groats to Land’s End.

It’s a bit cloudier today on Day 62, but still quite humid. The Jogleress is very excited. This is where she spent her happy holibobs as a child way, way, way back when God’s dog was a puppy. So expect lots of beach type piccies today then.

They passed the Padstow lifeboat station at Trevose Head. It was built in 1823 and now houses the Spirit of Padstow, a Tamar-class lifeboat. 

Also they skirted Booby’s Bay – now I knew that would make you prick your ears up and no, I don’t know if they allow topless bathing. Honestly, you lot! Minds like sewers! But look here on the sign. Don’t do this, don’t do that. And beware of submerged metal objects in the red marked area! What the..? Is there a left over U-boat lurking about out there. Just tell them the war’s over for heavens sake.

Where are we now? Ah, Porthcothan. No wonder the Jogleress is looking at home. Apparently this is where her nan and grandad used to caravan back in the day. By the way Sue, you look so much better without Steve’s pants on your head. (See Day 61 if you missed that particular reference)

Finally into Newquay and another B & B where proprietor Sally was so impressed with the endeavour that she thrust a tenner into the Jogler’s sweaty palm which will be donated to the cause.

Today’s stats-

Miles: 17.8          Total: 1,124.5

Steps: 40,303      Total: 2,303,325

Time taken: 7 hours 11 minutes and 23 seconds

Jogle Blogle – Day 61

Come on then you lot, up and at ‘em. Only five days to go.

What’s that? You can’t because you’ve got a hurty what? Oh really? Well never mind, rub some cream on it, you’re holding the rest of us up. Pardon? You can’t because of what? Look stop being a baby. You don’t hear the Jogler moaning do you? And he’s actually walking, you’re only reading about it let’s face it, so get your skates on. Well I’ve no doubt it is chafing, but honestly it’s not that far to go now. That’s the spirit. Did I tell you that I’ve had nipple rash since day 33? Itches like hell, but you don’t hear me complain do you? O.k? Well catch up in a minute or two, I can’t keep everyone else hanging about can I?

Hi folks, sorry about the little contretemps there, but welcome to Day 61 of this guided tour from John O’Groats to Land’s End.

Setting out from Tintagel the Jogler and Jogleress passed by the graveyard and a warning that poisonous snakes may see you added to the congregation. Incidentally, talking of venomous wriggly things and religion, did you know that two creatures were left on the ark after The Flood? Yes, really. When Noah asked them why they hadn’t disembarked they replied, ‘we can’t. You told us to go out and multiply, but we’re Adders.’ I know, I know, the old ones are the best!

A first Poldark reference. I’m reliably informed that Sue is disappointed not to have seen any bare chested Cornishmen yet.

 

 

 

 

In Port Issac they came across the traditional Cornish pastime of community ironing – on the beach.

 

 

 

At the Lazy Days Cafe the owners generously gave the pair a free meal to support the cause. Steve will add the money saved to his ‘just giving’ page in support of Macmillan Cancer Support at http://bit.ly/2Tzmjwi

Incidentally, that fund has just crept over the £8000 mark. Don’t forget that Steve was aiming for £10k and there’s not long to get your donations in now folks if you would care to contribute.

 

 

It was a 2 minute chug across the river mouth to their overnight stop in Padstow.

Out for a drink in the evening and a look into an establishment owned by a certain Mr Stein. Pardon? No, not Frank N – the other one, @Rick_Stein 

As we’re coming close to the end of my brother’s charity walk, in an effort to allow the Blogle to catch up with the Jogle this is the first of two posts today, so keep an eye out folks, there will be another along very shortly.

Stats of the day-

Mileage: 18.6    Total: 1106.7

Steps: 37,205     Total: 2,263,022

Time taken: 6 hours 30 minutes and 13 seconds

Jogle Blogle – Days 58 & 59

Coastal scenery. Nice if you can get it. And Steve and Sue can! In bucketloads. Or in spades if you like. Well, they are at the seaside.

Leaving Hartland Quay on Day 58 of my brother’s little saunter from John O’Groats to Land’s End and still on the South West Coastal Path they were able to snap some great views on their next leg of the journey into Bude. Finally getting to Cornwall was going to be such a momentous occasion that the Jogler and Jogleress would award themselves another rest day on Day 59.

Once again, Steve, as proof of his schooling many, many years ago will tell you that these rock serrations are evidence of wave cut platforms. Take no notice – he’s just showing off.

 

It’s been extremely hilly along the way. Not only has the Jogler (and the Jogleress) done the 3 peaks on his journey south but this southernmost route has had its fair share of ups and downs as well.

 

 

 

They crossed the border from Devon into Cornwall unchallenged. No passports, no visas, no nothing. But don’t worry bro – I think they knew you were coming.

The view down into Bude itself was a pleasant sight. Rest and beer were waiting.

If you would like to donate to Steve’s chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support and find out his reasons for doing so, the ‘just giving’ link is http://bit.ly/2Tzmjwi  Only a few days left now folks.

Stats for the day were:

Mileage: 15.1    Total: 1067.1

Steps: 34,712     Total: 2,175,237

Time taken: 7 hours 23 minutes and 18 seconds

Jogle Blogle – Day 57

How about yesterday, eh? Two Blogles for the price of one. What? You missed the second one? Well you’d better go back and read it before you read this then. It was funny even if I do say so myself. It made Heather Jenkins laugh anyway, she wrote and told me so. Keep an eye out, you never know when we might double up again. You wouldn’t want to miss one now would you?

Day 57 of the Jogle dawned a bit more on the cloudy side. Indeed even by the time the Jogler and Jogleress had roused themselves to continue from Westard Ho! to Hartland Quay it was still a bit on the cloudy side and stayed that way for much of the day.

 

By the way, if you do fancy a des res in these parts this shed is quite reasonably priced at £22,000. Cheap at half the price!

 

 

 

They followed the South West Coastal Path into Peppercomb and from there through Buck’s and Keivill’s Woods.

It’s also quite hilly around here as this view down into Clovelly shows. And theduo descended into the picturesque village for lunch, no doubt envying the locals who had sledges available to traverse the cobbles. Also they were faced with quite a dilemma, church or pub. I’ll leave you, dear reader, to decide which one they chose.

Replete, a bit squiffy and content (oops, bit of a spoiler there!) they ambled through Stoke and – hang on guys have we taken a wrong turn somewhere? Oh, there’s more than one ‘Stoke’ apparently. And keen on duplication they spotted yet another peacock and nominated it as wildlife of the day. Now technically I’m not sure – is that not a peahen? Dunno, but I dare say you lot will put me right.

Eventually they strode purposely into Hartland Quay (Yes, well they stepped up the pace from the amble through Stoke, obviously.) The historic Quay is… Pardon? How do I know it’s historic? The sign says so of course. Anyway, the place they were staying had been closed the week before as Netflix were filming a new version of Rebecca. Shame guys, a few days earlier and you could have been extras!

If you’d like to donate to Macmillan Cancer Support as Steve makes his way from John O’Groats to Land’s End, his ‘just giving ‘ link is http://bit.ly/2Tzmjwi

Stats for the day:

Mileage: 19.6      Total: 1052

Steps: 45,491       Total: 2,140,525

Time taken: 7 hours 57 minutes and 11 seconds

Jogle Blogle – Day 56

Not long to go now folks – make the most of the Blogle while you can, you just know that your life will be emptier without it. Only 10 days left and then you’ll all have to go back to doing whatever it was that passed for entertainment before my brother began his charity walk. If you do fancy donating by the way, his ‘just giving’ link is at http://bit.ly/2Tzmjwi  What is happening in Corrie by the way? Is Elsie Tanner back yet? And Crossroads – Benny is innocent, I’m sure of it!

Steve and Sue were a little late setting out. It appears that they’d attempted some laundry the night before (there are after all only so many times you can keep turning your socks and undercrackers inside out and back again before they simply get up and start walking themselves). Foolishly Steve – cocky because it hadn’t rained since Snowdon – left them to dry on the balcony. Guess what? That’s right, Sod’s Law I suppose. Nothing worse than soggy footwear!

And so they set out, rather uncomfortably bow-legged as they waited for the dampness to evaporate. The Jogler took a couple of snaps of Barnstable as he and the Jogleress left on Day 56. The bike stand was a relic of the Tour of Britain from last year. 

Another Millennium Marker, getting as common as muck these things. Out along the Tarka trail. Perhaps we’ll get to see an otter after all? But just in case, for now we’ll take this Little Egret as wildlife of the day.

Into another station turned cafe for a brew – this one at Fremington and then out onto Isley Marsh.

 

Another Millennium Marker, told you, common as – anyway that’s 4 now on this trip from John O’Groats to Land’s End, so only another 996 to go.

 

 

They stopped in Instow for lunch and then left past another railway relic, the old signal box.

They eschewed the new bridge into Bideford in favour of the old one and then – hang on is that a, look, just over there! No, the other way! Don’t shout like that, you’ll scare it off.

At last, wildlife worthy of the name. Who’d have thought we’d be so lucky as to see a – Oh, it’s a statue! Bugger! 

Oh well, let’s carry on, through Appledore’s colourful streets, past the redundant shipyard, along the seafront and eventually into the next overnight stop at Westward Ho! Yes you read it right – Westward Ho! for our visitors from abroad it’s the only town in England to have one third of a Christmas greeting in its name. Or something like that.

Here – have some stats:

Mileage: 16.9   Total: 1032.4

Steps: 35,987   Total: 2,095,034

Time taken: 5 hours 49 minutes and 10 seconds

Jogle Blogle – Day 34

Day 34. The Jogler set out from yet another AirBnB hosted by Andrew in Preston and walked a measly 11.2 miles. What!? That can’t be right can it? Is he actually walking from John O’Groats to Land’s End or just having a little wander about. Oh hang on, there’s another message coming through to Blogle HQ. Yes, his bloody route tracer thingy app looks to have broken down again and following that stroll he did a further 20.3 miles. 

Now far be it for me to complain but – stop sniggering over there, I’m a very unflappable person normally and – right, that’s it! You over there who’s gone puce in the face trying not to laugh, get out! And take your mate there with you. Yes that one! The one that’s doubled up laughing. Go on. I can wait…

Have they gone?

Good. Bloody cheek! Now as I was saying, I’m really not one to complain – it’s alright, I can wait for the muffled titters to subside – but this isn’t the first time his bloody route tracer thingy app has decided to split Steve’s journey into two without so much as a ‘by your leave.’ And you know what that means don’t you? Exactly! Here at heart of Blogling operations I have to do sums. As if I have time! Here I am providing serious journalistic commentary on this epic charity event for Macmillan Cancer Support (See link here http://bit.ly/2Tzmjwi ) and now I’m expected to do adding up as well! I ask you! It’s a good job that I don’t moan really, isn’t it?

Anyway, the Jogler crossed the River Ribble – Steve knew that because he studied it in ‘O’ level geography. Who says you don’t use what you’re taught in school? There’s a perfect example. O.k., it took nearly forty years, but there it is, the education system in all its glory. I wonder if he passed? As his brother I suppose that that’s the sort of thing I really ought to know.

 

 

 

Or perhaps was it this sign that gave the game away? We may never know. What was verified however was that Leyland did indeed build trucks. Here’s one.

And continuing the trucking theme, here’s a Whale tanker. Why is that important, well because they sponsor Steve on this little adventure. They have their logo on the tee shirt he hasn’t been able to wear until recently because it’s rained so bloody much.

 

More trucks as he crossed the M6. Where are we now Steve? Oh – Charnock Richard is it? Ah yes, there’s a view that I’m more familiar with.

 

 

Another one of those interminable ‘ice’ warning signs. Surprisingly little sign of the slippery stuff though, the Jogler reports.

 

 

 

He is however quite a fan now of pavements. Having done without through much of Scotland they appear now to be one of life’s little luxuries that the mid-point of his journey Jogler really appreciates.

 

 

 

So the stats: Let’s see. Add that to that, carry the one. Has pi got something to do with it or is it a burger? Divide by seven, add two because it’s Friday and take a wild guess. Oh, I don’t know – here are the maps.

 

 

 

Don’t Panic!

Don’t panic!

It’s all right after all!

The quarrying is finished!

‘Is it?‘ I hear you cheer in relief, ‘how on earth do you know?‘
Well if you remember they did a bit of scraping about a few months back, we thought it may be a test hole – but no; I’m very pleased to report that that was it! Quarry dug.

‘Now we know you’re raving – that chairman at the public meeting was right!‘ was not really the response I was looking for.

If you’ll listen for a few seconds longer than he did I’ll tell you how I know – and that is because they’ve moved straight on to phase II – the infilling phase, see the picture attached, that’s how I figured it out.

Pardon?
You know, I think you may have something there.
I never thought of that.
They don’t yet have approval to put material in there yet do they! How astute of you to notice.

You’re right, that’s what this application is all about, to get permission to dig stuff out and then to refill the hole they’ve made.

A bit premature then this pile of dirt and detritus, don’t you think?

Perhaps it’s something to do with the marina?

No, you’re spot on again – supposedly they’re not doing the marina now until after the quarry.

How strange!

Well surely they wouldn’t dump stuff in there only to go to the trouble of digging it out again when they (they’re hoping) get this ‘quarry‘ approved.
That would be a bit daft, wouldn’t it?

(sorry, I had to put quarry in italics  otherwise you may have thought I was taking their joke of an application seriously!)

I wonder how contaminated that stuff is? Have they tested it?

You what?
Yes, I saw the old car tyre at the bottom of the picture too. Nice of them to leave that littering the countryside.

You’d call it what?

Fly tipping?

Maybe you’re right.
Perhaps some of the various councils involved might want to look into that? It is illegal after all.
We wouldn’t want our proposed new neighbours to be breaking any rules before they’ve even moved in now, would we!?

Perhaps they had their mind on other things.

Perhaps they’d just got round to questioning the sense of their decision to put a big hole in a flood plain.
Now, now – stop laughing, we already knew it was a pathetic mistake.

Or how about this? Perhaps, just perhaps they have stopped to consider the ethics of digging a quarry in an area which was formally green belt land.

No, I doubt that too! Not when there’s money to be made.

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