May 27th - May 31st
May 27th Phil starts work and tells me how to treat the ankle  Meeting a North Tawton artist  With Phil Hancock (and the walking stick John Wray made me) |
Phil Hancock to the rescueWe woke to rain, again. And I could barely walk. The ankle had been painful in the night, and I have to admit that I was very worried. There was no way I could walk the 13 miles to Bow and North Tawton that had been planned. Caroline and Neil Harvey offered to take me there. There wasn`t a bus, but they consoled me by saying that this wasn`t an extra journey for them: they were going to look at a "Green" boiler, and would have made the journey anyway. And as someone said later, perhaps the "Green" boiler will save so many CO2 emissions that it will more than offset those made on this journey. After taking photographs of John`s paintings , and those of Jill Cronk - and having a quick lunch - it was time to say goodbye to the Wrays. John had gone out into his garden and made me a walking stick, which was a great help and may feature in photographs to come. We arrived at Nichols Nymet House that afternoon, home of Muriel and Paul Goodman and their two children, Emma and Charles. My ankle was badly swollen and although I tried to sound positive I was very worried. Would the whole walk have to be abandoned? Muriel had not long been awake after working nights (as well as running a bed and breakfast business with her husband Paul, she is also a midwife, and a bespoke picture framer), but she gave us all a cup of tea. When Caroline and Neil had gone, I went with Muriel over to Phil Hancock`s to pick up Charles, Muriel and Paul`s 14 year old son. He had been playing squash with Phil and his son. I wanted to see Phil so that I could thank him in person for my Country Guardian Pole shirts and baseball caps. As soon as he saw me limping, Phil rushed me into his house and set to work on my ankle. Are all wind farm objectors multi-talented? As well as running Splash Clothing, Phil has a talent for treating injuries, and while I was at North Tawton he worked miracles on my ankle. I can`t thank him enough, as I doubt that I would have been able to continue otherwise. Back at Nichols Nymet House I met an artist who lives at North Tawton. Her name is Deborah and she works at a gallery in Honition, and wanted to put something in a an Arts newsletter about my walk. We had an interesting chat (I kept my foot up, see photo) and then it was time for supper, smoked salmon and salad, very delicious. After a good session with ice and hot water bottles on the ankle, I fianlly went to bed with a PDJames bok that Muriel had given me to read, and had a good night`s sleep. |
May 28th Peeling potatoes with Diana, Paul`s mother  Meeting with members of the Den Brook Committee |
Sunday - a busy dayClick on the link above for more photos!Quick notes here: No walking but a very busy day, filmed with my walking stick (more to come about that later), more physio with Phil, plus Sunday dinner of roast pork, carrots, peas, apple sauce, gravy and the best roast potates I have ever eaten (except the last time I stayed at Nichols Nymet house) Also in the evening lots of hot and cold treatment on the ankle, and a chance to write up some of this diary in an email to my home address.. |
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Paul Goodman`s Birthday and another busy day but no walkingHappy Birthday to Paul
Goodman. It was Paul`s birthday and I was very kindly asked to
join in a family outing to Morwenstow where I had lunch with Muriel,
Paul, Diana (Paul`s mother) Emma and Charles. They went for a walk
while I rested my ankle in the car. Although it was dry, it was still
windy and cold.
On the way there we made a
surprise visit to Sue and Pete`s, my hosts from the previous week - it
was great seeing them again.
Back at North Tawton there was
another trip to Phil`s for treatment, and the ankle looked virtually
better, although Phil said I should take it easy still, so reluctantly
I decided to bus to Okehampton the next day, and only walk the last
five
miles. Phil told us it was his birthday on the 30th so we wished him a
happy birthday in advance too.
Suddenly it was a beautiful
evening. I had arranged to stay the night with Maureen Thomson,
Chairman of the Den Brook group, and just got to her house in tme to go
out with her to Sampford Courtney for a very interesting meeting with
the local Historical Society. We went to a tiny church at Honeychurch
and then back to Sampford Courtney for a talk about the Prayer Book
Rebellion (more about this if I get time).Infuriatingly I left my
camera behind - it was such a golden evening, with the countryside
and villages basked in the evening sunshine.
Back at Maureen`s house we had a
late supper and I had a bottle of my favourite beer. I also met
her lovely dog Jack, and her two cats.
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May 30th Arriving on horseback  The Barbecue  With Geoff Cox MP |
Arriving on horseback.Bus to Okehampton and walk out
from Okehampton to stay with Mel and Ray who live only 675 metres from
the site of the proposed Yelland Farm turbines. These turbines will be
on the ridge of a hill facing Meldon Viaduct and Yes Tor, and if they
are given the go ahead the will change the character of this area
completely.
I managed to walk most of the
way, but it wasn`t easy as my ankle was still stiff. Thankfully,
William a twenty year old cob came to my rescue, and I was able to
arrive in style at my destination.
More about this visit to come in
a couple of days, including hopefully more photos of me riding my new
friend William.
The climax of the day was a barbecue in Mel and Ray`s garden, where despite a chilly wind a good crowd of supporters came along. We were also very pleased that Geoff Cox the local MP came along, and spoke strongly in our support. He said he was especially concerned about the damage these industrial wind turbines can do to rural comminities in Devon.. More updates coming, meanwhile we hear the actors are rehearsing hard. Don`t forget to book your
tickets for The Wind Thing!
We heard the news that the developers are appealing the decision to refuse the turbines at the Den Brook valley - very depressing for those who have campaigned so hard against this application.. |
May 31st Mel, looking at the turbine site, with Yes Tor in the background.  Ray, with William |
Looking at the area, and riding William againThis day was spent in the locality as planned. I had hoped to walk around the site, but my ankle was still aching, so it was wiser to to rest it. I did however do some more riding. Mel and I rode up to Bowerland Cross to meet a photographer, to highlight the dangers of crossing the road there when on horseback. Later, Mel took me out for a drive to see the site from various viewpoints (riding was not an option for this, as it meant using several busy main roads to get there). Connie, Mel`s mother, and George, the poodle, came as well. We went to Meldon, looking back, and then to the other side of the site, where as you can see from the photograph the view across to Yes Tor would be changed drastically. That evening, we relaxed and ate barbecue leftovers: chili with rice, salad and also red wine, followed by choc ices. Back |
