Jilly our hostess chats to us after breakfast; she has
decided to sell her B&B business, even though she's only been going a year,
as she needs the money from the sale of the property. She tells us she will be 60 this year, has run or owned
various businesses in the hospitality industry, but has very little money. She once owned a craft shop and has earrings
and silver jewellery displayed on a table near us. She doesn't try to sell them to us, but I ask
about them, and end up buying a couple of pairs as presents; they are small so
will travel easily.
Before we leave I tell Jilly she has the most amazing eyes.
“Have other people said that to you?”
She smiles warmly. “They have, actually – but not for a long
time! That's so kind of you to say. Sometimes people think nice things about
people but unfortunately don't say them.”
Now there's a lesson for us all.
We pop in the local Co-op to buy sandwiches; once again,
there may not be another shop along the route.
By now it's 11.00 am – we're really late leaving today.
We are travelling 30 miles, instead of our average of
40. It just worked out that way, as Reg
has planned for us to stay in Tiverton for 2 nights. Tomorrow (Saturday) is our first rest
day! That means relaxing over coffee,
finding the launderette, and trying to get our notebook computer fixed so that
I can post the blog.
It's brilliant that the distance is less; we are tired after
4 days of cycling in very hilly terrain, and there are more difficult hills
today. Many of the early-on uphill
stretches are just long rather than very steep, however, most of the time I'm
able to keep going. There are also some
lovely long downhills!
One very pleasant aspect of cycling this morning is that
there are hardly any cars. Not so good
is that there's been no shop or café either, so I've missed out on my morning
coffee.
When we stop for our lunch on a grassy verge outside a large
country house, it's 2.00 pm. We're just
finishing our lunch when 2 large friendly dogs bound up to us, followed by a
little troop of children on their bikes.
“Jethro! Come HERE!” calls one of the young boys, aged
about 10. The 2 dogs take no notice whatsoever, wagging their tales and nudging
us, and generally intruding on our picnic in a very exuberant way.
“Don't worry, they won't bite,” says the boy, “but
I am sorry that they've disturbed you.
We'll carry on & then they'll follow us.” The young lad has a very grown-up way of
speaking.
“What type of dogs are they?” I ask. They are quite large with tightly curled,
sandy coloured coats.
“Labradoodles. A cross between a labrador and a poodle.”
“And where are you all off to? asks Reg.
“To swim in the river,” pipes up one little girl. “I've got my costume on underneath this.”
The group of children cycle off with the dogs at their
heels. It reminds me of Enid Blyton's “Famous
Five”. And of a freedom children used to
have and no longer enjoy now – at least not in the city.
After lunch there are some very steep hills.
“I've lost the will to live,” I tell Reg, with a wry smile.
The last 3 miles of our journey is along a reasonably busy
main road; however it is more or less downhill all the way, and there is no
stopping me. Being a main road, the
surface is reasonably good – on many of the minor roads, we are looking out for
potholes all the time. There is a real
exhilaration in travelling downhill fast.
I should mention sat-nav lady at this point. The many hours Reg spent programming in the
route have paid off. Sat-nav lady has
been brilliant, and combined with Reg's electronic maps, we've been able to
find our way,
We arrive at the bottom of a ½ mile long lane which leads up
to several properties; it's a steep
incline, and our B&B is at the top.
However, when we get there, we find a house set in the most breathtaking
garden with a huge lawn and flowering bushes – there's an air of peace and
tranquillity.
“This is beautiful,” I breathe, and already know we
will love it here.
We have trouble getting the owners to hear us – apparently everyone uses the back
door to the premises and the owners were round the back. They introduce themselves as Martin and
Louise, Martin puts our bikes into the
garage and then shows us to our room, inviting us to come downstairs for a
cuppa when we've settled in.
The room is beautiful, with extensive views over that
astonishing garden. There are home-made cookies in a jar. Cyclists are always grateful to find biscuits
in their room, though this is a rare occurrence!
We meet some other guests over a cuppa downstairs. We are grateful to our hosts, who have gone
the extra mile to make our stay enjoyable.
The nearest good pub (The Trout Inn at Bickleigh) is a few miles away;
when I phoned Louise earlier in the day to confirm we were on our way, she
offered to give us a lift to the pub, &we could get a taxi back.
We enjoy an excellent meal with brilliant service. A day off tomorrow!
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