All our B&B's have been really good
so far, and this one is no exception. This is the first one without
a bath, but we've just struck lucky up until now. The only slight
fly in the ointment is an intermittent problem with the toilet flush.
In the night I can't get it to work at all – I can't bother our
hostess at that hour – oh dear, this doesn't bode well for the
morning. At breakfast our lovely hostess is extremely apologetic,and
gets on the phone to “my plumber”. She
reveals that “recently some people have had difficulty
with that flush button'' and
adds that it broke a while ago and she fixed it with superglue. Time
for a new flush button I think.
From the front,
this B&B looks like an ordinary bungalow – at the rear there is
a huge garden with rolling lawns. Our hostess June keeps 4 labradors
which she has trained as working dogs (to accompany a shoot). They
are in superb condition. June is obviously very passionate about
whatever she does – she tells us she and her husband retired here
from the South East, where she worked for the Care Quality Commission
and inspected care homes. June relates one particular gruesome
inspection to us, & how she demanded that the home be closed down
immediately – only to have her boss overrule her because “we
can't shut it down, it's a county council care home.” Special
measures were introduced instead. The press never got hold of that
one.
We see June's
husband briefly but he doesn't even greet us until I say good morning
to him. June reveals that he has nothing to do with the B&B
work. Even though she has fractured some tiny bones in her hand
when the corner of a mattress fell on it, he still doesn't help. June
is obviously unhappy about this.
“I'm thinking of hiring some help
in the mornings.”
I wonder if her
husband's lack of interest in the B&B business is one of the
reasons June enjoys the company of guests.
Our delicious
cooked breakfast sets us up for the day. We thank June and we are
off once more with our filled flasks safely ensconced in our pannier
bags. The flasks are a must if we want a
cuppa at lunchtime – and we can just
stop when we are ready.
We cycle back up to Bodmin Moor, to a
different part this time; still very hilly today. Once we get off
the moor and are crossing a main road we spot a pub – hey,
cappuccino! Reg has his usual green tea – more and more pubs and
cafés
are stocking it now. We can sit in the pub garden with our
bikes against the fence beside us. Also, the landlord makes us
sandwiches for lunchtime – this is fortunate as we don't see any
other pubs or shops before we stop for lunch about 2.00 pm.
During the morning we cross the border
into Devon – hurray, we are slowly making our way northwards! We
are to discover though that Devon is just as hilly as Cornwall,
though some of the hills are more long than steep. This is now our
fourth day of cycling in extremely hilly terrain, We are both quite
tired and looking forward to a rest day in Tiverton on Saturday. My
knees and my bum both need a break.
We sit eating our lunch on a grassy
mound near the junction of 2 tiny minor country roads. Within
minutes 2 tractors are hurtling past us in opposite directions –
Arlie, you would have been entranced!
There are a lot more downhills this
afternoon, but there are some uphills. As we reach the summit of one
hill, we are totally amazed to see a little wooden hut café,
with picnic style seating on a grassy area next to it. What's more,
it's open! Fantastic! I have an ice-cream, and we both enjoy a
cuppa- and the man behind the counter kindly refills our flasks. I
can't resist buying a piece of coffee cake for later. The man who
runs the café wraps it up
carefully and says he doesn't think it will travel well in my
panniers. But I produce my little plastic foodbox and I think he's
quite impressed.
I
ask the café owner if business is good, as it's very off the beaten
track. He says unfortunately no, and he's only been doing it for a
year; he's had to borrow money from his daughter to keep going. The
2 previous owners gave up because the café wasn't making any money.
He says he'll make a decision later in the year whether or not to
give up.
The
man is probably late 50's and has an air of sadness about him.
“I
needed something to occupy me,” he
says, rather whimsically. Is he widowed? Divorced? Recently retired
from another job? I ask him if he advertises the café – he says
no. The area of grass in front of the café is about the size of a
large garden.
“What
about getting some play equipment?” I
ask. But I somehow get the impression he's already decided to close.
There
are two other touring cyclists enjoying a cuppa – one is from Bath.
They are camping so have even more luggage than us!
We
ride for a couple of miles along a cycle track which is unfortunately
very gravelly -it gets worse as we progress. Although we have
puncture-resistant tyres we are glad to get off the track for the
last leg of our journey. Reg decides to change the route slightly and
travel along the main road, as this will cut hills off our journey.
Eventually
we reach the quaint little town of Hatherleigh. Our B&B is at the
top of the main street. We spot a pub called The George Inn, and Reg
pops in to book up for our evening meal as we definitely do not want
to cycle out again for our meal tonight. We walk our bikes up the
arrow hill up to our B&B - “Millie's House”. What is it with
some of our B&B's being at the top of very steep inclines?!
“Millie's
House” is a terraced property, and not that big. We receive a
really warm welcome, and squash our bike's into the narrow entrance
hall. Jilly (not Millie), the B&B owner, shows us to a lovely
room – and there's a bath!! How lucky is that!
Later
we have a good meal at the George Inn. The manager chats to us and
tells us that this premises had been a 16th
century listed building. In 2008 the chef was sacked for being drunk
at work, and he retaliated by burning the place down. It had a
thatched roof so went up like a tinder-box; the chef got 10 years in
prison for arson. The inn was rebuilt in 2011 at a cost of
£2,500,000.
Slowly
we walk up the arrow hill back to our B&B.
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