Brigitte Travels – Quite A Bit!
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Tuesday 2 July 2013. Day 50.
Today is day fifty. Our fiftieth day away from VCD. Where oh where has the time gone? One seventh of a year has passed with us camped in our van in various parts of Europe. Pause for thought.
I’m up early today and as a consequence we are tucking into our breakfast well before dad returns from walking Lady. By the time he returns there is a steady but slow misty rainfall. He calls his golf pal Dennis and they agree to cancel today’s encounter. Niki and I get going with some shopping chores at Asda and then pop to Halfords where Ben proves his mettle at explaining bicycles to me. I’m sold on the idea of a hybrid but had no idea that a bicycle could need so much maintenance. With time an issue, we make our excuses and leave to head back to base for lunch.
A phone call from Jez confirms that he, Nic and Isaac have been ambushed in their own home by well-wishers and that they will not be visiting today. After lunch Niki and I are back on the road, to get a card for Barry – Happy Birthday – Estlick and to go to a Solicitor’s to get a notarised signature on Wedding certificates for Niki’s pension tidy up.
After posting Barry’s card we head back to the ranch. The rain is still persisting in that thin but irritating manner that ensures the back of your neck gets a real soaking. Indoors we have a discussion about pensions. This starts an in depth search around the internet and questions are fired off to a financial advisor.
We start to see the wood for the trees when we sit back and question what we have been told. Slowly a plan comes together. The only issue, we have hatched this plan before. Still this time it is happening. Get state pension entitlement up to the max. Assess how much the private pensions are worth. Cast around to see who has the best advice / offer with respect to this “pot”. Decide and action.
Before long, the womens matches in the quarter finals have been played and replayed on tv. Supper is served – roast pork chops. And you wonder why I am putting on weight?
Niki is off researching Ireland with gusto. My suggestion to check forums about Safe Camp Eire has informed her decision and with a ten euro investment, we have bought into the scheme. I sense a plan coming together.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Wednesday 3 July 2013. Day 51.
We are up early today. I am awake at six thirty and read in bed. Niki makes a cup of tea for us drink in the van. We are in the house and have breakfasted by half past eight with the iCrossword solved by eight forty five. It is now nine am and Niki has held a Skype conversation with Graham to discuss matters in Cyprus.
I am reading, knifing through emails and writing up these notes. It feels like a day to achieve things. Watching Andy Murray claw his way back to a five set victory over the left-hander Verdasco is inspiring.
I arrange to buy a set of tyres for Brigite from Allens, in anticipation of her MOT on Monday next. I call Barry to wish him well for his birthday. In a series of phone calls thereafter Barry obtains the spare parts we need to have Brigitte serviced. He visits Malcolm and Andrew Selwood and phones me back before handing over Andrew who arranges with me to have Brigitte in on Monday to service her and fit new front discs and pads. Barry’s access to trade prices has saved about one hundred pounds on the spare parts we need. Andrew Selwood charges a very reasonable thirty five pounds an hour for labour and estimates that the service should take about two hours. The brakes may take somewhat longer but these are very reasonable rates.
Niki too is hard at work. We disuss her pension arrangements and I make contact with a couple of local IFA’s.One of these has been previously employed by Royal and so is very familiar with the pension scheme that Niki has. My policy of taking soundings and yet more soundings seems to be working when we learn that Niki’s pension will, in two years, start to become payable. It looks as though we should do nothing with it other than wait to take the benefits as they start to flow, at that time.
We seem to be on something of a roll.
I decide that I need to confront the Toms brothers regarding Sarah’s car. It is something that should have been done sooner but given the health issues that we have had since we have been here – now is the moment. Niki and I go to their forecourt and wander along the impressive ranks of vehicles that they offer for sale. Shortly we are approached by a man who asks if he can help us. I ask him who he is and when he informs me that he is Andrew Thoms I tell him yes he can help me. I explain that Sarah bought a car from him and that perhaps he can recall Sarah and the car. He says that he cannot because they see so many people and sell so many cars.
He asks for the vehicle registration and says that he needs to go to an office to get details about the car. He comes back with two closely typed sheets of printed information which when I later ask him to share with me, he says that he will not.
We enter another “office” in a portable building where I state our case – the vehicle since Sarah took delivery, has been unreliable and despite their attempts to repair it remains unreliable. He take a position based on the length of time that Sarah has had the car and also the number of miles that the car has covered in that time.
We discuss the points and Mr Toms wants me to put our position to him in writing and says that he will reply in seven days. His brother Simon joins the conversation and says that they have spent much money and time on the car and when prompted by his brother, he to takes up the line about the length of time that Sarah has had the car and its mileage.
Two thirds of the way through the conversation, I notice a camera located in the corner of the room pointing in my direction. A green led on it suggests that it is on and I ask Andrew Toms whether our conversation is being recorded. He says that the conversation is not being recorded add that ” you can see that there is no microphone on the camera, it is not recording” (or similar words).
From the Tom’s site we venture across to St Stephens where I hope to find a 207SW that I had spotted on their website. We meet Dave Hancock, the Sales Manager. I explain about Sarah’s Renault and Dave shows us the 207 before taking the Renault to get it valued. Returning with the valuation we talk about numbers. Dave suggests that we take the 207 for Sarah to see and drive. We agree and are on our way back to St Austell in drizzle. The car drives well and we shall be back in time for supper. Mum has prepared a braised beef casserole.
I recount the events of the day to Sarah by phone. It will be the morning before Sartah can see the car because she has a friend coming over for supper this evening. I mention to mum and dad that Sarah would like to come over in the morning with Jacob, to put together the letter to Messrs Toms. Sarah told me that she has a bit of a blocked nose and that she may have either a cold or hayfever. I mention this around the table and dad’s response is that ‘she better not give it to me’. I am incensed by his tone of voice and the lack of understanding that the comment implies. My response is that if Sarah has a cold, it is not something that she has contracted willingly and that it is not within her gift to “give it to anyone”. Dad replies saying that he cannot afford to catch a cold and that he is the only one around the table who so far has not contracted a cold since we have been here. All that I can think to do is to contact Sarah and ask that we meet at her house in the morning, for the avoidance of spatial contact with dad. I do this and communicate the message.
Niki and I head out and end up at the Rashleigh where we enjoy a quiet drink of what I consider to be poorly kept Tribute. I mull things over as we complete the crossword. I’m feeling ill disposed towards dad and when we return to the van ask Niki to call into the house to say good night to mum and dad. It will be an early start in the morning. We will forgo our porridge and routine but it will be worthwhile. Sarah needs support in this matter and I am determined we will give her and Jacob that support.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Thursday 4 July 2013. Day 52.
Up bright and early after a cuppa tea in the van. Down to Tesco’s for milk and some grapes – we’ re heading to Sarah’s for a breakfast fry up and coffee. Much of the morning spent getting Sarah’s new Epson wireless printer to work with her laptops x 2. Success and I got my letter to the Tom’s brothers bashed out. Then we were off to Hawkins to return their 207SW, nice car but not what Sarah says that she wants. Whilst there Sarah spots a Partner Tepee. Before you could turn around the trade plates are out and we’re off up the road on a test drive. Food for thought as we head off to Hewaswater Garage. Simon, manning the fort as brother Andrew has the day off doesn;t want to talk – he “has a business to run and is trying to make a living”. We manage a few words, sadly he chooses to start name calling. I am awkward. I have time on my hands and he expects the matter to end up with Solicitors. Whilst he did not have time to read my letter, he did sign each of the pages as acknowledgement of receipt. Sarah and Niki took Jacob and headed off towards Truro as I headed to St Austell. Within fifteen minutes we were all back at Hewaswater. Niki handed the keys to the van and the house over to me so that I could get in when I got back. This caused Sarah to miss her appointment in Truro and so they set off for St Austell and a spot of retail therapy.
I collected the van and headed out to Cleers to get Brigitte shod with a new set of shoes. The first pair were fitted to the rear. They lack the tread depth of the factory fitment tyres – only eight millimetres instead of ten. The difference between the front tyres and the new ones was so limited that I decided to keep the fronts going for another season. We also tested the two leisure batteries and they came through with flying colours. Hurrah.
I took tha van back and parked in our adopted spot. In the house mum and dad were preparing their supper. I had a quick cuppa and two saffron buns to keep me going until supper. Meeting up with the gang at Sarah’s I had new jeans to try out and was introduced to Niki’s purchases. Then we were off to the Watering Hole for a well earned pint of Tribute and supper. I has a chilli con carne, Sarah a chicken enchilada and Niki had Nachos whilst Jacob had fish, chips and peas.
In honour perhaps of today being Independence Day in the US there was live music – Ben and Albert, known as Ben and Al, performed as a guitar duo singing a variety of well known popular songs in their own laid back style. Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, the Lumineers, Crowded House and also some 1990’s bands featured. We left as they closed their set at eleven.
A long, traumatic at times but ultimately rewarding day.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Friday 5 July 2013. Day 53.
Will we won’t we go to Penzance?
“Today we shall take our van and head to Penzance to spend the evening with ex Wire Dasies bandsmen Steve Jackson and Alden Evans. Steve, the silver drummer, has picked up a pen and crafted songs of his own. Furthermore he has set these to music and will be playing live in front of an audience at The Acorn theatre. The Acorn was the scene of a couple of gigs that the Dasies, Raf and I put together in the early days of the band when they needed to showcase their work. Now though, it is time to type, with the inverter powering the laptop”.
The above chunk of text I typed late last night. Overnight my thoughts have been at work and I feel that it is time to start tying up loose ends here in Cornwall and seeing Steve perform his songs would be nice to do. We are here to see grandson Isaac James and so I plan to stay around St Austell this evening.
The morning sees us up to Sarah’s bright and early. We are not long there and then off to Lesley’s with the Renault. It will be parked there until things are resolved. Then Sarah drives us to Truro where she will spend around an hour having her “holiday nails” done. Niki and I park the car and take Jacob into town. We need an Ireland road atlas for our forthcoming trip to the Emerald Isles and find one in Waterstones.
Lunch is taken at the Hub Box where Jacob and I impersonate a duck and save the cost of a Big Kahuna burger for so doing. After lunch shopping sees me indulge in a couple of DVD’s for the van. We will watch them at some point in time.
We head to Boots, Mothercare and other assorted shops before eventually setting off to St Austell. On the radio I fail to find good coverage of the Wimbledon tennis men’s semi finals but back at Sarah’s I have the tv on to see Djockovitch win a thrilling contest with Argentinian Del Poitro.
All change as Sarah sets of to Lesley’s with Jacob before returning to Victoria for a meeting with her co-consultants. Jez collects Niki and I and we drive to their house in beautiful sunshine – the best weather since we arrived in UK.
We spent a sofa evening with Jez and Nic. Jez and I were gripped by the tennis between Andy Murray and the twenty two year old Polish rising star player Jerzy Janovicz. This again was a tight match but Murray managed to overcome the Pole in four sets. Perhaps the energy he saved will help him on Sunday when the world number one meets the world number two for the final of the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament. I hope that we shall see this match.
Supper came from the Chinese once again. It continues to live up to the standards they set on our first visit. Washed down with a chilled bottle of cider whist watching the match with the little man dozing on his comfort cushion – great fun.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Saturday 6 July 2013. Day 54.
Today the heat is on. Cornwall and indeed the UK will be basking under a heat wave. Niki and I are up and away early to be at Mande’s house for nine. Upstairs I am laid out on the table as Mande gets to work on my shoulder, hip, spine and jaw. In between times she has a go at Niki as well. An hour passes blissfully. The chance to relax and listen to the tick tock of the wall clock connects me with the mindfulness book I have been reading. Then we are up and heading back to St Austell. It’s all go here.
Sarah gets on with the business of running her business in the morning as Niki and I get underway with sorting through stuff in the van. The new spare tyres are off-loaded as is the suitcase, Sarah’s kit from last summer and also some bits and pieces which we shall donate to a charity shop. We strip and wash the bed linen. Then it is lunch time and dad mentions that the Lions are doing rather well against Australia. All thoughts of the series had been evaporated from my mind with other matters crowding in. I managed to catch the last half of the second half and thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Warren Gaitland’s team selection. Having so many names that he could simply drop he had chosen to leave O’Driscoll off the sheet completely and was expecting to be judged by his decisions. All eyes were upon the team, especially as eleven of them are Welsh. The boys came through and Leigh Halfpenny was named the man of the series – deservedly so. Niki tucks in to the remains of our Chinese from last evening as mum, dad and I enjoy a pasty each. My pasty, on a tray, came with me into the dining room to watch the rugby!
Sarah phones to ask if we can pop out to St Stephen to take a second look at the Tepee car we drove on Thursday. Niki and Jacob are left playing football in the garden. We pop up to Sarah’s where I help her unload her SW stuff, good to do as I can now gauge how much room she needs in her replacement car. At the garage Sarah is quick to spot that the car is no longer on the sales lot. A salesman confirms that the car was sold the day previous and we leave. Sarah says that it was not meant to be. I suggest we stop at the garage down on the corner where we know they have three “Tepee” type vehicles for sale.
We walk around their lot looking at different cars, none seem to fit the bill. Then Sarah says “I want to take a look at that Skoda that they have at the front”. I hadn’t spotted the car, so intent was I on looking for Tepee’s. The Skoda is an Octavia estate with a high specification sold under the Laurent & K badge. We take the car for a test drive and it is like stepping back into my Audi A6, a car I had driven for ten years. The build quality is every bit as good as the Audi IMHO. The car drives like it should and with onl seventy thousand miles recorded is in 1.9TDI terms, just run in.
Back at the garage I enter into a long conversation with the owners. We chat about the car and about the Toms and the Renault. I confirm that local car sales sites all know about Renault Meganes, Scenics and Lagunas and their inherent problems. Sarah’s car carries a trade value of about one thousand pounds. Allowances for mileage are I learn based on 10p per mile, so £800 for the eight thousand miles the Renault has covered. Many of those miles of course have been done taking the car to and from repairers and also under road testing.
We head back into St Austell, Sarah is overdue to go to a birthday party in Lostwithiel. By the time we get back to the house Niki has managed to get Jacob off to sleep in his buggy. His knees bear witness to his desire to play with the ball on the hardest surface possible, the brick paved driveway. Sarah is, as a knowing mum, unfazed by this. Waking Jacob, we get him into the car and off they go.
Timings seems to be good today and I get the chance to watch the highlights of the qualifying for the German F1 GP. Lewis Hamilton achieves yet another pole position. What will he do with this tomorrow? Supper, steak cooked on an out door electric griddle smells good but the steak proves to be demanding. For pudding we have the last of the strawberries. Then it is time to take the loaded Kia up to Sarah’s to disgorge our “stuff” into the garage. We load up Sarah’s scrap carpet so that I can take it to the dump in the morning.
Back home and we’re soon off to bed after a couple of medicinal whiskies. First though we watch a few of the opening games of the Ladies Singles Final match between Bartoli (Fr) and Lisiki (D). However the weight of my sagging eyelids caught me and so we turned out the lights and turned in.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Sunday 7 July 2013. Day 55.
A big day today?
With the men’s singles final and the German GP there is a lot of my kind of sport going around. At eight thirty we troop into the house to be greeted by mum. A first cup of tea is quickly prepared and as Niki brews up our porridge I head out to take the Kia, with its load of old carpet, to the dump. Arriving just as the site was due to open, I became mesmerised by the number of people ahead of me. There must have been twelve vehicles queuing. I was soon in and out of the recycling centre.
At home the porridge hit the table with a resounding thud and the coffee poured like molten treacle. I scoffed my porridge and dived for the shower. Even so, Sarah was knocking on the door before I managed to dry myself down. Sarah and I arrived at Jez and Nic’s before Jez had dressed following his shower. We waited for Nic to shower, Sarah winding Isaac and getting vomited upon a couple of times into the bargain. With Nic up and taking over her son, we drove out to St Stephens. Jez was pretty non-commital when we arrived. He preferred to tour the lot looking at cars that were possibly an alternative but in the end he waltzed up to the Skoda and started to show some interest.
Son number three, who enjoys doing the web-site and computer stuff for the business, found himself acting as stand in sales person because senior brother is doing dutiful dad at his son’s birthday party. We take the car out for a road test. Jez is at the wheel and is liking the experience. The car is not as fast as Jez’ Audi but the Skoda has not been mapped or tinkered with. Jez enjoys his drive. Sarah observes that he and I drive in the same manner. Sarah gets the final drive and we return with the car.
Sarah and I tinker with the rear load space dividers to assess the way to maximise the load space as Jez is off elsewhere looking at a Mazda MX8. Sarah and I are agreed that the Skoda is a great car offering value for money and the kind of flexibility that Sarah needs. Dad pays the one hundred pound deposit needed to secure the car and that is that. We head back towards St Austell. We return to St Stephens to collect my phone which I have foolishly left in the centre consol of the Skoda.
We’re back at gran and grandpa’s by one o’clock just in time for lunch. Everyone enjoys watching Jacob, propped up on a cushion, he tucks manfully into his roast lunch, majoring on the peas and turnip. I am itching to watch the German GP where a camera-man in the pit lane was knocked off of his feet by an insecure wheel that came flying off of Mark Webber’s car during a pit-stop.
Afternnon tennis Murray – Djockovitch. Clean van – vacuum
Supper salad
Evening trip to Camborne and Redruth, Lorrie & Baz, g&T chat, bed.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Monday 8 July 2013. Day 56.
With the van parked close to Lorrie and Baz back fence we have enjoyed a good night of sleep on a level pitch. Barry was away at sparrow cough. I did not hear the click of the catch on the gate or the car start. Our alarm sounds at half past six. A cup of tea in bed and then we are underway with porridge cooking on the stove and smells of coffee wafting around.
Lorraine is also out and about watering in her garden. We nip into the house to wash our pots and pans before setting off for Camborne and our appointment to have the van brake discs and pads, and fuel and air filters, changed. The recce we carried out last night proves invaluable as we thread our way up narrow streets clogged with parked cars and the cars of those seemingly anxoius to get to their workplaces.
Niki and I spend two and a half hours in Camborne by walking the length of the main street. We stop here and there to buy essentials from our list. A cup of coffee in the appropriately named Scallywags cafe sees us sat across the room from a group of elderly folk some of whom are quizzing each other with trivial questions from their past. Today it is mildly amusing. The waitress assures us that at times it can become quite a floorshow!
Yet more people come in. One for a late breakfast. Another for a drink. Then a couple who say they are here on holiday.
One of the workshop guys collects ford capri’s. The mot station is two miles up the road.
To Bodmin, bedding in the brakes. To Fletcher’s Bridge to The Poplars, in the layby hearing the train, seeing the beeches, the walk to school.
Veronica, Kevin and Keith. David at rest at Cardinham.
Castle Canyke – MOT Martin Dowling? Tour de France, cycling and camping cars.
Pass. Joy. Home to St A.
A quick cup of tea with mum and dad and then we are off to Par to tax the van. We’ve got the scooter out of the van and it feels good to be whizzing along in the sunshine. Nice friendly staff at the sub post office. Supper with gran and grandpa over a pint of Tribute then up to Sarah’s on the scoot. Sarah and Jacob taking supper on their lawn. Corn on the cob, peas, baked beans and cod bites – yum, yum. Jacob to Polkyth on the slide and swings. Sarah’s doubts about the cost of the car emerge. She heads off to see a friend who is grieving at the loss of his step-father who died on Sunday age 52.
The run back into St A on the scoot is chilling and we are soon inside the van which has retained much of the heat of the day. Bed and sleep beckon.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Tuesday 9 July 2013. Day 57.
With the van issues resolved yesterday I’m minded to make this the day that I tackle the scooter MOT and tax. I also contact Andrew Tomms by telephone. Our conversation establishes that he has no intention to talk to me about our complaint and that he says that he will respond to me in his own time. He drops the telephone on me, in a vexing manner. I phone Penny and we have a long conversation about “the car”.
An appointment at Annears, St BlazeyMX centre for three in the afternoon will take care of the MOT. I spend much of the morning and early afternoon scanning family photos that dad has sitting in an envelope on his computer desk.
At a quarter to three I set off. By three fifteen the bike has been tested. the tester spots that it is a low mileage 53 plate and I confirm that it lives on the back of a motor caravan. We share a chuckle. Outside and to the rear of Annears a young lad is contemplating repacing his 2013 Hussaberg with a 2014 model bike, for a cool seven thousand two hundred pounds.
The showroom is filled with MX bikes from a few thousand pounds upwards. The young lad that I was speaking with is fortunate to have a father who shares his riding interests and working as an independent aluminium welder seems to have the means to fund their hobby.
I stop off at Par Post Office to tax the bike and exchange a few words with the lady who had served me yesterday. On leaving the PO I pass a woman emerging from a gaudy pink Mini. I recognise her as Maria, the mother of Anna and ? In the back of the car are two young girls with auburn hair who I guess are her grandchildren.
The scooter buzzes pleasantly along. I pass the whiff of the SW water treatment works. Imerys and Cornish Marketworld. Back at base and a chance to relax. The heat of the day wears on.
Sarah is home from work at around six. Lesley arrives soon after with Jacob. We chat about the paddling pool that Judy has erected in her garden for Jacob to play in. He also has his own, growing, willow den. Sarah plans to reproduce this in his garden at home. Hence the piece of new lawn. Today Judy and Jacob have been counting using stones and a toy dumper truck.
Before long we are away to Bodmin in search of supper. My wish to have a curry will soon be realised at Viraj on Higher Bore Street. When we get there, there is a large party of people already dining. The place is rammed. I drive around and around looking for parking and end up parking on the hill that is Robartes Road, just up from the library. The walk to the curry house provides a chance to relive old memories. Pascoes fish and chip shop, long since converted into housing of one sort or another. Cornishes dairy now put to some other use. Nothing it seems remains the same, and probably never did!
Jacob starts to get a little fractious as we wait for food. Grandpa’s arms take the weight and we walk around outside looking for things to amuse.
Supper comes and we all tuck in. Great grub. Then with stomachs full we walk back to the car before setting off up to Asda in search of cat litter and food to keep Sarah’s cats ticking along whilst she and Jacob are away in Turkey.
Back at Sarah’s she and I attempt to get a copy of “Cloudy” on her tablet. Keeping Jacob amused when he is feeling a big chary is the incentive. Sarah succeeds where I fail. Hurrah. I work on the “before action letter for Toms” but it is time to give in and call it a day, as Niki dozes on the sofa next to me.
We roll back to the van at around midnight. Another long, mostly enjoyable, day.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Wednesday 10 July 2013. Day 58.
A morning spent catching up with my blog notes and chatting with mum and dad about family history. Dad’s back outside tending to the garden. Picking up hedge cuttings and transporting them to the dump. A chat there with Liam, Lesley and Pete’s tenant. Then back again and out in the heat of the day to cut grass.
I’m thinking that it will be good to have things to possibly share with Kevin Renals, David Renals son. David was the son of Fred, one of grandpa Bob’s brothers.
One of two brothers, the other being Keith. Dad thinks that Veronica had twins, a boy and a girl. Dad says that the only times that he saw David was when he went out fishing with Edwin. This stems from when Bob and Jack got married. There was an undertone because the boys had married travellers. Dad thinks that Auntie Kit was the person who took against this in particular. Kit was married to Stanley Toms, they never had any family but may have lost a child at birth. The three brothers had the sawmills, Stanley, Lewelyn and the third brother had a shoe repair business – he was unable to participate in the timber business because he was disabled in some way.
Jeff and Frank Renals grew up at a cottage down the road from Poplars called Oakdene. John Toms, the son of the disabled cobbler who lived just down from them, has a timber business at Dreasen, which dad thinks may now be run by his son.
Bazeley’s, where dad and Edwin grew up, used to be a carpenter’s shop and gran and grandpa bought it for £100 and had it converted to live in. When they sold in circa 1947/48 they sold it for £1400 or £1500. These facts emerged when I told dad that we were going to visit Kevin Renals this afternoon.
It certainly felt better to be focussed on doing positive things rather than the reaction of the Tom’s boys to our claim.
Niki and I poled off towards Lanhydrock to look for the grave of Francis A Renals. We found him where he had been laid to rest in 1985. He is another unknown Renals as far as we are concerned. A mystery in need of investigation. Can the dead talk? We shall have to see.
From Lanhydrock under the heat of the summer sun we wended our way down through Margate and Fletchers Bridge before the up down up climb to Cardinham or Cardynham of old. Dad’s tip to fork left and then look for the new church yard on the right paid dividends.
Kevin’s father David, whose funeral we later learned had been attended by over four hundred people, is in the extension of the new cemetry. A polished slab of granite records the date of his death at age seventy seven. We search and find other Renals, Renells, Runnalls, as well as Coppins, Ede’s. Riddles, Courts and many others. Wife Veronica is grateful for having her sons living close by since the decease of her loving husband. I can only remark that to have good support one must have been good oneself.
Cardinham (Cornish: Kardhinan) (the spelling ‘Cardynham’ is almost obsolete) is a civil parish and a village in central Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately three-and-a-half miles (6 km), east-northeast of Bodmin. The hamlets of Fletchersbridge, Millpool, Milltown, Mount, Old Cardinham Castle and Welltown are in the parish.
The church at Cardinham reveals many connections to people with the Renals name with whichever spelling they used in their day. A pretty parish church dedicated to the name of St Meubred: it has north and south aisles and a tower of granite. The chancel suffered bomb damage in World War II. Two freestanding Celtic crosses of stone, bearing inscriptions in Latin have been found in Cardinham; both had been embedded in the walls of the fifteenth-century church and were moved after their discovery to the churchyard. One has been dated to the fifth to eighth centuries, the other to the tenth or eleventh centuries.
From Cardinham we retraced our route back to Poplars. It must have been someting of a journey in former times. Perhaps two miles in length the road undulates up and down a couple of times through quite steeply sided valleys. My favourite being the heavily wood valley on the approach to Fletchersbridge.
Entering the house at Poplars I noticed the half door that dad had spoken about. Meeting Kevin for the first time felt odd. Me born in 1956 and he in 1960. From the same family line and yet we had grown up in the same area but had never known one and other. Armed with his family tree Kevin was knowledgeable about many family members that I knew little of. We chat about names, places and dates and the names, re-used down the ages mix and merge and then clear.
Poplars is renamed from Margate or South Margate Kevin tells me. The land on which the house stands was initially leased from Bodmin Town Council by Francis Renals (he of the headstone adjacent to the church door at Cardinham).
Both Veronica and Kevin were keen to know that we had found David’s headstone.
Two and a half hours of chatting and reminiscing and Niki and I head for St Austell. We fill the Kia with fuel ready for tomorrow when we shall visit the Stewys in Exeter. Then we hop across the road to Holmbush fish bar to buy supper. Haddock for me, cod for Niki and a portion of chips to share. Back a base after eating I chat over with dad, what I have learned from our trip around.
—
tags: travel, Brigitte,
—
Thursday 11 July 2013. Day 59.
Today Niki and I head up the A30 to Exeter, Devon to visit David and Mary Stewart at David’s house on Broadway. The little Kia is buzzing along at about sixty five with faster traffic whipping past in the outside lane. Our journey lasts a little over an hour and we arrive at the house slightly ahead of Mary & David who have been out to buy a noticeboard so that David can keep all of his appointment cards in one visible place. I hear the note of his Mark 1 GTI as they approach.
We catch up on news over a cup of tea and then David and I set off to where his other cars are in storage. There is a lovely 205 GTI 1.6 which looks fantastically original and David’s latest purchase a Porsche 964. The Porsche is a star of a car. David starts her and pulls her out of the garage before tucking the Golf back into her place.
The growl from the stainless steel G pipe is something else! Before long we have wended our way out onto the section opf dual carriageway that leads up to the old DFRS hq. David opens the throttle and the response is instant and insistent. The car accelerates away as the speedo and rev counters rise. Such power is addictive. I’m hooked. Wow.
We loop back and park up at David’s house where Mary and Niki inspect the car. Then it is time for lunch. David fires up his garden BBQ and produces chicken, chops and sausages to accompany a variety of salad items and pasta.
After lunch we all climb aboard the Porsche for a roof down ride into the Devon countryside and up onto Dartmoor. The ladies don’t seen to appreciate the wind in the hair! Or the rear seats which Niki says more accurately should be called a parcel shelf. They do though appreciate what the car offers which is character, power, agility and that fantastic motor. Three point six litres of air cooled engine, sitting atop the rear wheels laying down power through four eighteen inch wheels which are all driven. There is no mistaking the racing pedigree of this beast.
We turn up onto the Moor at around Ashburton, cross the river Dart and wind up onto the moor proper through tiny villages on winding narrow roads. There are plenty of others out and about today including Police cars. I’ve seen more today on Dartmoor than you will see in St Austell! There are a lot of Porsches out as well. Some spot David’s car and salute a fellow afficianado. Others are presumably focused on their driving or enjoying the road.
We stop at the Warren House Inn for a drink and to take in the moorland views. The fire continues to burn in the hearth as it has done since 1845. Outside the firey sun beats down. Others stop with the same idea. A coach from the Czech Republic, modified to provide a mobile hotel is touring the UK with twenty guests on a seven day tour – a clever conversion and such a good business idea.
We head in the direction of Exeter and pull into a carpark where an icecream van provides temptation in the form of vanilla and chocolate icecreams. After indulging we head on. The approach to the road junction is clogged so we loop around the roundabout and head away only to turn back a little further down the dual carriageway. I am reminded of journeys past as we enter this end of Exeter. A short drive and we are back at David’s house.
Once there we decide to order Chinese. The home delivery service arrives with a cardboard box brimming with containers of food. We feast whilst watching the first episode of the new season of Dynamo.
Then it is back in the car for Niki and I. Not the Porsche but the Kia. It feels tame but delivers the goods as we head back to Cornwall and St Austell. We stop at Sarah’s where I upload data to SlimmingWorld for her. About a half an hour later we are tucked up in bed after a great day out in the company of good friends.