LEJOG Day 19: Willand to Pleamore Cross

Weather: Sunny with cool breeze

Distance covered today: 14.5km (8.5mi)

Last night's B&B: Weir Mill Farm (£35)

Cumulative distance: 335.8km (208.7mi)/ % Complete: 19.1%

GPS satellite track of today's route: Day 19 (click!)

This journey is littered with discoveries, though some of these may be of more interest to some rather than to others. The very nerdy part of my nature is nevertheless fascinated to discover that Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) do indeed contain something that behaves very much like a liquid. By stashing my netbook in my backpack in a certain physical configuration, and therefore using both the force of gravity and the pressure of packing as a tool, I have procured that the liquid crystals which smeared across my display like a great, bloody scar along the cracks in the screen, have indeed retreated to whence they came and the screen, though not as new, is certainly again almost clear and easily usable! This is a remarkable result, but it is probably spontaneously reversible, and I may yet come a cropper. For your sanity, I promise I will keep as much as possible of the outcome to myself!

Talking of sanity, I had my first face-to-face consultation yesterday. My good friend Chris, obviously concerned, drove some 300 miles here and back to check up on me on my rest day. He took me down to the coast for an outing, like some aged aunt who needed a little company, fresh sea air and a tipple at lunch-time, though indeed I preferred a glass of red to sherry! He left, keeping his thoughts very much to himself, loaded down with a selection of the stuff that I have decided I really don’t need to hump around with me anymore. It was exceedingly kind of him to make the trip.

More worryingly, at breakfast yesterday I met Roger, who turned out to be a Professor of English Literature and the head of a literary society. Roger extracted from me this blog address, and despite the fact that I was convinced he wouldn’t, he actually did have a look at it! I met him again this morning at breakfast and it felt like one of those interviews with your tutor in second year. He was very encouraging, but one couldn’t help wondering whether he believed in positive reinforcement even in the case of the weaker student!  He also commented that it would make sense to stick to a few related themes, without saying that I was ranging all over the place, which of course I am, so I will try to take that on board! Roger, if you are reading this, marks in the Comments Section, please!

Talking of themes, I do have three mini-rants, following on from this morning’s otherwise uneventful and rather easy walk. Firstly I entered Somerset, and despite keeping the beadiest of eyes on every single sign-post there was not a single indication of the border crossing! I was amused to discover that even the OS map did its best to conceal the border. The usual Morse Code border stipple was superimposed along a solid line of farm fencing on the map, so that you needed indeed to be a very determined sleuth to uncover the border!
 
There is though a flaw in their system! The bureaucracy isn’t up to the challenge! It transpires that the names of the supplying local councils are applied to every wheely-bin! Identification by waste-disposal! I moved instantly from “Mid-Devon (Where people matter)” to the “Somerset Waste Partnership”.  And since there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that any council will collect another council’s waste, I should have a fool-proof method of deciding which county I am in! We shall see!

The second of my rants drives to the heart of the country. I know already the outcome of the referendum on the “Alternative Vote” (AV) next month. The British electorate will vote against any change, despite all the erudite arguments either way. How do I know this?

I saw it this morning in the village of Sampford Moor. I noticed a perfectly ordinary red telephone booth tucked inconspicuously into the village architecture. I went to have a look at it, only to discover that it contained no phone. Where the phone had once been, there was a message saying that the telephone had been removed and that BT had transferred ownership of the kiosk to the local community. The sign went on to say that “The traditional red kiosk, or K6, plays a significant part in our national heritage.  The local community have chosen to retain this kiosk thereby ensuring it can be enjoyed by generations to come.” 

Charming as the phone booth is, and iconic though it may be, there is something very interesting about a society that retains (and maintains) a structure as utilitarian as a phone booth for sentimental reasons alone. It does explain why there are so many historical relics in evidence in the English landscape and it also explains why the British electorate will vote to retain their traditional voting system in the May referendum, whatever the logic.
 
It also explains why there will be so many street parties tomorrow. The weather forecast for the Royal Wedding isn’t good. I felt the change today as I walked into a stiff, chilly breeze over which the sound of the M5 steadily grew louder until it roared like the sea in a violent storm.  The M5 has become the new A30.  It and I are now intimately entwining. I passed under it through a bridge that Veronica identified for me on the way into Willand and today I crossed back over it on my way into Somerset. It will no doubt be antagonising me most of the way to Bristol.

However, I felt happier today when I realised that it was actually like a sewer, draining away huge amounts of traffic from the beautiful lanes and roads along which I will be travelling.  Perhaps even the M5 isn’t all that bad, after all!

Rest day in Sidmouth with my good friend Chris

Sidmouth beach-front

Back on the road from Willand to Pleamore Cross. The architecture is changing. These houses could be almost anywhere!

Weaving under and over the M5

I won't be that far away from it all the way to Bristol

Horse gallops! The heart of England beckons!

Mayflower?

A telephone box, without its telephone. Why?

The ladybirds are multiplying!

How do I know I'm in Somerset? Only by the dustbins! (Somerset Waste Partnership)

The Wellington Monument on the highest point of the Blackdown Hills. It was erected to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. The memorial is based on the Egyptian obelisk design but the monument is shaped like the bayonets that were used at the time. There is a counterweight inside the monument to stop it swaying in the wind.

Is this is the "wrong way" to find "hemlock"? Only in Somerset! Note your intrepid photographer caught in the mirror!