We said our goodbyes to the man at Aylesbeare CL and drove about 20 miles to the other side of the river Exe. We had a morning stop at Dawlish. I had never been before but I remember that a childhood friend of mine used to come here regularly. Janice had been here with her parents and with her own children but her last visit may have been 15 years ago.
Dawlish is famous for black swans on the stream that comes through the centre of the town. It is also the place that had its sea defences and railway washed away in storms a couple of years ago. There were regular tv coverage of the railway line that had crumbled into the sea, it's all repaired now and we had a walk along the sea defences. It is a cute touristy small town that has a good range of little shops.
I managed to get my hands on my first pasty of the trip. I know we aren't into Cornwall yet but I thought it was about time that I started my holy grail quest to find the best pasty in Cornwall. I didn't have great hopes of a Devon pasty and it lived up to my low expectations. The size was poor, the pastry was rather claggy. The filling was OK but the pasty temperature was closer to cold than hot and that's a sin in my book. I have previously searched for the holy grail of the perfect pasty and found it at a little bakery in King Arthur's seat of Tintagel. It may need a revisit but don't worry it won't stop me looking elsewhere. No stone (pasty) will be unturned!
We moved on to find our new CL. It's near Bishopsteignton. Janice and I have been debating the correct pronunciation to the word 'Teign'. Is it 'tin', 'teen' or 'tine'. Tine sounds like it's from near Newcastle upon Tyne, so that is discounted and the other two versions are still contenders. Janice prefers Tin and I prefer Teen (I'm not sure if we are compatible). The new CL is nice with good views, and dare I say it, lovely hard standings!
I have had some blog feedback from a regular reader who will remain anonymous. He has accused me of becoming middle aged on the basis that I listen to the Radio 2 folk awards, include bird watching and have become excited about hard standings! The question is, should I accept his observation and act my age or should I get my speedos on and get down with the 'dudes' on the surf boards. I have brought my wet suit with me but I'm not sure if I am able to combine the desire to fit into it with my desire to test Cornish pasties (so middle aged it is!). You must realise that I am only talking for myself because Janice is much, much younger than me.
Now...... Burnley FC have been playing today to possibly get promotion up into the Premiership again. In my pent up frustration of not being able to watch it on TV and being unable to contain my excitement by listening to it on the radio we walked to a pub (about 2 miles away). We had a pint or two of Jail Ale from the Dartmoor Brewery which was very nice indeed. On our return to the van we listened on the radio to the last few minutes of the match which Burnley won, to my great relief and delight.
So I had a celebratory drink. Hurray for the Clarets!
Just back tracking a bit. I asked the landlord of the pub about the proper pronunciation of local names. He said the correct pronunciation is Tinmouth, the River Teen and his village of Bishopsteignton is pronounced as Bishop Stainton! I hope that makes it all clear. I must begrudgingly say that Janice has been right although the Stainton bit was news to us both.
Anyway, did I mention that Burnley won and got promoted.....that beer must be strong!
Cornish pasty, football, beer, silly hat.
ReplyDeleteNope - nothing middle-aged here....
I think my age is going backwards!
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