Cornwall....emmetting...

[gerarddwatts]

So early start..over to Murrhly to leap into chums car and then set to journey to the other end of the country.
There are many joys to living in Scotland...the M6 is not one of them...but its the best way to cover the miles between here and Cornwall.
Hopefully the ferocious heat will have moved on.
Overnighting in a pub/hotel in Gloucs tonight....
Not much to entertain but its about as much as I can manage these days!

 

[Doc]

How many miles is that for you Gerard ?

 

[Santa-2512]

Is that code for fancy a meet up

 

[phil5849]

Cornwall this morning is cool and foggy, about 20 degrees. We had two thunder storms last evening, one whilst it was still daylight and the second after dark both with heavy rain. Much better for sleeping when the thunder stopped.

 

[gerarddwatts]

Weeell....chronic traffic, 37 degrees on the M5!
But....

 

[Auwyn]

So early start..over to Murrhly to leap into chums car and then set to journey to the other end of the country.
There are many joys to living in Scotland...the M6 is not one of them...but its the best way to cover the miles between here and Cornwall.
Hopefully the ferocious heat will have moved on.
Overnighting in a pub/hotel in Gloucs tonight....
Not much to entertain but its about as much as I can manage these days!

Do you not use the toll road?

 

[gerarddwatts]

Sadly goes in the wrong direction!
Would always use it to go down the M40/M25, but for Cornwall its M6 M5 Exeter and beyond!

 

[littleade]

Sadly goes in the wrong direction!
Would always use it to go down the M40/M25, but for Cornwall its M6 M5 Exeter and beyond!

At least once you get past Preston on the way back you can say TFFT. I've been going to Cornwall for over 30 years and it's rarely a smooth trip from Worcestershire and that's without the joys of the M6.

 

[gerarddwatts]

Just volume of traffic seemed to be the issue on both the M6 and the M5 as well as folk unable to drive....
But now in a lovely pub/hotel in Frocester couple of pints in the sun and a gonk in front of a fan, before supper in the courtyard.
Bit boring compared with the tales of derring do from some of our compadres!

 

[littleade]

Just volume of traffic seemed to be the issue on both the M6 and the M5 as well as folk unable to drive....
But now in a lovely pub/hotel in Frocester couple of pints in the sun and a gonk in front of a fan, before supper in the courtyard.
Bit boring compared with the tales of derring do from some of our compadres!

You've still got the best bit to come Just be aware that the cameras in the variable speed limit on the M5 south of the M4 junction are on ALL the time and the scamera vans sit on the bridges above the M5 and in various places on the A30.

The Waze app is useful for a early heads up on where they are.

 

[busy builder]

The best motorway in the UK is the M74 then M6 lovely till Lancaster then its shit all the way after.

 

[wessie]

The best motorway in the UK is the M74 then M6 lovely till Lancaster then its shit all the way after.

M50 in my view. Always great to get off the M5 and know I was only 25 miles from home just outside Ross on Wye.

 

[wessie]

At least once you get past Preston on the way back you can say TFFT. I've been going to Cornwall for over 30 years and it's rarely a smooth trip from Worcestershire and that's without the joys of the M6.

Now I am further north and 5 hours away (with a comfort stop) I tend to venture down to near Plymouth the night before as there are just too many opportunities for the myopic and inattentive to make me late for the 2pm check in. This gives me time to go down through Wales and over the new Severn Bridge to miss out the M5 in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and most of the Bristol mess.

 

[gerarddwatts]

How many miles is that for you Gerard ?

416 to Frocester so far...

 

[gerarddwatts]

A good night in the Frocester Hotel....used to be called The George. Good beer, good grub, good shower good bed, good staff....nice arses....not far from the M5, so a perfect overnight to break the journey.
Slept well and upto another fine sunny day.
My mate wanted to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and his wife wanted to see Cheddar Gorge , so a couple of diversions to while away the journey. Calling in to Launceston M & S to stock up for the week ahead.
So breakfast to deal with and on to Brizzle!
Story there which I'll tell you later....

 

[gerarddwatts]

My last trip to Bristol was in the 90's.
Tristan da Cunha is a tiny island it the South Atlantic. It is British and has a small population, descendants of a garrison established to keep Boney in check on St Helena.
One of these descendants was a guy called Conrad Glass.
He was the islands only policeman, customs etc etc.
The Home Office decided to send this officer to the UK to develope his career, and the nearest thing they could find to all but forgotten islands in the South Atlantic was N Herts.
I had come off Traffic by then and was a 'detached beat officer'....modern speak for village bobby....in Whitwell N Herts. Conrad spent considerable time with me, learning how to skiv......operate on his own.
His biggest ambition was to buy a Landrover to take back to Tristan.
Unbeknownst to us he did so and toddled off and bought the ropiest old heap of shite possible. He was bringing it back when he got stopped on the M1. He had never even seen a motorway had no UK license and questionable insurance. Luckily he was stopped in the Herts bit of the M1, paperwork was avoided he and the vehicle were got back to Herts HQ at WGC.
In my beat was a very decent little LR garage so I got it to them to do the best they could with it.
The next issue was to get it to T d C. The arrangement then was that a boat...Mail Ship...RMS...went from Bristol every few months to resupply the islanders , so we thought it would be best if I took he, and this shit heap to Bristol docks to await shipping.
That was my last trip to Bristol.
An additional snippet is that the recent magnificent operation by the MOD to get medical care to Tristan via a very long range parachute drop was for one of their residents...Conrad Glass.

 

[oblertone]

If seeking meaty supplies on your Launceston diversion then Phillip Warren butchers is just off your route. Leave the A30 but instead of 1st exit (for M&S) take the 3rd onto the industrial estate and Warrens is 100m on your left. Probably the best butchers in the SW

 

[gerarddwatts]

If seeking meaty supplies on your Launceston diversion then Phillip Warren butchers is just off your route. Leave the A30 but instead of 1st exit (for M&S) take the 3rd onto the industrial estate and Warrens is 100m on your left. Probably the best butchers in the SW

Thanks...the shop got a very write up on the DT recently...sadly shuts at 1pm on Sats

 

[gerarddwatts]

Very good write up...

 

[gerarddwatts]

An easy day down the M5 via the Clifton Suspension bridge.....



across it and under it....too many tourists to bother stopping, and on across the Mendips down through Cheddar Gorge...





again too many tourists to bother stopping, back down the M5, coffee at Bridgwater Services...big mistake....huuuge...and the onto Tregullon to our accommodation, a tastefully converted steading, nice and out the way.
Allow wifes to unload and sit congratulating ourselves with a beer or two...