February was ushered in with a very rare (for London) dusting of snow.
In the Home Counties and the West they were hit really badly which was unfortunate as we were due to be in Wokingham, Berkshire for a belated Black Tie Burns Night Supper on the eve of 1st Feb. The supper was in aid of the Sebastian’s Action Trust, a charity who provide emotional, practical and social support to more than 600 families who have seriously-ill children. See https://sebastiansactiontrust.org for more information.
In June 2001, at the age of 7, Sebastian Gates, a colleague’s god son, was diagnosed with a Wilms’ tumour – a rare form of childhood cancer. Over the next two-and-a-half years he endured many operations, a stem-cell transplant, scores of chemotherapy courses and radiotherapy. Sadly, Sebastian died on Christmas Eve 2003.
The Trust does some really great work but relies on donations and cash raised at a number of fund raising events such as this to deliver support. Failing to turn up was therefore not an option and so we set off in Dave the Smart Car during a break in the weather. To be fair, the roads in London weren’t too bad but as we approached Wokingham the snow was getting worse and the roads were treacherous. By the time we got to the Premier Inn (our bed for the night) Dave was struggling. We got togged up and called a taxi to get us to the venue, half expecting them to decline but they obliged! Amazingly about 80% of the guests braved it which was brilliant and we all had a great night whilst raising funds.
Unfortunately the chap who was supposed to read grace was amongst the 20% who couldn’t get through the snow. Standing in the wrong place at the wrong time and wearing my Cornish kilt, someone mistook me for a Scot! I was duly roped in to deliver the traditional grace; a first for me :-). During the evening we won the (very large) teddy bear in the raffle and called him Hamish (obvs). He joined in the fun rather a lot, and suffered – tee hee!
The girls at Premier Inn took a bit of a shine to Hamish and after we managed to get him out of bed we squeezed him into Dave (it was touch and go). He dwarfs my mum and I’ve promised him to my first grandchild – no pressure boys !
Back in London that evening it was “locals” night at the The Warwick Castle pub.
This is an annual affair and our first so we didn’t know what to expect. It was brilliant; a very interactive quiz and lots of fun 🙂
The following day we headed down to Southwark to ‘do’ the Bermondsey beer mile. On reflection a Sunday wasn’t the best day to go as it was quiet and some of the many bars under the arches weren’t open. That said it was still worth the trip to hear about the history of brewing in the area, serving London. and to sample some very tasty beers from the micro (and not now so micro) breweries that have re-colonised the area.
It’s a fascinating place, where most of the arches were rammed with brewing kit, beer storage and seating areas for people to sit and sample some very tasty beers from the micro (and not now so micro) breweries that have re-colonised the area.
If you needed evidence of the explosion in craft beer brewing in London then this is surely the place to come.
Chinese New Year (Year of the Pig) was on 5th Feb…
Naturally we headed to China Town for nosh and to soak up the atmosphere.
The following weekend Cornish Pirates were playing Richmond Rugby in the Championship at Richmond. Mum is a massive Rugby and Pirates fan so she took the train to London and stayed with us at the flat for a few days.
The London Cornish Pilot Gig Club, formed in 2015 and based under the arches at Richmond bridge put the invitation out to any travelling Cornish fans. Mum picked it up on facebook and I’m very glad she did 🙂
I made Cornish pastys and we jumped an early train down to Richmond on match day to partake. It was really great to see the club thriving in London with Cornish ex-pats and locals alike enjoying the sport that is gaining in popularity. Talking to a guy in the club bar it transpired that Elaine Hill, a Mullion girl an good school friend of my sister was a member and sure enough she turned up. Elaine’s dad was my dad’s best man so it was fantastic to see her.
Whilst we enjoyed a beer and a natter, the teams were training hard for the World Gig Championships in Isles of Scilly in May 2019
I since learned that they came 11th which is an amazing achievement. When Chris my son and I went down one evening in January 2020 for an open row they were again training hard and hoping for a podium position – Sadly COVID-19 put paid to that.
After a few beers and a good old chat we headed along the Thames to Richmond’s ground at Old Deer Park. The game was tough and Richmond took the lead in the first half but we are pleased to say that the Cornish Pirates came back and won.
Happy with the result, the sizeable travelling and ex-pat Cornish crowd – one or two in Cornish kilts and pirate hats (yup!) – headed to the Rugby Club bar; well we would wouldn’t we. It wasn’t long before someone ‘struck up’ (the singing) and we raised the roof.
The day after, we took mum for lunch at the Cleveland Arms on Chilworth Street near Paddington.
We met my son Nic, girlfriend May and cousin Hamish from Canada and had a gorgeous shoulder of Lamb prior to watching the Six Nations England v France game. England won 48-8 🙂
In the evening mum went to see Nic and May’s new flat whilst Sal and I went to see a Bastille gig at the Brixton Academy. They were supported by the lesser known but up and coming (at the time) Lewis Capaldi. Capaldi was brilliant and the star of the evening for us; lots of passion and humour. Bastille were entertaining but more about the lights and video.
The following weekend we headed down to Cornwall. Watsie’s dad had passed away and his funeral was on the Thursday. Whilst a sad occasion it was a lovely service celebrating his life and laterly his contribution to Cornish and South West Counties Golf, both of which he had been President.
The weekend had a golf theme. It was 40 years ago that Mullion GC won the Cornish Team Championship (CTC) and the current team had made it to the Semi Final so far. Watsie organised a social game between as many of the old team and current team as possible plus a dinner in the evening to celebrate 40 years down the line. Needless to say the old team beat the current team 4-0; what a way to motivate the current team ahead of their Semi- Final the following weekend at Perranporth Golf Club against St Enodoc more of which later.
The dinner with respective partners was great fun; endless banter about hair loss, weight gain, eyesight, hearing and quality of our golf 40 years on 🙂
It’s interesting how much Clive Biddick, Club Captain holding the shield in ’79 (Uncle Clive to me !) has shrunk compared to Patrick Gilbert to his right in the team photo’s 🙂
The day and evening were a lot of fun. Nice one Watsie for organising it all – thanks.
Whilst down in Cornwall we took the opportunity to do some cliff walking, firstly down to Gunwalloe (Church Cove) at sun down.
Then to The Lizard Lighthouse and a circular walk via the coastal path to Cadgwith Cove, passing the new Lizard Lifeboat Station. February and the Daffodils were in full bloom :-).
Its another beautiful walk and a pint at the Cadgwith Inn half way kept us hydrated. When we got back to Mullion we took mum to see the evening sunset overlooking Mullion Harbour in the van; great views that never disappoint.
The following weekend it was back to Cornwall and Perranporth Golf Club to support the semi-final. We booked the van into New Perran Holiday Camp, a few minutes from the golf club. There was a local pub (the New Inn in Goonhavern which was very welcoming) and a regular bus to & from Perranporth town. We ventured to the pub and then into town on Friday night. It was quiet but we found places open and usefully clocked a Coop.
We’d been recommended a walk through the sand dunes to the Beach Bar. Its a dubious walk in the dark but when we found it it was open and pretty busy; they where showing the Welsh six nations rugby game.
We popped over to see mum on Saturday for lunch and then headed to St Agnes on the north Cornwall coast, just down the coast from Perranporth.
Our. aim was to have a look around and then find a place to watch England v Wales in the 6 Nations.
We made our way down to the beach, parked up (in the 24hour free car park!!), then strolled to the waterfront and (oops) discovered the Driftwood Spars Brewery and Pub. The weather was pretty rubbish so we had a quick look at the beach and the mad surfers then went for a pint.
They were showing the rugby, there was a band playing in the evening, they served food all day, the log fire was burning and they brewed about 6 of their own beers. Whats not to like? Nothing! So it seemed logical to stay the night. We realigned the van with back doors overlooking the bay, made up the bed and returned to the pub. No camper van parking restrictions – yippee!
Wales beat England 😦 but the food, beer, band and log fire were tippety top so a good decision to stay the night. Excited about waking up, opening the rear doors and having a coffee/tea overlooking the cove, we headed to bed and slept like logs.
I awoke with a start with Sal saying there was blue water all over the floor. The porta potti had overflowed; oops! we’d forgotten to check and empty early enough – a lesson we will not forget. Towels and kitchen role deployed to mop up and stem the flow, coffee and tea at our idyllic night spot were cancelled. We headed off very early to seek out the coop that we’d clocked on Friday evening in Perranporth (it was an omen). We bought industrial quantities of cleaning products before heading gingerly (very hilly) back to the camp site to commence the big clean up.
Cleaning chores complete, we headed to Perranporth Golf club to caught up with Watsie and my other old team mates to watch the Semi-final against St Enodoc.
On paper St Enodoc were stronger but the Mullion boys pulled it out of the bag.
In the last few holes of the afternoon singles the boys stood up to win. 40 years on and in the final again – brilliant 🙂
On the Monday we worked from the van (and did a load of washing of towels etc ). We baked a loaf and chilled in the van for the evening as the sun went down. Quite jealous of the dude parked next to us with his surf camper come coffee bar on a LWB Landy. Very cool! 🙂
On the way back to London we broke the journey in Dorset at Tarrant Crawford near Poole.
It was a pub stopover camp site with c 6 pitches. The Landlords of the True Lovers Knot (great name) had just taken over the place and were working things out so sadly the kitchen wasn’t open.
After a walk along the river we put some food on and then headed to the bar to enjoy the locals banter for an hour or so. Great fun.
Its a lovely area and if we’d had longer there are walks down to the coastline. its a real come back to place.
The following day we woke to beautiful weather and worked from the van before heading back to London.
Back in London we saw the month of February out with a BBQ on the balcony.
What a contrast to the way the month started.
Seems like a long time ago that I started writing this post – a long, short, month.
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