A trip to Woolacombe by the Famous Three

As a reprise of the infamous Groat’s ride of 2007, this last weekend was a poor follow up in that it didn’t involve bikes apart from frequent references by Vince to the cycling proficiencies of one Victoria Pendleton . It did however give the three of us a chance to relax with good company(?), partake of fruitcake and to try out the virtues of Andy’s new ginormous tent ~ apart from fact he forgot to bring it.

So we relied on the tried and tested qualities of the “California” with the top/tail sleeping arrangements and my sleeping upstairs trying to ignore the sounds from down below. We also took the opportunity to give the van’s awning a first day in the sun and mighty pleased we all were with the results of that ~ though young Smith does get more orgasmic over the brilliance of his utility tent!








As on our epic trip in 2007 the culinary standards set by our Ray Mears wannabe excelled, especially the meal he had prepared for the first night and for all you quiz experts out there I must again remind you that the capital of Chile is Santiago and not Con Carne!

After an early start for Swan (at least two hours before the sleeping beauties downstairs) when he took advantage of the opportunity to stroll the half mile or so to revisit “Once upon a time” where he and Sue had taken Joanne, Martin and Laura in 1992 ~ sorry Jo but you’re “driving experience” would look a tad more difficult now!

Astounded that such a “wonderful” attraction should have succumbed to the recession Swan returned to the van to find the sleep experience still ongoing.

After I’d made enough noise to wake the young ones up we ate a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs before setting off to walk across the hills down to Woolacombe beach where we found a heaving mess (sorry mass) of humans congregating in as little amount of the huge expanse of sand they possibly could! Still found time for a paddle though.

Disheartened by this experience we trudged wearily back up the hill but this time following the main road ~ a deeply unpleasant business in the heat. Finding an oasis in the form of the “Old Mill” we took refuge in the courtyard but unfortunately this proved to be an event that has possibly scarred Vince for life ~ if you bump into him please for the love of his sanity do not mention PEAR CIDER!!!


After games of boules which for the life of me I can’t recall who won, a barbecue rounded off the evening (plus wine and beer of course). A relaxing weekend drew to a close with the comforting thought that I for one didn’t have to go to work tomorrow. Sorry lads.