In the spring of this year my father suggested that I bring some friends down to Cornwall to compete in the Crantock Balepush. A locally renowned competition that involved pushing a round-bale of straw around the village of Crantock. This suggestion was made when we all thought that we were due for a hot and sunny summer, before the June rush of birthdays and before I had got my new job: it all seems such a long time ago!
So in early June I broached the idea with the ruling council of Rotund Society of York. Should we enter a team - and have a bit of a holiday as a precursor? After much cogitation agreement was reached and eventually the planning reached the level where accommodation was booked, transport arranged and everyone got ready to take a well earned holiday. All we needed, after one of the wettest summers on record, was some nice weather…..
What we got was a week of sunshine: Proper job!
Our accommodation was a success, the apartment was spacious, bright and over-looked the Gannel estuary from the Pentire peninsula. Once we all arrived it was quite late, so we all walked into town for food and a drink at the Fort Inn. This is a large pub, which was very busy, but it did have Tribute on, which helped to ease the wait. A couple of pints and a steak later we were fit for a trip around the Saturday nightlife in Newquay. This entailed drinks in Senor Dick’s, Barracuda and The Walkabout, before the combination of a long journey, drink and loud music took its toll and we headed for the apartment.
Sunday dawned bright and early, very early as the shitehawks started screeching on the roof at 5:30.
The early risers all walked down to the Gannel estuary to walk on the sand before all five of us drove out to the parents for coffee and see the infamous FatBess. A sumptuous lunch at Viners followed, which was a great way to start the week off, before we returned to Newquay for a walk around the Pentire and Fistral headlands and eventually finished with a Pasty and a pint of Doom Bar. Doom Bar is a very drinkable ale, which is named after the treacherous sand bar in the Camel estuary where many ships met their doom. We were also hoping to see the Doom bar itself, as we planned to walk to Padstow, from Newquay, on Monday. Just a short walk of around 23 miles ……
…. to be continued.