Commitments in Cheshire prevented us from setting off for Parkham until the last week in February.
Although we arrived to drizzle, there were definite signs that Spring was almost here with daffodils in flower along with lesser celandine and, in sunny spots, primroses . Certainly a couple of weeks more advanced than our Cheshire garden.
Once again there had been power disruption in our absence and on this occasion the wifi router had been 'fried' during a severe thunderstorm along with several others in the village. This came as no surprise as we had lost contact with our central heating controller in January. Happily I had contacted my broadband supplier in advance and their tests had confirmed the problem. A new router was there waiting to be set up on our arrival. The only down-side was that we were unable to increase the central heating temperature in advance of our arrival and the cottage took a few hours before it felt comfortably warm.
We had decided that we should take the opportunity on any sunny days to travel a little further from Parkham. On previous visits we had limited ourselves to our few local favourite spots. On this occasion we took the opportunity of sunshine and a low tide to visit Sandymouth, one of our favourite beaches in Cornwall and just north of Bude. After a 35 minute drive we found the car park to be quite busy but, it was half-term week for some. Once on the beach however it was very quiet and we enjoyed an excellent walk admiring the fantastic views and the rock formations along the coast.
We also visited our local favourite beach on the Taw/Torridge estuary at Skern although on this occasion did not make it as far as the Pebbleridge Cafe.
On the duller days we took the opportunity to catch up with many of our local friends for coffee/tea or a drink in The Bell. We also spent a lot of time reading on our Kindles.
The author Elizabeth Gaskell lived in Knutsford and in fact her book Cranford (which was televised) was based upon Knutsford with some of the places she mentions recognisable still today. As we are now residents of the town I felt that I should read one or two of her novels. The first I read was in fact Cranford which was interesting because of the location but not the type of book I would normally read. Whilst in Parkham I tackled what is seen by some as her best work, North and South, also apparently adapted for TV. It was a challenge getting to the end of this long novel which contrasts the 'cultivated South' with the industrial North where strikes and class warfare was the norm. Whilst I could appreciate why it was highly rated again, it did not appeal to me and I was glad to reach the end. I do not plan to read any more Elizabeth Gaskell for a while.
We ourselves returned northwards at the end of the month as the weather began to turn cooler with the promise of snow on the way, not sure what impact this will have on the approach of Spring.
