Post by Dave on Dec 18, 2009 19:08:23 GMT
As I drove from Okehampton to Holsworthy I was wishing I could stop yawning, four hours sleep after being up and awake for 20 hours on Thursday was bound to have some effect on me. The road ahead was deserted and looked cold and unwelcoming and frost and ice was very evident. Every now and then my eyes went funny as the rising sun behind me hit my large wing mirrors, but at least it was going to make an appearance today.
The radio was full of the news that 6 inches of snow had fallen in some parts of the UK and they could expect another 8 inches during the day and here I was only 200 miles away celebrating the rising of the sun. I pulled in and parked in the yard at Mole Valley Farmers in Okehampton and as I did a car pulled up beside me, I got out and as I did the door opened on the car and out got a very pretty young lady.
Just a pair of jeans on a small blouse that showed 6 inches of her tummy, I was thinking that they really make very tough maids up here in North Devon, or maybe she was some dumb bird who had seen the sun through her bedroom window and thought summer had come again as it was bloody freezing and the wind just cut you in half.
Well it had me smiling as I drove to Travis Perkins at Stibb Cross, the yard foreman was pleased to see me and could not wait to congratulate my team TUFC on beating Stockport. Well you see you only need to talk with him to know he is not from around these parts and you will soon work out he comes from Brighton. He is so looking forward to get the chance to see his team play at Plainmoor a ground he has never been too, only he declined my offer to go to the game with me, nothing personal you understand, he just wants to be in the away end with the other Brighton fans.
We wished each other a merry Christmas and I headed for Bideford, I was soon smiling again as I put my hand up to two fellow van drivers who had flashed their lights at me. I said to myself it was a good job it was van drivers who understand the need to keep your driving licence, just think it might could have been one of those rude taxi drivers, you know the ones, they think they own the road and the rules of the road do not apply to them. If it had been one of them, then they would have just let me head blindly into some speed trap.
So I checked my speed and it was spot on and around the next corner I drove into a small village that has no more than 30 houses, its just a dip, down the hill and then climb up it the other side past the last house. I don’t think I have ever seen one person outside any off the houses in the six odd years I have driven through it, but they must feel well protected there, as they regularly have two police cars parked there to try and catch any driver going over the speed limit as was the case this morning. I did resist the strong urge to salute them as I drove past, best not to invite any future problems.
A little bit further and just outside Bideford (Torrington side) I stopped by a farmer’s gate and took a few pictures of the sun coming over a hill, I think I will need to take my camera with me some days as you can’t get the shots right on a camera phone. Still it looked effective enough and in this valley the pylons can be seen as far as the eye can see.
I did the calls I wanted to in Bideford and made the last one Jewsons, they are on the other side of the river and three years the whole place burnt down during the day, it was one of the biggest fires that has ever happened In Bideford. I took a shot here as the sun was also coming over a large hill. Last year when it snowed in North Devon, this hill had hundreds of people on it, it really is so steep and I did stay awhile and watch them all having such good fun.
To get to Jewsons I had to cross the river on the old bridge and if you know Bideford you will know you do not have to go back over the old bridge to get to Barnstaple, you can just drive alongside the river and then pick up the main road to Barnstaple.
Before you get on the main road you drive under part of the new bridge, it’s so high as it goes from one side to the other, but sadly it has been given the name Suicide Bridge by many of the locals. On the top of it has a footpath on both sides of it and there are signs for the Samaritans fixed to the fences, well it’s the highest structure in Bideford and to date none have survived when they have jumped off it.
Anyway there is a small pull in just before the bridge and I just had to get a shot of it, I got lucky as a lorry was going over it just when I was ready to take the photo, as I turned around to get back into my van I saw a the sun behind a tree and had to get that shot as well.
I drove under the bridge and up to the roundabout, for some reason I did not turn right and up the hill to the main road (the fastest way to Barnstaple) but went straight on, this way is the original road from Bideford to Barnstaple and goes past Instow. I soon found myself parked in a bus stop as from there you could see Appledore and in for a penny, in for a pound as they say, I thought I might as well get a shot of that as well.
Just as I got near Instow I looked at the time, I was a bit earlier than normal so as I have never seen Instow itself or its beech, I turned of the road and took the road into Instow. I say beech but it is not a beech by the open sea, Instow is inside the mouth of the estuary as can be seen by the map I will put up along with the pictures.
I was soon parked on some yellow lines beside the beech; here I was able to take a picture looking back to the new Bideford Bridge, Appledore and the beech itself that had many dog walkers on it. I even took a small stroll on the beech but soon got back in the van as it was just so cold in the wind.
Time to get back on and do some work for me, six calls in Barnstaple, then onto South Molton, Tiverton, Credition, Exeter and I planned to finish in Exmouth. I think the reason I love my job so much is the freedom I have during the day to do what ever I want, as long as I get the work done my boss pays me for then he is never going to say anything or mind one bit.
The sun just outside Bideford
Pylon Valley
The hill behind jewsons Bideford
The Bridge
Shot taken near the bridge
Appledore
Appledore from Instow
Looking back toward Bideford Bridge
Instow Beech
Map of Instow
The radio was full of the news that 6 inches of snow had fallen in some parts of the UK and they could expect another 8 inches during the day and here I was only 200 miles away celebrating the rising of the sun. I pulled in and parked in the yard at Mole Valley Farmers in Okehampton and as I did a car pulled up beside me, I got out and as I did the door opened on the car and out got a very pretty young lady.
Just a pair of jeans on a small blouse that showed 6 inches of her tummy, I was thinking that they really make very tough maids up here in North Devon, or maybe she was some dumb bird who had seen the sun through her bedroom window and thought summer had come again as it was bloody freezing and the wind just cut you in half.
Well it had me smiling as I drove to Travis Perkins at Stibb Cross, the yard foreman was pleased to see me and could not wait to congratulate my team TUFC on beating Stockport. Well you see you only need to talk with him to know he is not from around these parts and you will soon work out he comes from Brighton. He is so looking forward to get the chance to see his team play at Plainmoor a ground he has never been too, only he declined my offer to go to the game with me, nothing personal you understand, he just wants to be in the away end with the other Brighton fans.
We wished each other a merry Christmas and I headed for Bideford, I was soon smiling again as I put my hand up to two fellow van drivers who had flashed their lights at me. I said to myself it was a good job it was van drivers who understand the need to keep your driving licence, just think it might could have been one of those rude taxi drivers, you know the ones, they think they own the road and the rules of the road do not apply to them. If it had been one of them, then they would have just let me head blindly into some speed trap.
So I checked my speed and it was spot on and around the next corner I drove into a small village that has no more than 30 houses, its just a dip, down the hill and then climb up it the other side past the last house. I don’t think I have ever seen one person outside any off the houses in the six odd years I have driven through it, but they must feel well protected there, as they regularly have two police cars parked there to try and catch any driver going over the speed limit as was the case this morning. I did resist the strong urge to salute them as I drove past, best not to invite any future problems.
A little bit further and just outside Bideford (Torrington side) I stopped by a farmer’s gate and took a few pictures of the sun coming over a hill, I think I will need to take my camera with me some days as you can’t get the shots right on a camera phone. Still it looked effective enough and in this valley the pylons can be seen as far as the eye can see.
I did the calls I wanted to in Bideford and made the last one Jewsons, they are on the other side of the river and three years the whole place burnt down during the day, it was one of the biggest fires that has ever happened In Bideford. I took a shot here as the sun was also coming over a large hill. Last year when it snowed in North Devon, this hill had hundreds of people on it, it really is so steep and I did stay awhile and watch them all having such good fun.
To get to Jewsons I had to cross the river on the old bridge and if you know Bideford you will know you do not have to go back over the old bridge to get to Barnstaple, you can just drive alongside the river and then pick up the main road to Barnstaple.
Before you get on the main road you drive under part of the new bridge, it’s so high as it goes from one side to the other, but sadly it has been given the name Suicide Bridge by many of the locals. On the top of it has a footpath on both sides of it and there are signs for the Samaritans fixed to the fences, well it’s the highest structure in Bideford and to date none have survived when they have jumped off it.
Anyway there is a small pull in just before the bridge and I just had to get a shot of it, I got lucky as a lorry was going over it just when I was ready to take the photo, as I turned around to get back into my van I saw a the sun behind a tree and had to get that shot as well.
I drove under the bridge and up to the roundabout, for some reason I did not turn right and up the hill to the main road (the fastest way to Barnstaple) but went straight on, this way is the original road from Bideford to Barnstaple and goes past Instow. I soon found myself parked in a bus stop as from there you could see Appledore and in for a penny, in for a pound as they say, I thought I might as well get a shot of that as well.
Just as I got near Instow I looked at the time, I was a bit earlier than normal so as I have never seen Instow itself or its beech, I turned of the road and took the road into Instow. I say beech but it is not a beech by the open sea, Instow is inside the mouth of the estuary as can be seen by the map I will put up along with the pictures.
I was soon parked on some yellow lines beside the beech; here I was able to take a picture looking back to the new Bideford Bridge, Appledore and the beech itself that had many dog walkers on it. I even took a small stroll on the beech but soon got back in the van as it was just so cold in the wind.
Time to get back on and do some work for me, six calls in Barnstaple, then onto South Molton, Tiverton, Credition, Exeter and I planned to finish in Exmouth. I think the reason I love my job so much is the freedom I have during the day to do what ever I want, as long as I get the work done my boss pays me for then he is never going to say anything or mind one bit.
The sun just outside Bideford
Pylon Valley
The hill behind jewsons Bideford
The Bridge
Shot taken near the bridge
Appledore
Appledore from Instow
Looking back toward Bideford Bridge
Instow Beech
Map of Instow
