My husband planned our driving route down to Cornwall as explorer planning his Polar expedition. First, he mapped out the route by Google. Then he took multiple time points of the day to gauge the traffic flow. Then consulted couple of people who had drove down to Cornwall recently. Next, he plotted 3 different routes to compare the time each takes and the scenery each shall see. The fastest route Google suggests is via Stonehenge, which we all know slows down the traffic and you might end up admiring the ancient monument longer than intended. After consulting me, the passenger, who knows nothing about the British highway system, he settled on the south-bound route. It will take longer based on Google, but should be more scenic according to someone who drove down to Cornwall frequently.
The promised seaside scenery along the south-bound route gives me something to looking forward to during the 6 hours journey.
We also need to find a place for lunch. Normally we go for a National Trust place, which has café facilities. But over the years, we’ve been to so many, that it would be repeat after repeat. After another Googling, Athelhampton House and Garden came to our attention. It lies just outside Dorchester, at half-way point of our journey. It has a magnificent house, a beautiful garden and a café restaurant.
We planned to head the road at 8am. But as my husband has the habit of checking the house 3 times before leaving, we eventually hit the road at 9am. It seemed lots of people were also late for work. The M25 had become a car park as we feared. As there were not much movement, I drifted off into sleep. When I woke up 1hr later, the road sign told me we had just managed to get off the M25 and were on our way west. The sunny summer weather we had had in the morning had taken a turn for the worse with a grey sky and angry cloud hanging low over the horizon.
Several dreams later, I expected to see the seaside, but found myself staring at the windscreen swiper wiping away the rain. I kept my spirits up by thinking about what should I order for lunch at the Manor House. I try to be vegan, whenever I can. The National Trust usually serves vegan sausage rolls or vegan pasties, which are not bad options. Elsewhere it is rather down to luck. The thinking made me hungry. After my husband informed me we still had more than an hour to go, and traffic was still slow, I requested a service station stop to stretch my legs and bought a bag of popcorn. I’m always puzzled why as a passenger I’m the first one to complaint about tiredness. I much prefer train journeys, where I can listen to audio books and be more environmentally friendly. However, my husband always prefers to drive. Unfortunately, the frequent train delays and cancellations in the UK haven’t helped me convince him. Haven’t even mentioned the price, I think it’s wrong that train tickets are more expensive than flights and double the price of car journeys. The UK Government’s Net Zero Committee needs to do something about it.
Athelhampton House is a well-preserved Tudor manor with complex ownerships over the years, which makes it unique inside. There’s the great hall from 15th century with its high ceiling and gigantic fireplace. A new kitchen was built in the 16th century, which resembles the kitchen at Hampton Court. There are wooden panelled Tudor bedrooms, each with a tester bed surrounded by fine damask curtains. Then there’s the Victorian billiard room and an art deco bedroom. The gardens are splendid as well. Dividend into ‘rooms’, its clever design makes you feel the garden never ends.
We continued our journey after lunch, back to the motorway, back to the traffic queues.
The satellite eventually directed us off the motorway onto A roads, then B roads. The farmland hedges gave away to wilderness vegetation. Twisting country lanes turned into unnamed roads, which was a good sign, indicating we were getting close to the cottage. The bad news was that, on the unnamed roads the satellite was no longer reliable. We had to rely on the puzzling directions given by the National Trust’s email, which emphasis “DON’T MISS the turn as you won’t be able to turn into the track from the other direction”. A track, is what we were looking for, which led to the cottage we booked. We gingerly drove down the narrow unnamed road. A stone cottage appeared on our left, as I was admiring its idyllic garden next to a stream, my husband noticed the two people standing in the garden were wearing National Trust T-shirts. Couldn’t believe our luck, my husband stopped and asked for directions. The two people looked confused, then something clicked, ‘Moon? Ah yes, you continue on this road, pass a bridge, follow the road uphill, ignore the first track on your right, turn right on the second track.’ Obviously, he had pronounced the name of the cottage wrong. Both of us must looked bewildered after hearing the answer. They added ‘At least you are in Cornwall now, welcome!’
After a sharp right turn from a sloping angle, we were on the track, the cottage was in front of us. We drove into the Quay, unloaded our luggage, parked car safety onto the higher ground, and settled into our new home for the next 6 days.
Leave a Reply