Personal

Not in Palestine

Earlier in the year it looked likely that Emma and I would spend a week in Palestine this autumn. That week was last week and in the end the timing was off for us so we stayed in the UK.

The trip went ahead with many of our friends. And if like us you weren't there in person, you can follow along with the words of two very different people: John and Paul.

If you feel the need to physically go, you'd do no better than contact Amos Trust.

Personal

Congratulations!

Drew and Rachel's wedding was the first we've been to since our own two years ago.

Hurrah for happy brides, grooms and bridesmaids.

Coastwalk

Underground

When we finished the walk to Liverpool I was itching to continue. A circuit of the Mersey basin via Runcorn and Ellesmere Port looks attractive, as does the iconic ferry to Birkenhead but the route which absolutely captivated me was the tunnel.

Ordinarily pedestrians are barred. Cyclists are too; Jonathan tells of how twice in one day he was plucked from the bowels of the tunnel after being spotted on CCTV while on his ride from John O'Groats to Lands End. So I don't fancy my chances sneaking down there incognito. Our host for the walk into Liverpool dangled a tantalising fact though: every now and then one of the tunnels is opened to hikers.

Today I did one of my regular online searches for "mersey tunnel walk" and at first hit terrible news: I've missed an opportunity on 15 June this year. However, an article on the Liverpool Daily Post provides a glimmer of hope: the event may be repeated next year for the 75th anniversary of the tunnel.

So Liverpudlians, keep your ears to the ground and please let me know if you hear anything, especially a date! It'd be a highlight of the 7,000 miles.

Comment

Ever-moving playing field

One of the reasons we use EbiCo to supply our gas and electricity at home is that they charge the same for energy no matter how customers pay - whether by Direct Debit or pre-pay meter.

Today's news is that soon all energy suppliers will be required to follow EbiCo's lead.

So where now for EbiCo? Personally I believe they'll continue to be more equitable than other suppliers so we'll be sticking with them. (After all, they remain the UK's only not-for-profit supplier.)

EbiCo aside, this news has started me thinking about an interesting effect. If you create a product based on solely around specific principles which later become universally accepted (or in this case mandated), you run the risk of losing your key differentiator when the lobbying pays off.

Every now and then I wonder what it'd be like to run my own business. This ever-moving playing field is by turns scary and incredibly exciting.

Personal

BAR - BAR - BAR

The wet weather drove tourists to Teignmouth Pier this afternoon. Naturally we joined them and I'm delighted to report that the pier has decided to reward my plea to the arsonists.

The pier's not changed much in the thirty years I've known it. Perhaps the most striking is the subtle addition of a gambling addiction advice sticker to each of the machines.

I normally favour the penny slides, but these old tupenny one-arm bandits were our main game. Limiting our spend to sixty pence, we were down to our last couple of coins when I hit a triple cherry and Em got BAR-BAR-BAR.

OK the payout was meagre, but we doubled our money - just enough for a celebratory cup of tea to wash down the roll of Refreshers we'd won earlier.

Sculpture

Somewhere to rest

Our holiday continues in South Devon, but rather than take the either of the A roads from Cornwall we struck out across the top of Dartmoor. The Lake District may be a more popular destination for walkers, but nothing can beat the wilderness down here in the south-west.

And here on the edge of the moor, a couple of miles north of Widecombe in the Moor, a furniture maker has placed a 20-foot high chair. What better place to stop and rest?

It won't be there forever though. Limited planning permission means it's due to be removed in early 2009. Until then, if you're in the area it's worth a quick trip. (OS grid reference: TQ 725800.)

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Padstow → Harlyn

Distance: 6.63 miles
Ascent: 169 metres
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Into the wind
« Rock | Porthcothan »

A strong west wind was blowing today, something Emma and I were entirely ignorant of for the first part of this walk as we made our way to the mouth of the Camel estuary. The bright sunshine burnt through the morning mist, lighting up the row of old coastguard cottages that watched over the ominously named Doom Bar sand bank.

The moment we came out of the shelter provided by Stepper Point it was clear the wind would feature strongly for rest of our walk. The old daymark at the top of the headland provided momentary respite and an opportunity to tighten the hoods on our windproofs.

The cliff-top walk down to Trevone and then Harlyn was breathtaking. Sixty metres below waves flung themselves at the rock while level with us birds of prey hung motionlessly, scanning the slumping cliffs for lunch. Further on the stacks by Middle Merope Island and the collapsed cave of the Round Hole provided further evidence of the power of the wind and tide.

So much for the view out to sea to our right. For much of the route we were accompanied on the left by a defiant man-made structure. Proudly ushering the path was an old herringbone wall, standing strong in the face of the wind that we finally had to give in to by the bridge at Harlyn.