Monday, 30 October 2006

Personal

Hello P45

I lost my job on the 19th, and became just one more face in the unemployed crowd.

The benefits system seems to have improved a bit since I last had to sign on, almost six years ago. At that time, The Dole had just mutated into the slightly patronising Jobseekers Allowance (I note with some lack of surprise that the value of the weekly single person claim has gone up by about a pound in the last six years) and there was a huge booklet to fill in, seemingly in triplicate before you could start. Now, thankfully, most of the initial stages are done over the phone. Having to actually sign on doesn't get any better though, and I'm still surprised that I'm thinking of myself as one of them, the 1.7 million unwaged outsiders.

Posted by em at 20:11 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!

Thursday, 26 October 2006

Personal

Why I shave

I meant to post this two weeks ago. Back to work means back to shaving. And when you've got a fortnight-old beard to get rid of, why not play first.

[For frightening children]

Let me introduce to you facial styling that shall never be repeated.

I think I was going for Pop-era Edge.

It only lasted five minutes.

Posted by pab at 20:10 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!

Wednesday, 25 October 2006

Website

Joined at the blog

What's with the cool modern shade of...urm, brown, you might well ask? Well, it seems that I now get to contribute here in my own right, rather than just leaving comments from time to time.

Em x

Posted by em at 18:38 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!

Saturday, 14 October 2006

Arts

Film: Children of Men

[pab outside The Riverside]

Pretty good. Sure there were flaws, but the little touches really made this a film worth watching: the Banksy in an art gallery housed in Bankside's twin: Battersea Power Station; the glimpsed depiction of guards terrorising prisoners with dogs; the colour and character of Britain.

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Friday, 13 October 2006

Personal

Dolphins

[Dolphins]

Granted it's not the most astounding nature photography you've ever seen, but this sequence of photographs is the sole record of how our honeymoon ended.

Standing at the end of Teignmouth Pier looking out to sea we caught sight of four or five dolphins dipping in and out of the water.

Posted by pab at 21:02 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!

Tuesday, 10 October 2006

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Lelant Saltings → St Ives

[Porth Kidney Sands]

Distance: 4.36 miles
Ascent: 176 metres
Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes

Dot-to-dot
« Hayle | Pendeen »

Another hotel, another walk. Normally I like to complete a continuous section of coastline but this holiday is different. We've fractured the Cornish coastline into four with our disjointed walks. On eight future occasions we'll start or finish coastwalks at a place we visited on our honeymoon. This is a good thing. I love these physical reminders.

Posted by pab at 21:00 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!

Saturday, 7 October 2006

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Polzeath → Rock

[St Enodoc's church]

Distance: 3.59 miles
Ascent: 135 metres
Duration: 1 hour 39 minutes

What you're missing
« Port Gaverne | Padstow »

The photograph is of St Enodoc's church, Daymer Bay. In its churchyard is the grave of John Betjeman. You won't see it if you follow the coast path.

This ancient church is nestled amongst the clipped grass of a golf course and has stood watch over the mouth of the River Camel for seven hundred years. It's well worth the detour.

We took the ferry from Padstow to Rock this morning and headed to Polzeath by an inland route so that we could visit the church before walking along the coast back to the Padstow/Rock ferry.

[Playing on the beach] [Surfers in circles] [Rock ferry]

The coast path runs along low cliffs at Polzeath. Below us circles of surfers received tuition while families clung on to the last few hours of summer.

Update, 5 December 2015:
I've subsequently "walked out" the ferry that concluded this walk. This original writeup included the time taken to cross the Camel estuary by boat.

Posted by pab at 15:07 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!

Wednesday, 4 October 2006

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Par → Fowey

[Paul and Emma at Gribbin Head]

Distance: 6.81 miles
Ascent: 346 metres
Duration: 3 hours 32 minutes

Whatever the weather
« Mevagissey | Polruan »

I swear it was Emma's idea to do another walk today. This isn't going to be the walking and youth hostels honeymoon Liz is hinting at, but the weather was so gorgeous yesterday it'd be a crime to stay indoors today.

You can guess what happened next.

Somewhere on the short bus ride from our hotel to the start of the walk, the blue sky vanished. The moment we disembarked the rain started. Costcutter became our shelter.

[Gribbin Daymark]

Striking south towards the Gribbin Daymark the sun won out, providing a wonderful late summer day to complete the walk in.

Posted by pab at 13:58 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!

Tuesday, 3 October 2006

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Fowey → Polruan

[Fowey and Pont Pill]

Distance: 4.27 miles
Ascent: 210 metres
Duration: 1 hour 57 minutes

The Hall Walk
« Par | Polperro »

It's not officially part of the South West Coast Path, but the Hall Walk is a scenic extension to the route along the banks of the Fowey estuary. It also makes an excellent half-day circular walk for couples honeymooning in Fowey.

The hotel we're staying in is on the waterfront so the coastwalk started the minute we stepped onto Fowey's narrow main street. One mile upstream we took the ferry to Bodinnick, then meandered through the woods on the east bank of the river south to Polruan.

At the top of the village - beside the sole remaining wall of St Saviour's chapel - a coastguard records traffic in and out of the Fowey estuary. From here the contrast between the sheltered estuary and open sea is unmistakable. Below this cliff a white wooden cross stands defiantly on rocks that have presumably wrecked many a ship.

Posted by pab at 14:43 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!