I downloaded a couple of shows recently that jogged the old memory banks. They were both about the south west of England and Cornwall in particular. In one, Richard Wilson takes a road trip down the A30 coast road and in the other  historian David Heathcote explores Cornwall with one of the old Shell Guides. I thought David Heathcote’s was the more entertaining of the two, particulary as he covered parts of Cornwall we know very well. He was particularly scathing of Padstow (or Padstein as it’s more commonly known) and the fact that you stand more chance of winning the lottery than finding a car park space there. Was nice seeing the Camel Estuary and Rock, because we went on a sailing course there once - learning to drive those little Mirror dinghies you always see.

One moment did tickle me though. Heathcote drove down to Polzeath beach, a place he hadn’t visited in more than 20 years, to see if it had changed. The general upshot was that it hadn’t really changed much in that time, but what made me giggle was all the surfers, in full steamer wetsuits, hats and gloves, wandering down to the water with their surfboards. I love Cornwall, but that side of surfing in the UK truly sucks. I suddenly remembered those winter surfs off Fistral or Crantock when your head gets ice-cream freeze and pissing in your wetsuit to warm up is a necessity. Don’t get me wrong, it cools off here too, but never *that* cold.

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