Instead of driving southwest on the M5 towards Cornwall on the Tuesday afternoon, we really should have been travelling south by train to London's Heathrow Airport and catching a plane to Reykjavik in Iceland. The trip to Iceland was planned a long time ago and should, had things not been disrupted by Covid, have seen Heather gain her 80th country just minutes ahead of her 50th birthday as the flight was due to land at 23:40. That was not to be!

The drive to Padstow from Derby should have taken around 5 hours including one en-route pitstop for fuel and food. That soon became 6 hours due to a massive traffic queue reported on the M5 around Bristol as a result of a fuel spill. This would add around 90 minutes to the journey if we stayed on the motorway so the sat-nav did its job and provided a quicker diversionary route but this meant travelling through the centre of Bristol in rush-hour, in the dark and in the rain. Never having driven in Bristol it was a hard diversion to follow, but importantly it kept us moving which was much better than being stuck in a traffic jam. It also involved a drive across the Clifton Suspension Bridge which was a first as well and that was well worth the £1.00 toll fee.

Pulling up at the Pickwick Inn just after 9pm meant there was time to unload our bags, check out the hotel room and make it to the bar for last orders. The first pint of Tribute, a Cornish beer, slipped down a treat.

The following morning (Wednesday) was Heather's 50th birthday and as we had managed to bring a number of her presents and cards with us, she could celebrate in style. The morning also allowed us to see the view from the hotel room which was rather impressive - even if overcast - allowing us see out across the River Camel estuary past Padstow and out to the Atlantic Ocean. Heather does like the sea, so this was a very good choice for her birthday and placed us in a great location to visit the north Cornish coast. What more could the birthday girl wish for? (apart from possibly being in Iceland)

After breakfast we headed to Padstow which is maybe even more popular than it would be as a result of Rick Stein, the celebrity TV chef, seemingly owning almost every other café or restaurant in the attractive town. It was however a bit too busy so after a few hours wandering, doing a bit of shopping and escaping from heavy downpours of rain we headed to Wadebridge for a late lunch at a sit-down fish and chip shop. Wadebridge was not quite what we expected, it seemed like it should have been much better than it actually was. It was difficult to say exactly what it was about the place that made it so, but we did not stay for too long and headed to the north coast and visited both Rock and Polzeath before having our evening meal back at the hotel

On Thursday morning we headed across to North Hill where Heather's brother now lives to drop off some Christmas presents before visiting nearby Launceston. Launceston seemed a nice place even if, sadly, the castle was closed. We managed to grab lunch at Café No 8, recommended to us by Carol, Jon's wife, who got in touch from their own holiday in Suffolk. It was a great place to stop for a bite to eat.

After lunch we headed to Tintagel (of King Arthur fame) on the north coast of Cornwall and walked down from the rather touristy town to the sea in order to observe the castle and new bridge that has been installed by English Heritage. After Tintagel we headed further along the coast to Port Isaac which is famous as the filming location for the film 'The Fisherman's Friends' as well as the ITV series 'Doc Martin' starring Martin Clunes as well as just being a nice place to visit. It almost seems like they could do without any extra fame at this very attractive Cornish village. Our evening meal was had at The Cracking Crab, a beach hut style restaurant at Polzeath.

On the Friday it was time to leave the Padstow area and head 'up country' as they say in Cornwall, although only as far as Somerset. We had all day to get there so took a slow drive up the coast, with our first stop being at Hartland Quay. This was an unexpected gem, and the type of place that we really appreciate finding. Having had no idea what was there we only decided to go because I recognised the name as being that of an ex Southern Region steam locomotive (34101 was named Hartland) and thought it worth seeing what was there.

The rugged coast and the weather conditions certainly made you have respect for those people that once sailed fishing boats into Hartland Quay itself (now no longer in existence). The ex-houses of the fishermen and their families are now all part of a hotel at Hartland Quay and we were able to have lunch there before heading further north.

This is certainly an area that we will visit again and maybe sooner rather than later given travel restrictions . . . . . our next destination on this trip would be the little village of Rickford in Somerset which will feature in the next edition of my travel blog!

**See the photos section of this blog for more images of our time in the Padstow area**