Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1956-05-18
e OUR
"a TOWN

MINEHEAD, SOMERSET :
Up from Torquay through De-
Won and on to Clovelly is a
most satisfying trip in all re-
spects. AS usual, the scenery
is something to behold. Oke-
hampton, Holsworthy and
Bude and then straight up the
coast to Clovelly.
Clovelly is a tiny fishing
village at the bottom of a
cliff a sheer drop of about
500 feet to the ocean. 1t is
very old and the houses are
all of stone. A small fleet of
fishing boats are tied up in the
tiny harbor. 1t is another post
card scene come to life. The
road down the cliff to the
town is made entirely of flat
stones pounded in edge-wise
which make an everlasting if
somewhat bumpy walk. In
winter the stones make a nom
skid surface which is probab-
ly the difference between life
and death when it's icy. We
walk down into the town but
the fates have provided a nat
i've with a World War II
weapons carrier with four
wheel drive which takes us
burnpily back to the top.
Back in the car and on to
our nights lodging at the
Town of Mnehead, further up
the coast. Ilfracombe, Porlock
and Barnstaple are some OF
the towns we pass through on
our way. Many of the town
names here remind us of New
England and it appears that
many of the early New Eng
landers must have come from
these parts. Torrington, Bide-
combe, Newton, Stamford and
Weston catch our eye on the
map. But the best name we
come across is the tiny sea-
coast town of Westward Ho".
Minehead was named for
the obvious in that it is the
principle village near a fam
Gus stone quarry of the area.
Our hotel is excellent and we
dine like kings on fine, juicy
lamb. They say that the Eng
lish are beef eaters but we dis
agree. Well bet they eat more
lamb than anything else in the
meat line. Early to bed and
early to rise is the order on
a trip of this kind and, after
a. breakfast of fine bacon and
eggs as big as baseballs, we
are off again.
At Bristol we pause to send
postcards and to grab a cup of
tea. (We've also succumbed to
the custom of tea at four. We
take the ferry across the Sew
ern to Chepstow in the coun-
ty of Monmouth. From here
we head for the city of Here
ford in the county of Here
ford. We take note that this
is where all the great, great
grandparents of those Madi-
son county Hereford cattle
came from. Hereford is a
large and beautiful city and
the hub of activity for miles
around. Oh yes! Forgot to
mention that we stopped aat
Cheddar just before we got to
Bristol and had a piece OF the
original cheese which has be-
come so famous throughout
the world. The Cheddar caves
there are somewhat like Nam
moth Cave in old Kentucky
but not so large. 1t is here
that the bones of the ancient
Britons were discovered. Tis
said that they inhabited these
caves roughly 1900 years
ago. From the look of it
roughly is an understatement.
From Hereford we drive on
to what Harry Truelove calls
Tiger country. This is,
Wales.
This is the road mapmaker's
nightmare. We are on our
way to Talybont by way OF
Aberystwyth! But this isn't SO
bad really try these tongue
twisters; Mynydd Eppynt,
Yspytty Ystwyth, Llanafan-
fawr, Myddfai and Llanwrtyd!
No fooling, these are real
names! And the Welsh are
proud of everything Welsh.
It's fact that the children here
speak nothing but Welsh until
they are eight years old and
this is a good thing else they
would never take the time to
learn such language.
Wales is rugged and beauti-
full country but it appears that
the Welsh have a hard time
scratching a living out oil
these bleak mountains. In the
county of Cardigan where we
STAY. the green of England
fades and we see moors where
only sheep and a few cattle
Craze. Routh country this.
At Talybont, we spend the
night in a real country inn
It is called the BLACK Lion
r.ae