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Booking
this year’s holiday in the Cornish resort of Bude
reminded me of a holiday spent in that same county many
years ago – July/August, 1961.
Scooters
– my mode of transport in those days – were still in
their heyday, and Mods and Rockers were in the future. I was
a member of the Peterborough Scooter Club and, as we
travelled around at weekends to various rallies and outings,
we would regularly meet members of other clubs.
One
of these clubs was the ‘Nottingham Outlaws’, which
consisted of a large number of girl owner/riders, making it
more interesting. As time went on, a small group from both
clubs would meet up independently of the two main clubs.
On
one of our first get-togethers, the girls came from the
Nottingham area and we all met up at what used to be the
Embassy Theatre in Peterborough. Top of the bill that
weekend was Frank Ifield and the supporting act was a group
called the Beatles. We all looked at the notices: the
Beatles – who are they, we thought. We very soon found
out.
Our
friendships flourished and several of our little group
decided to book two weeks’ holiday in Cornwall, with St
Ives as our base. There would be three lads, four lasses and
four scooters. We boys booked bed and breakfast on a farm
but the girls decided to sleep in a tent, probably to keep
costs down, which the farmer let them put up in one of his
fields, close to the farmhouse.
We
all met up one July evening at Sharron’s mother’s house
in Mansfield, just north of Nottingham, and set off, much
later than anticipated on our long trip to Cornwall. We all
thought the journey would be ‘a bit of a doddle’ – how
wrong we were!
Leicester
provided our first problem. We had only just started, but it
was now dark. We managed to find our way, but progress was
slow, and I can still hear Mr Shakespeare laughing in his
grave as we trundled through Stratford-upon-Avon in the
early hours of the morning. How we kept awake, I still
don’t know. Roadside stops consisted of just that –
stops at the roadside. Mars bars were cheap!
One
of the main problems on the journey was that we had to
unload the entire luggage off one of the scooters every time
it had to be refuelled. The makers had put the filler cap in
a very clever place.
After
about 24 hours, we arrived at the farm on the outskirts of
St Ives. Yes, it was dark again. Fortunately, we had phoned
the farmer earlier in the day and given him an estimated
time of arrival. We arrived totally worn out, and found that
the farmer and his wife, Mr and Mrs Berriman, had waited up
for us and they made us very welcome.
Each
morning, during the whole two weeks, the lads had hearty
breakfasts in the farmhouse and the girls did their cooking
in the field. Our breakfasts just about lasted us through
the day, but once we had tried the local Cornish pasties we
were addicted. I have never since had a Cornish pasty that
tasted so good and filled you up so much, especially with a
glass of shandy to wash it down.
Our
en-suite consisted of a little wooden hut out in the back
yard, which housed the toilet. I don’t think we had any
rain for the whole period. It was hot and we all developed a
tan very quickly as there was no need for wearing our big
coats while on our scooters.
We
covered many miles during our holiday, visiting Land’s
End, Porthcurno, the Lizard, Falmouth, Penzance, Portreath,
Newquay (which was very quiet back in 1961), Padstow, and a
lot of small places and nooks and crannies. Apart from
official car parks there were times when we had to leave our
scooters by the roadside or out in the open countryside
unattended.
After
we had arrived in St Ives, the town was actually
‘officially closed’ – all accommodation was full,
including caravan and camping places – and this was in
1961!
We
had a simple, cheap, very enjoyable two weeks, with good
food and friendly people. The blue skies and warm sunshine
were a bonus, as was the Cornish clotted cream.
Sharron
and I married in March, 1963, but before that, in the summer
of 1962, we returned to the Berriman’s farm again for
another holiday together.
Peter
Carter, Peterborough
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This story was
first published in Best of British in July, 2007
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