Saturday dawns bright with a vengeance!

It wasn’t a bad idea to stop over in the Premier Inn I was able to get my gear dry and I was packed up and on my way quite early, It was then a quick drive into Hayle to pick up some bits and pieces and on my way North, taking the B3301 up to Portreath and Cambrose before taking the lanes up through Porthtowan and into St Agnes before getting onto the B3285 into Perranporth.

These roads were great compared to the ones I had encountered on South Devon and Cornwall, now I had reached the North Coast the other main change appeared to be the more rugged landscape with steep cliffs and big waves.

Before entering Perranprth I had spotted a few signs for an airfield and did a bit of research, in fact as I rode along the B3285 I witnessed a Cessna 172 coming into land, at that time in the morning I suspected someone had been out for either an early morning trip or someone was coming down for the bank holiday weekend in the ultimate way to beat the holiday traffic. Given it’s location and it’s run down nature it was pretty obvious that this wasn’t an airfield that had been used by the RAF or Royal Navy in recent times.

RAF Perranporth was an RAF base. The 330 acre (134 hectares) airbase was built as an RAF Spitfire base in World War II in 1941 and de-commissioned soon after it’s end. It is situated on the cliffs of North Cornwall. It has three hard surface runways which have seen better days and two grass strips. In May 2007 the civil owned site which is available for general aviation was put up for sale as the owners were retiring. I couldn’t find out for definite who owned it now but all indications are that it is run by a flying club.

It wasn’t far up the coast before I reached Holywell Bay and then Crantock, which is a beautiful little village and the National Trust car park is wonderful and a world away from what was on the other side of the estuary. Unfortunately the car park is all sand and there was no way I was going to stop, if I did and put the sidestand down, I’d still be digging it out now. It was only a few minutes later that I was taking the back lanes into Newquay to be met with the other side of the coin. My god! we can also do Tacky in this country better than anyone else. Not even 11 o’clock in the morning and amongst all the surf shops and the trashy gift shops and amusement arcades, there were groups of lads wearing T shirts with the words Stag Wars emblazoned on the front and their names on the back, there is also a group of girls on the other side of the street obviously on a hen weekend. STD central coming up this weekend then. I rode out to the point at Pentire and took the following photo back at Crantock and the estuary before riding round to the world famous Fistral Beach. To say it was packed with people learning to surf is an understatement.
It was then out through Porth and Trevelgue before reaching Watergate Bay. Riding along the B3276 soon brought me to the 9th Airfield. RAF St Mawgan or what used to be RAF St Mawgan.
Opened as a civilian airfield in 1933, it was requisitioned at the outbreak of World War II and named RAF Trebelzue, initially as a satellite of nearby RAF St Eval but was expanded with twin concrete runways. In February 1943 it was re-named RAF St. Mawgan. In June 1943, the United States Army Air Forces took over and carried out a number of major improvements, including a new control tower and a further extension of the main runway. The base was put under maintenance on 1 July 1947.

In 1951 it reopened as a Coastal Command base used for maritime reconnaissance, flying Avro Lancaster and Avro Shackleton aircraft. In 1956 with 220 and 228 Long Range Reconnaissance Squadrons. These Squadrons were later renumbered 201 and 206 and joined by 42 Sqn. It also became the Headquarters of 22 (helicopter) Sqn. In 1965 201 and 206 Sqn moved to Kinloss and in came the Maritime Operational Training Unit. 7 Sqn Canberras operated here as target tugs from 1970 until 1982, with 22 Sqn moving out in 1974. 42 Sqn and 236 OCU moved to RAF Kinloss in 1992 taking away its fixed wing station based aircraft, the Nimrods which had been at the base since 1969.

In 2005, RAF St Mawgan was one of the bases shortlisted to house the new Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) in 2013, but in November 2005 it was announced by Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram that it would be going to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.

In November 2006, No. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment moved to RAF Honington and the 2625 Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) squadron disbanded. Helicopter maintenance (HMF) also ceased here in that year.

Until May 2008, RAF St Mawgan was primarily used as a Search and Rescue training base and was home to 203(R) Squadron equipped with Sea King helicopters. The SAR Force HQ was also based here. Both 203(R) Squadron and the SAR Force HQ moved to RAF Valley.

On 1 December 2008 the airfield part of the camp (including the civilian side) closed but the RAF still remain on a reduced area. This was to allow full control of the airport to be handed to Cornwall County Council with work including a new ATC tower and runway lights. The airport received a full CAA license to operate in December 2008.

It was only a short time later I came upon the evidence of the 10th Airfield, you get to recognise certain things, such as water towers and certain types of fencing, as well as radio masts, this one was given away by a large number of the latter as it had been converted to a communications base at some time in the past.

The former RAF St Eval. The RAF's 1930s expansion plan included a requirement for an airbase to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the South-west coast of England. The site at St Eval was chosen as a Coastal Command base and work got underway in 1938. Five widely dispersed cottages, two houses and portions of two farms were acquired by compulsory purchase and with the village of St Eval completely demolished in order to build the air station. Levelling of the site by G.Wallace Ltd involved the removal by bulldozer of many Cornish dry stone walls and three ancient tumuli. One householder tried to hold out against the authorities and refused to leave his cottage for several days. Only the church survived from the village (which still stands today). The work progressed well and St Eval opened on 2 October 1939.

In June 1940 St Eval became a Fighter Command sector headquarters for the Battle of Britain and Supermarine Spitfires were based there. These were joined by Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim Fighters and the station's aircraft took an active part in the conflict with considerable success. After the Battle of Britain the station went on the offensive to the end of the war.

The formation in December 1940 of No 404 (later 1404) Meteorological Flight was significant. The squadron was tasked with providing basic weather data on which the Command meteorologists could base their forecasts. This meteorological role was highly important and it was a role which St Eval performed throughout the war.

The importance of St Eval was such that it was given a FIDO (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation) installation in early 1944 for dispersal of fog around the runway so that aircraft could land safely. St Eval was destined to have a busy time during the allied invasion of Europe. It was home to three RAF Liberator squadrons (53, 224, 547). Many of these were equipped with the highly successful Leigh Light. In the April a fourth squadron arrived giving the base one of the most powerful anti-submarine forces in the RAF. This force flew thousands of hours of patrols each month and was rewarded with a number of sightings, many of which were converted into attacks and with at least three confirmed U-boat kills in June alone. The Allied capture of French ports meant that the U-boat threat was drastically reduced. This meant that the units based at St Eval would be better used elsewhere. By Autumn of 1944 the base was a shadow of its former self.

The base continued to be used for maritime patrols and search and rescue duties. The airfield was also a site for diversions with a number of military and commercial aircraft making use of St Eval due to bad weather at their destination airfield. The Station closed on 6 March 1959, with the existing squadrons moving to nearby RAF St. Mawgan.

Much of the basic structure still exists but many of the buildings have gone. The base is currently a communication station. A new village has been built on the east side of the base that originally provided married accommodation for the RAF. If you wonder where I get a lot of my information it is basically the internet and a lot comes from Wikipedia.

When doing the double checking of some of this information I also found that there was even more airfields in this area. That I rode close to without even noticing them such is the level of demolition involved and the period of time since they were used as anything remotely like an airfield the first one is RNAS St Merryn and its satellite site at RNAS Vulture 2 which was a grass diversion field further up the coast all that remains of which is two concrete structures in a field.

Back to riding, after riding the back lanes around Trevose and Trevose Golf Club, I entered Padstow it was very busy but I was able to get right into town and down to the quay side. The day before was Obby Oss the busiest day in the year for Padstow. the traditional 'Obby 'Oss day (dialect for Hobby Horse) is held annually on 1st May, which in Cornwall, largely dates back to the Celtic Beltane, the day celebrates the coming of Summer and is internationally famous.

Down on the quay side is one of the best if not the best Pasty shops in all of the UK never mind Cornwall. I mention the ‘UK’ for a reason, one of the local papers was carrying a shock news story about the latest pasty competition where a bakery from Devon won the top prize. Anyway I digress yet again. I had stopped outside The Chough bakery for one of their Steak and Stilton Pasties, absolutely brilliant!!! Also whilst I was leaning against the bike enjoying my pasty I had on of the best laughs I’ve had in ages.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned when visiting Salcombe, that ‘sloane’ parents went there whilst they dispatched their children off to Rock, across the estuary from Padstow. Well there I was minding my own business when these two couples in their late teens early twenties appeared next to me with one of the girls on the phone to some other friends trying to direct them so they could meet up. In a very far back accent and quite loud ‘If you walk around the harbour, you will see the Chough Bakery’ (pronouncing it CHOW) I actually giggled out loud, I almost felt like saying to her ‘don’t tell your parents how much money they’ve wasted on our education dear, it’s pronounced CHUFF’. But that wouldn’t have been nice now would it? but I am amused when some people try and appear to be something better than they are.

Leaving Padstow behind I had to find some fuel before I got much further, however my route was going to take me up the Camel Estuary to Wadebridge so after a quick run past the Cornwall Showground I turned off down to Wadebridge and came upon a Shell Garage where I and the other bikes that pulled in after me were made to feel like second class citizens or criminals. I understand that if some ‘dodgy’ character comes along that may skip without paying, you want them to identify themselves. However when you have a bike SO identifiable as mine, with telephone numbers and web addresses etc plastered all over it. It kind of gets under your skin when someone blurts out over the tannoy ‘Pump 4 take your helmet off before we authorise your purchase’. How offensive is that? If there was somewhere else convenient to go to I would have told them to sod off. Sorry it may seem like I am being very self important but honestly it typifies what is wrong with this country right now, petty rules and jobsworths and people not using the common sense God gave them. Yes I took my helmet off and I did give the poor girls on the tills my views, ‘well we have had our instructions’ have you ever thought of using your brain in combination?

I have to say that I have not had this problem at any other filling station throughout this whole ride in fact this is the only time I have EVER encountered it, hence my ire.

It wasn’t long before I had left Wadebridge and the mass of part-time cyclists who hire bikes then cycle down the trail to Padstow and back along the disused railway line called The Camel Trail, I can’t make too many comments as I have done the same myself many times, on one occasion even hiring a trailer to put my Son in, when he was only just over a year old, he’s now just enjoyed his 15th birthday. The only thing you have to do whether you are riding or driving is watch out for cyclists, there are more here on a sunny day than there are in Amsterdam.

Out on the B3314 then down the back lanes towards Polzeath brought me to Rock. It is a beautiful little village with staggering views across the estuary.

The weather was stunning and I could have just taken my jacket and helmet off and laid on the sand for the rest of the afternoon but that wouldn’t have achieved very much, would it? So it was back on the lanes to Polzeath, Port Quin and then Port Isaac, more famous as Port Wenn in the TV series Doc Martin. A wonderful little village blocked by an idiot in a 3 series BMW estate, who wouldn’t commit to pulling on to the beach/harbour car park, all he had to do was pull forward 3ft and everyone could have got through but he wasn’t certain he wanted to go there so his indecision blocked everyone on and even car horns didn’t wake him up until someone knocked on his window to tell him he was blocking the whole village, which down by the harbour is seriously narrow.

Again on the back lanes to Port Gaverne and back on to the B3314 before heading into Tintagel on the back lanes through Trebawith Strand and then t overlook Tintagel Castle. In all the North coast this was the first one I had come across. The North coast is so rugged I would be a major feat to land any force here, those bays and coves that are available can be; not only easily defended, they also usually suffer from major currents and surf that both form both part of their attraction but also their isolation.

Tintagel Castle is famous for its association with the legend of King Arthur, who was said to be born on Tintagel Island where the remains of the 13th century Castle stand today.Tintagel Castle is set on a dramatic and picturesque headland that is virtually an island, connected to the mainland by a slim finger of land. Over the centuries much of Tintagel castle has fallen into the sea and very little remains today.

Below the castle on the Castle Beach is Merlin’s cave which is accessible at low tide.The Castle was built by Reginald, Earl of Cornwall on Tintagel Head, where according to Cornish legends the ancient Kings of Cornwall held their court. Tintagel castle was built for propaganda purposes and had no real strategic value.

It was claimed by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century that the castle at Tintagel Head was where King Uther Pendragon seduced Queen Igraine of Cornwall, while her husband, Gorlois, was under siege elsewhere. King Arthur was thus conceived and later writers made the castle his birthplace.

The modern day village of Tintagel was known as Trevena until the 1850s, when it was renamed to promote tourism on the back of the King Arthur and Camelot legends. Strictly speaking, Tintagel is only the name of the headland.

Just up the coast is Boscastle scene of those staggering images of the floods a few years ago, it is a lovely ride down into the village, unfortunately you cannot get anywhere near the harbour, unless you park up in the car park and walk down and I wasn’t going to do that. I carried on through the lanes to Dizzard, Titson before coming on the following view. Bude is just round the corner However it is the rocks of the cliff why I took the photo, it hardly does the geology justice it is obvious that it had been formed by some form of volcanic action in the past as the layers of rock zig-zagged from the beach all the way to the top. Riding along these cliff tops certainly was a lot better than struggling the way I did on the South Coast, this is more like what I had expected when I planned this trip. Bude was very busy, the sun was out and so were the crowds. It certainly looked far less tacky than Newquay earlier in the day and a little more of the traditional ‘bucket and spade’ shops that you expect at a seaside resort.

I felt I was doing well and wanted to keep going so after a quick drink to keep the fluid levels up I was on my way again, I was actually worrying about the potential of cramps again, thankfully whether I am fitter this time around or I was more sensible with what I was drinking, but it is something I didn’t suffer from all weekend.

On the road out of Bude and even as I was riding in, I could see this ‘base’ on the cliffs to the North of Bude and riding round the back lanes at times I thought I had passed it by then I got the following. I could have got one much closer when I rode by outside the fence but I wouldn’t be writing this blog right now. It is a GCHQ listening station. Now I am not informing you of something not in the public domain as it had it’s own Wikipedia page, from this I can now say I have passed my 10th airfield, the former RAF Cleave was an airbase just north of Bude from 1939 until 1945. Despite a few periods of intense activity it was one of Fighter Command's lesser used airfields.

RAF Cleave was conceived as housing target and target support aircraft for firing ranges along the north Cornwall coast and land was acquired from Cleave Manor. It was put into Maintenance in 1945 and was later converted to initially a joint military communications site and eventually what we see today.

Further to the North I went around a number of back lane skirting Hartland but I missed out on the Lighthouse on Hartland Point as it was a dead end, i.e. 3 miles down and 3 miles back for a photo opportunity, Sorry a dead end too far. The B3248 lead me back on to the A39 and some real speed for a change (yeah right! 50mph) but it was a good chance to get a few miles in before turning off at Alwington that brought me in to Westward Ho.

I then went down to Royal North Devon Golf Club. It can rightly claim to be the cradle of English Golf. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest golf course in the country and is regarded as the St Andrews of the South. The golf course is as tough as any of the UK’s more famous links layouts especially when the sheep are out keeping the fairway down.

A quick loop around Appledore and then it was down to the Riverside of Bideford parking up for a drink and something quick to eat before moving on, it was now just after 4pm and I wanted to get round to somewhere near to Instow and Barnstaple before looking for a campsite. So a couple photos and I was back on my way down the A386 to Landcross and turning off to Gammaton.

Within about 15-20 minutes of leaving Bideford on one side of the River Torridge I come back down the other side to East-the-Water before heading along the B3233 to Instow. I have fond memories of Instow, when I was working for AMP we used to have a couple of factories, one in Bideford the other in Torrington and when going down to the monthly production planning meetings, I used to stay in Instow, unfortunately I used to think it was call the Tall Trees Hotel, I cannot find anything on any directory of that name in the area and nothing else strikes a bell, so it has either gone out of business or more likely been renamed.

One thing I do remember is the view across the estuary to the Appledore Shipyard.

I felt as if I had covered a fair number of miles during the day and if you looked at a map it seemed that way, although the trip meter was telling me I still had some way to go before I hit my daily record of around 200 mile of ‘coast riding’ if I looked at the most of transit and coast it is over 400. By Coast Riding I mean from getting to my restart point to stopping for the day, not the actual length of the coastline. I hope you understand what I mean because I am not going to waste anymore time trying to explain it.

Coming into Barnstaple is quite simple before a quick detour up to Tawstock before coming back down the A377 into the heart of the town then getting on to the A361 towards Braunton passing one of the RAF Stations I had actually applied to be posted to. RAF Chivenor or as it is known now RMB Chivenor. Originally a civil airfield opened in the 1930s, the Royal Air Force took over the site in May 1940 for use as a Coastal Command Station, calling it RAF Chivenor After World War II the station was largely used for training, particularly weapons training. During the 1960s, one of the RAF's Tactical Weapons Units (TWU) used Hawker Hunter aircraft for training. In 1974, the station was left on "care and maintenance", though No. 624 Volunteer Gliding Squadron continued to fly from there. The TWU returned flying BAE Hawks in 1979 and 1981. In 1994, the TWU left Chivenor, merging with No. 4 Flying Training School at RAF Valley, with the RAF handing the airfield over to the Royal Marines. The Marines have an existing equipment testing base at Arromanches Camp, in Instow, located across the Taw Estuary and approximately two miles from Chivenor. In a spending review that was announced over the summer of 2004, the presence of 22 Squadron at Chivenor was under review. After the flooding at Boscastle, this threat was rescinded. However, future defence spending cuts may still see the withdrawal of the Royal Marines and the closure of the fixed-wing airbase.

Further down the A361 I came to the outskirts of Braunton and the initial idea was to turn off left through Velator and then back on to the B3231 Saunton Road, however it would have meant turning into an industrial estate, now please, riding around viewing yet another Kwik-Fit or Topps Tiles is not my idea of fun and the ride through Braunton was far more interesting.

I was starting to wonder about where to stay when I passed by Saunton Gold Club and the fabulous Hotel overlooking the wide expanse of the course and dunes, unfortunately my budget wasn’t going to run to that. Shortly afterwards I spotted my first campsite, however I was a narrow road and I was at least half a mile past it before I saw a chance to turn, by which time I was entering Croyde Bay and I pulled into the first camp site I came across, only to be met with a sign with a list of conditions long enough to make you head spin. ‘No singles’ ‘ No single Sex groups’ ‘Family Site’ ‘Minimum 2 Night stay’ The last one was the killer and when I asked the question I was made to feel as if I was trying to rob them of something, unfortunately when I was about to play the ‘well look at the time, you’re not going get anyone else and something is better than nothing’ a young couple walked up and asked his colleague and there was my answer. I went a bit further towards the bay itself and pulled in to the Ruda Holiday Park which is more of a small village with it’s own shops and takeaways etc. but I though if I could get a quiet pitch it would be okay, unfortunately it was full, so it was now 2 strikes, let’s hope there wasn’t going to be a third.

Luckily a short while later I came across another campsite, it looked a bit rough and ready but it has plenty of space and it had showers and a small shop selling beer and I fancied one.

Little Roadway Farm, Camping Park was actually pretty good and cheap and turned out to be the base for a number of student groups including one from the University of Bath that had come down to Woolacombe on a kayak weekend. Thankfully they put me and a number of others in one big field and all the students were in the other, I didn’t notice them at all after a couple of cans of lager and half a bottle of wine, I slept like a log.

Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old, you stop when you finally get a campsite!’