Today was our longest distance so far and it felt it. The lanes were quiet and beautiful but the continual ascent and decent took its toll.
We skirted Holsworthy and joined the NCN 3 stopping at the picturesque village of Sheepwash which is blessed with a community store. Chatting to the lady running the shop, we were heartened to hear that, while there is the usual problem of convincing locals to use it, the resident village population is on the increase and those with a second home there return more regularly. We ate our a pasty in the village square which had a French feel to it, all that was missing was the chink of Boule and smell of Gitane. A supermarket van sped through reminding us where we are and a contributory factor in the demise of locally sourced food and the dairy industry.
Lunch was in the Waie Inn in Zeal Monachorum, both remarkable names but very unremarkable pub food.
On and on we toiled until the warm welcome from Margaret in Hayne Farm. It has been in her family since 1870 and she emphasised the problem of the insufficient price of milk to make dairy herds economically viable and how the farmers were all out using their tractors to blockade the local Morrisons supermarket.
Our bikes had a hay barn to rest and we had a classic room with a view in what was the most silent night I can remember.
Figures:
Distance:- 73.5 km
Cycle Time:- 5 hours 50 minutes
Average speed:- 12.6 kph
Total Distance:- 6197 km
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