Constable Time

Curse you QPR! Or should that be QP Yarr? I think it would have been better if Ipswich had lost 3-0 to a team of pirates. Much more acceptable, Jim lad. Unless of course, you're a ninja, in which case it's unacceptable. But enough of pirates vs ninjas!

I am in Ipswich at present - visiting the gal, of course - and will shortly be heading to Manningtree in order to explore Dedham Vale, which is also known as Constable Country, due to its high concentration of policemen. I mean, because some guy painted there and everyone was like, "Check out the hay wain on that!"

So yes, more reports on that shortly. In other news!

1) I am in the process of getting my internship with Andrew George sorted, eeee! His assistant is just checking dates for me and will get back to me after the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool, which takes place this week.

2) I was in Zummerzet on Monday, visiting such awesome places as Dunster, Minehead, Williton, Cannington, The Quantocks, and, er, Taunton. Hmm. But if you do get half a day free, do visit Dunster: proper little old-school village with a yarn market, a whacking great castle and a deli that does good cornish pasties. Tasty times! It was also good to see Uncle Clive and his family: we went to the Tandoori in Williton, and if the chocolate mousses are always that good, I may have to move there, hehe.

3) I watched the IT Crowd with my cousins Thomas and Amy. It was awesome. "Damn that mash looks tasty!" And it turns out I can play "London Calling" on left-hand guitar! Who knew?

Thanks for reading, more this evening, with...

The Evening Stanners

Swanage! And other news...

Hello again, readers! Earlier this week, I was at YHA Swanage in Dorset: which is an excellent county, and I urge you to go there at once. For one thing, Swanage has a steam railway that runs to the delightful village of Corfe Castle; for another, it has a pier and some lovely beaches; but mostly, you should pay it a visit because it is a town that is just about the right size. And if that wasn't enough, the Red Lion pub appears to have a very generous quiz machine: we won four pounds on a pub quiz game that never really threatened to become difficult.

Also in this week's update:

1. I didn't get the Cambridge job. Bah. Apparently they decided to go with someone who lived locally, which does make a lot of sense from their point of view: and I would have had difficulty finding somewhere to live in Cambridge.

2. I am moving from YHA Salcombe in Devon to YHA Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire. Yay! This puts me within about an hour's reach of Stroud, and only 100 minutes from London; which is nowhere near as long as it takes to get from Salcombe to ANYWHERE.

3. I will therefore be leaving Salcombe behind on Monday, sniff. I will almost certainly miss the place, though being in a remote location without a car has had me yearning for somewhere closer to home.

4. I may be starting an internship with the Lib Dem MP Andrew George (St Ives) in the not-too-distant future. I shall keep you posted!

Thanks for reading, and do not under any circumstances burn the Koran. I recommend burning your old school books instead: much more satisfying, I would imagine.

The Evening Stanners

Boscastle and Those Crazy Buses

So. Boscastle is extremely windy these days!

But still, even though the phone signal for O2 there is not exactly brilliant (think walking thirty minutes up a hill), you can't help but love it. The hostel has been fantastically refurbished since the floods; the people are friendly; and the local church not only acts as a sanctuary 24/7, but has free tea and coffee put out for weary travellers. You can't ask much more of a place, can you?

Liskeard, home to my friend Dan McCormack, was also well worth the visit: The Bean Cafe does excellent capuccinos, and the Tourist Information Office people seem to know pretty much everything. This could also be said of the staff at Bodmin's History Museum, though not so much of Cornish bus drivers: that's the last time I take the 584 from Camelford to Wadebridge instead of the 594! Lesson learnt for the future, methinks.

Well done to anyone who got their GCSE results by the way :-)

More updates on Friday!

The Evening Stanners

Internship Interview Ahoy!

That's right, the Evening Stanners might well be working with an MP: IF! If... he gets past the interview stage on the 31st August. Eep! But yes, if all goes well, I may well be working for Julian Huppert, the Lib Dem MP for Cambridge.

Coming up this week: Bodmin! Wadebridge! Boscastle! And maybe Liskeard and Totnes, depending on the weather. We shall see!

More updates tomorrow you groovy people: but now, to revise current Lib Dem policy. And hope I don't suddenly shout something like "VOTE TORY" during the interview. Though that seems extremely unlikely :P

Thanks for reading! Also, despite the media's desperate attempts to create a story, Charles Kennedy is not defecting to Labour: though whether he'll defect to Have I Got News For You is another question entirely.

The Evening Stanners

Go To Fowey At Once

That's an order :-D

As you can probably tell, I'm having a fantastic day off. I've just met up with an old friend from Uni, Lewis Wilkinson, and we had an excellent lunch at Tempo's Cafe in St Austell: I recommend their chocolate frappes!

I didn't really get to see much of Cornwall considering I was down here for three years studying in Falmouth, but anyone will tell you that the place becomes a lot easier to visit if you have this wonderful thing called an automobile. So what was going to be just a visit to Fowey turned into a nice detour at a delightful village called Charlestown, which has a working port, some excellent tall ships, a nice pebbly beach, and a 50's-style orange milkfloat that I would happily have bought for some ridiculous amount of money :-)

So yes, it's certainly been a delightful day. And if you find yourself in the coastal port of Fowey (which is delightful both for its narrow lanes, pretty shops and its general ambience), I sincerely recommend that you visit Pinky Murphy's cafe: there's a link to them here. Excellent atmosphere, friendly staff, and a decent taste in music; Electric Light Orchestra was just on the CD player. Yay!

All we need now is an economic boom, eh?

Thanks for reading!

The Evening Stanners

Exploration For The Nation!

Hello again! Busy times at the hostel: we've had meteor showers, thunderstorms, double rainbows, and baby rabbits in the garden. Though not necessarily in that order.

Anyway! Places I'm visiting very shortly:

1) St Austell
2) Fowey
3) Polruan
4) Golant
5) Par
6) Newquay

All in Cornwall, yay! Such an AWESOME county, which is kind of awkward when you're trying to promote the virtues of Devon. Oh well. Visit Coasters in Kingsbridge! There you are, that should do it :-)

More updates to come tomorrow people! Good times :-D

The Evening Stanners

PS Ed Balls says he'd like to meet me. Well come to Salcombe YHA then, 'cos I'm sure as heck not going all the way to Plymouth to hear you slag off the Milibands et al...

I'm Still Alive!

And to prove it, I'm in Falmouth on Monday to see Uni people, wooooo :-D

I'm sorry I'm so terribly slow, I really should update more frequently! But in fairness I've been super busy recently: the hostel takes up a lot of time, and I don't get much internet down here in Salcombe.

So here's what you need to know atm:

1. I have lots of cards: you guys are awesome :-D Except for the blokes. Blokes, you have sent me no post. GET IT SORTED.

2. I was up in London on Monday and Ipswich on Tuesday seeing my girlfriend Rachel. That's right, the poor girl has agreed to go out with me. Heaven help her. You'd think a Cambridge student would know better, wouldn't you? But seriously, she's awesome you guys, and I will stop now before I get too soppy. Eeeee :-)

3. I'm in Falmouth this Monday for one night only! So yes, do feel free to give me a shout and we shall meet up and it will be awesome. I'm thinking of doing the St Mawes ferry, but we'll have to see.

Take care people! Remember, now matter how bad your day is, at least you're not Nick Clegg. His popularity is most bogus, dudes...

The Evening Stanners