Or, a true story of the paranormal from Cornwall
Published at 4:50 pm on October 30th, 2020
Filed under: Dear Diary, The Family.
As it’s nearly Hallowe’en, I thought it might be time to post a creepy story. And this is a true creepy story. I posted it originally on my Tumblr, six years ago, as an account of something that happened to K and I when The Children were both still only crawling and we took them away on holiday for the first time, to a holiday cottage on a farm in North Cornwall. It happened a few weeks before I wrote it down, more or less exactly as it is set down here, in the middle of the night just before we were due to leave. I haven’t edited the originally, so “about a month ago” should be read as “September, 2014”.
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Keyword noise: Cornwall, holiday, panic, paranormal, ghost stories, fog, mist, cottage, The Children.
Central Station: the transport hub of the city. Trams and metro to all parts of the city; buses to all parts of the suburbs. Ferries to get you across the harbour. And trains, of course, to the airport, to the rest of the country, to the rest of Europe. Underneath the station a crisscross of subways provides the usual transport-hub range of things a traveller in need might be looking for. New luggage, flowers, quick food. There are fast food units in the subway, selling chips, fried chicken in a bun, other forms of quickly-cooked meat, where the shy but hungry traveller need not even speak to the staff; and conversely a shy fast-food-frier never need speak to their customers. The whole front of the unit is a wall of clear plastic coin-operated boxes, each with a door at the front and a door at the back, each hopefully containing some tasty but unhealthy morsel. The hungry traveller puts their coins in the slot and opens the box; at the back, the staff fill up empty boxes with more hot food. Everything is, under heat lamps, on display behind its little perspex door to tempt you.
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Keyword noise: holiday, travel, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nederland, Holland, Noord Holland.
All that snowy weather we’ve been having – almost all gone now, apart from the enormous pile of snow cleared from the office car park – reminded me of the holiday we took a couple of years back, to Rīga, Latvia. “Make sure you wrap up warmly,” said The Mother. “Get proper thermals. Lots and lots of layers.” “You’ll need to take sunglasses, too,” said Dad, “or you’ll get snow-blindness.”
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Keyword noise: Baltic, cold, Europe, February, grey, holiday, Latvia, photography, Riga, weather, winter.
In which things are described, briefly
Published at 9:34 pm on July 20th, 2009
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Underground; wandering; the Ministry of Truth; Trafalgar Square; bridges and cabmen’s shelters; a model home; inspirational food and drink; black and white photos; tourist crowds; Soviet badges; gay icons; the wrong pizza; a missed film; gin and vodka; a walk in the park; strange inflatables; shopping streets; more photography; a nice cup of tea; long queues; very big pancakes; even bigger plaster casts; and another cup of tea.
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Keyword noise: holiday, London.
In which we remember things that happened on this day
Published at 9:49 am on February 4th, 2009
Filed under: Dear Diary, The Family.
On this day last year, we spent most of the day travelling, in the car, on planes and in airports. We drove from Yorkshire to Manchester; hopped from Manchester to Denmark and from Denmark on to Latvia. I spent quite a few blogposts beforehand writing about how excited I was; but only a couple, afterwards, talking about how great the trip had been.
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Keyword noise: anniversary, birthday, holiday, Latvia, Riga.
In which we visit Cornwall
Published at 9:05 am on December 5th, 2008
Filed under: Photobloggery.
This week, still from my summer holiday uploads: castles and derelict mineshafts.
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Keyword noise: castles, Chapel Porth, Cornwall, Haunters Of The Deep, holiday, mineshaft, photography, Restormel Castle, St Agnes, summer, Towanroath.
In which it's still summer
Published at 4:06 pm on November 21st, 2008
Filed under: Photobloggery.
As it’s Friday again, some more summer photos.
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Keyword noise: boats, Cornwall, dogs, fog horn, Goonhilly, holiday, lifeboat, lighthouse, Lizard, photography, Polpeor Cove, satellite dish, sleepy, St Ives, summer, tourists.
In which we photograph the deep blue sea
Published at 9:32 am on November 14th, 2008
Filed under: Photobloggery, The Family.
I grew up not far from the sea. I didn’t go down to the beach or the seafront very often, but I was close enough that you could see out to sea from the top deck of my school bus. I’ve always felt good by the sea.*
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Keyword noise: art, boats, Carrick Roads, Cornwall, Falmouth, feedback, fishermen, genealogy, Gyllyngvase, harbour, holiday, Pete Dolby, photography, Porthminster, sea, smugglers, St Ives, summer, water.
Not only have I been behind on updating this site, I’ve been getting behind on posting photos online. I generally stick to posting 6 to 8 photos per day, partly because uploading them is such a slow and tedious job that I can’t be bothered doing any more. This, however, means that I’m still only at the start of posting photos of our summer camping trip, down to Cornwall. That was: August. It’s now: November. That’s some delay. Here, though, are some examples, of hot, sunny, summer Cornish weather.
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Keyword noise: Carrick Roads, cathedral, Cornwall, Falmouth, harbour, holiday, photography, summer, Truro.
In which we are not as wet as we might have been
Published at 10:31 pm on May 29th, 2008
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Last weekend, feeling like we needed a holiday, we went away and pitched the tent. And it rained. The tent, fortunately, didn’t leak, but we ended up with great puddles round the door, a wading trip whenever we wanted to go in or out. Our last morning, we looked out to see ducks sitting and paddling in the water.
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Keyword noise: camping, Cheddar, ducks, flooding, holiday, rain, Somerset, weather.
In which we’re weatherbeaten
Published at 9:54 pm on March 27th, 2008
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Yes, typical. I write something about how unreliable the long-range weather forecast is, and what happens? It’s right for once. And the short term forecast – no snow in Wales – was wrong, too. We had a weekend of rain, sleet, snow, hail, wind. When I started to put the tent up, and was engulfed in a cloud of hail, I should have known it was a bad sign.
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Keyword noise: Cymru, tywydd, camping, hail, holiday, rain, snow, Wales, weather, wind.
In which we worry about the weather
Published at 10:49 pm on March 19th, 2008
Filed under: Dear Diary, Geekery.
In which we're warm on holiday
Published at 12:26 pm on February 17th, 2008
Filed under: Dear Diary, The Family.
“Ooh, how are you going to cope with the weather,” everyone said, when I told them I was going to Riga. “You’d better get some warm clothes.”
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Keyword noise: climate, clothing, cold, holiday, Latvia, Riga, shopping, travel, weather.
In which we enjoy ourselves on the Baltic
Published at 6:21 pm on February 14th, 2008
Filed under: Dear Diary.
In which we anticipate a holiday
Published at 11:14 pm on January 14th, 2008
Filed under: Dear Diary.
I’ve already told this to just about everyone, because I’m bouncing up and down already. In a few weeks time, we’re off on holiday. To Riga! I thought I’d mention it here, though, just to say: if any readers know anything good to do in Riga in winter, let me know. I know it’s a long-shot, but you never know who reads this and where they’ve been.
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Keyword noise: E Shrdlu, holiday, Latvia, Riga, travel.
In which we wonder whether to keep posting photos here
Published at 9:29 pm on October 9th, 2007
Filed under: Photobloggery.
One thing about using my Flickr account more: it’s meant, I’ve been going through all the photos I’ve taken in the past year, going: “ooh, actually, that’s not bad.” And: “Oh, yes, I hardly mentioned that trip on the blog.”
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Keyword noise: Cornwall, Flickr, holiday, Mevagissey, photography.
In which we look at Devon and Cornwall
Published at 9:14 pm on September 27th, 2007
Filed under: Photobloggery.
In which we relax in a park
Published at 11:57 am on September 15th, 2007
Filed under: Photobloggery.
Photos from the Jardin du Luxembourg on a Sunday morning. Old men playing chess under a canopy. Hidden away in the groves of trees, a man practises moving a sword around. People sit on benches in the shade, enjoying the last weekend of the August holiday.
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Keyword noise: August, chess, holiday, Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, park, summer, swordsman, trees.
In which we explain why we were in France
Published at 6:52 pm on September 2nd, 2007
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Talking of Catherine and Arnaud, incidentally: they were the reason I was in France taking photos of over-priced salad cream last week. They were having a party; not an anniversary party, but a housewarming, or crémaillaire. That word, apparently, relates to an ancient French custom of hanging up a butter churn when moving into a new house. So I’m told, anyway: my French really isn’t up to much.* If you want to see photos, though, you can do.
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Keyword noise: crémaillaire, France, friends, holiday, housewarming, Paris.
I’m always sad when a holiday’s over; when it’s time to pack up the tent and drive home again, leaving nothing but a little patch of yellow-white grass behind.
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Keyword noise: camping, holiday, travel.
Or, checking in from Devon
Published at 10:53 am on June 1st, 2007
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Right now I’m sitting on a quayside in Plymouth, in front of some white fluffy clouds, lots of yachts, various “rustic” harbourside buildings, and an Apple Mac. The Mac is nearly as much a holiday as the rest of it: I keep forgetting that British Macs have American-style keyboards, with the ” and @ keys the wrong way around.*
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Keyword noise: Apple Mac, Devon, holiday, keyboard, Plymouth, travel.
Or, postcards from Cornwall
Published at 1:35 pm on May 28th, 2007
Filed under: Dear Diary.
In which we go away for a while
Published at 7:28 am on May 26th, 2007
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Time for a holiday – the tent’s ready, the car’s all loaded, and we’re going camping. Someone will be looking after the site whilst I’m away, I promise.
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Keyword noise: camping, holiday, torch, Torche, travel.
In which we go to the seaside
Published at 6:46 pm on April 9th, 2007
Filed under: Dear Diary.
And, I’m back, myself. From an Easter Weekend away. We went out on an excursion through the Wallasey tunnel,* to the seaside. Photos to come later in the week. H thought about walking out to sea,x to wade across to the Hilbre Islands, but the tide wasn’t quite right, and the water started creeping up to the knee.
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Keyword noise: beach, Easter, estuary, Hilbre, holiday, islands, Liverpool, Merseyside, river, River Dee, sea, seaside, West Kirby, Wirral.
In which we’re puzzled by origami
Published at 10:45 pm on February 16th, 2007
Filed under: Dear Diary.
The end of another week, and it’s been an enjoyable one for a change. Work: not too stressful. Life: rather nice, in fact.
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Keyword noise: holiday, Hull, origami.
In which we leave for home
Published at 11:02 pm on January 30th, 2007
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Glasgow just wasn’t Glasgow last Saturday. Why? We walked down Queen Street, and there weren’t any goths or skater kids standing around outside the art gallery. None. Not one. The pavements, though, were wet. “They must have all just been hosed away,” said C. We looked around the art gallery, but the main gallery was closed off for installation, and none of the rest was particularly impressive. Being too lazy to get on the subway and go out to Kelvingrove, we ambled back up Sauchiehall Street and got ready for our night out.
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Keyword noise: Glasgow, holiday, photography, Scotland, travel, Wemyss Bay, railway station.
In which we return to Scotland for the first time in a few years
Published at 2:21 pm on October 16th, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary.
When I looked out of my hotel window, I remembered why I missed the place. In a tower block above Charing Cross station, the random architecture of the city looked lovely in the early morning light. To the west, I could see the spire of the university.
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Keyword noise: Charing Cross, Glasgow, holiday, Scotland, travel.
It’s Friday afternoon, and the office is in a cheerful mood. I keep hearing little babbles of laughter when I pass office doors. Noone has been phoning me up with stupid problems, and Big Dave isn’t here at all, having gone off to Italy for a week. No doubt he will come back with tales of bizarre events he stupidly got himself into, going by previous holidays – sneaking out of the country incognito after an accidental run-in with the local Mafia boss, or something along those lines.
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Keyword noise: Big Dave, holiday.
In which there’s been a flood
Published at 10:43 pm on September 4th, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Well, that was a good holiday. I’m back again, and the only dark shadow on the horizon is the thought of being back at the office tomorrow. There’s already one bad omen: getting home and opening my email, to discover some evil person has been sending out junk mail with my return address on it. Six thousand bounce messages were in my inbox and my spam folder, which leaves me wondering just how many emails did get through. If you’ve emailed me and I’ve deleted your mail by accident, I’m very sorry.
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Keyword noise: email, holiday, junk, relaxation, spam.
In which we listen to music
Published at 10:29 pm on August 30th, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary.
And the year starts with a long pause, whilst I enjoy a bit of a holiday. It’s all very well taking time off work, but the real way to take a break is a sudden, unexpected trip to stay with someone who doesn’t have internet access.*
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Keyword noise: gig, holiday, live music, music, York, Yorkshire.
Not just end of the week, but start of the holidays – I’ve got an entire week, and more, off work. Hurrah! I’ve been winding Big Dave up about it all day.
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Keyword noise: Big Dave, holiday.
In which I'm on my own
Published at 9:57 pm on August 16th, 2006
Filed under: The Old Office.
Big Dave’s on holiday all this week, and most of next week too. I’ve been getting on with my work, have coped on my own, and haven’t had to call him up for anything.
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Keyword noise: Big Dave, holiday, shower.
Sorry to be whining so much about work, but that’s all my mind’s been full of this week. The pressure is so draining, my mind feels numb and empty by the time I get home, and I have nothing else to write about. My mind feels numb most of the daytime too; it’s at the stage where I just sit down at my desk and blank for a couple of minutes until I remember where I am and what the next task is.
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Keyword noise: Caption, comics, holiday, indie, overwork, Oxford, pressure, small press, stress, zines.
In which holidays always end, otherwise they wouldn't be holidays
Published at 8:09 am on July 5th, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary.
In which we think about moving
Published at 10:18 pm on July 1st, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary.
Another new month, and I’m back home with sunburnt arms from wandering around London. Time to start scanning all the photos in, I suppose; there’s a few more London scenes that I want to write about too yet. I mean, I haven’t even described any of the gigs I went to, first the Shimura Curves, then Montoya; or the art exhibitions, or the random tourists, or the people on the tube.
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Keyword noise: holiday, London, Montoya, music, Shimura Curves, sunburn.
In which we go self-catering
Published at 11:14 am on June 29th, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary.
…was the headline on the Evening Standard billboards when I was wandering around Islington this morning looking for a bus. It’s not a headline you hear every day. It turns out that the manic in question was a ‘heavy plant operator’, which at least might explain how he knew how to get hold of a JCB at 7 in the morning, never mind how to drive one.
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Keyword noise: Archway, food, fry up, greasy spoon, holiday, Indian, JCB, London, photography, travel.
In which power goes to people’s heads
Published at 5:57 pm on June 24th, 2006
Filed under: Political.
I said yesterday that politics hasn’t been interesting me lately. It’s not so much that I’m feeling a lack of interest, but I’m trying to block out just how authoritarian this government is becoming. As was shown by yesterday’s prime-ministerial speech on Justice: “Justice should mean summary justice” was one of its messages. The other was: “I want to lock up anyone I don’t like, but those nasty judges won’t let me.”
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Keyword noise: authoritarianism, civil liberties, government, holiday, justice, liberty, media, power, travel.
It’s not only Friday again, but it’s my last day in the office until July. Hurrah! Come Sunday, I’m off down to London for a week, to mooch around museums, go to a Shimura Curves gig, do some geek-shopping, and generally get up to nefarious stuff. I’ve already arranged to meet a few intimidating internet people, who, I suspect, are not to be trifled with; but if anyone else would like to stalk meet me, get in touch.
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Keyword noise: Big Dave, campaigning, camping, congratulations, gig, holiday, London, music, rain, Shimura Curves, travel, weather.
It does come around fast, doesn’t it? Here it is, a beautiful day outside, a clear blue sky, and here I am sat inside updating the blog. Still, it’s almost too hot and sunny to go out. What I could really do with: a laptop, a wireless card, and a deckchair, so I could sit in the shady bit at the bottom of the garden, surfing the web with a nice big G&T. I can’t sit in the sunshine, I burn too easily.
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Keyword noise: geek, graphs, holiday, luggage, monitoring, MRTG, SNMP, networking, travel.
I took a snap decision in the middle of last week, to take a couple of days off and visit some friends Down South, in a little suburb just inside the M25.* I’m lucky, really: I might whinge about my job constantly, but there are some good things to it, and one of them is that there aren’t any anal restrictions on giving notice when you want a holiday. My boss is completely fine with either me or Big Dave walking into his office on, say, a Tuesday, to say: “can I have a couple of days off at the end of the week?” and as long as the other one of us isn’t already planning to be away, he’ll just nod and grunt in assent.
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Keyword noise: Croydon, driving, holiday, navigation, North Downs, Road Closed, Surrey, Whyteleaf.
I like bank holidays and long weekends. I especially like pairs of bank holidays, and extra-long weekends. Today really felt like a Friday at the office, particularly as The Secretary* was handing out buttered hot cross buns (albeit cold).
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Keyword noise: baking, Easter, food, holiday, hot cross buns, long weekend.
In which we post updates on a few things
Published at 8:45 pm on April 7th, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary.
My rather cruel jibe at Fife the other day only seems to have invited a single complaint, from Greig, who pointed out that Fife was the birthplace of Sir Sandford Fleming. I’d never heard of Sir Sandford Fleming myself; but it turns out that he was rather important, particularly in Canada. He invented time zones, designed the first Canadian stamp, and surveyed the route of the first trans-Canadian railway line; more importantly, he was apparently the inventor of the in-line roller skate.
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Keyword noise: Adam Smith, Andrew Carnegie, bird flu, Canada, curvature of the spine, Fife, flu, holiday, in-line skates, kyphosis, passport, philately, roller skates, Sandford Fleming, scoliosis, Scotland, stamps.
Or, visiting the Tate
Published at 7:07 am on February 28th, 2006
Filed under: Artistic, Dear Diary.
Deciding to do something cultural whilst in the Big City, I visited Tate Modern to see Rachel Whiteread’s Embankment, her Turbine Hall installation made up of thousands of plastic casts of cardboard boxes.
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Keyword noise: art, children, Embankment, gallery, holiday, London, playing, Rachel Whiteread, sculpture, Tate Modern, Turbine Hall.
In which I return from London
Published at 8:01 am on February 20th, 2006
Filed under: Dear Diary, Meta.
Well, I’m back at the office again, pleased to see that WordPress‘s advance-publishing feature works as advertised, to get Saturday’s post up whilst I was still waking up in my hotel bed in Barking.
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Keyword noise: Civil Partnership, holiday, London, travel, wedding.
In which we remember what has happened
Published at 10:19 pm on December 30th, 2005
Filed under: Dear Diary.
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