Navy Days and Birthdays

It’s forty years almost to the day since, as a 17 year old, I joined the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth as a cadet. So it’s lovely that there’s a special reunion at the College. So many folk have asked to come that, instead of dining in the wardroom, we are filling the senior gunroom, where most of used to eat as sub Lieutenants.

The reunion is a great excuse to incorporate Dartmouth into my rail trip itinerary, but even without it, the rail trip from Paignton would have been high on the itinerary.

My memory has long forgotten where to find my haunts of yesteryear, but the helpful tourist information office points me in the right direction of the Cherub Pub which, although it was regarded as a Sub Lieutenants pub, I used to frequent as a cadet.

I couldn’t find the site of Leon’s restaurant, where the Belgian proprietor would dole out late night dishes to late night revellers, with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

I enjoy a boat trip out to the Castle, which I haven’t visited since the early 1970’s. So many memories. But it’s just nice sitting on the river front watching the ferries and boats bustle to and fro.

My friends Shirley and Nichola are joining me for afternoon tea. Shirley arrives late, having been held up by a nasty accident. It later transpires that a bale of hay has rolled out of a field and killed the driver of a van, who turns out to have been a member of the 1970’s group, ELO.

The reunion is great fun. Quite a few of my contemporaries have reached great heights. Mark Stanhope is now the First Sea Lord, but is Mark to everyone. Another of our number, Adrian Johns, retired as Second Sea Lord and is now Governor of Gibraltar. But sadly not able to be present.

Nothing, including the accommodation, seems to have changed at all. Sadly, I rather fear that Dartmouth is unlikely to survive the latest round of cuts and savour every moment of the visit.

The following morning, with a slightly achy head, Rosemary kindly drives me to Totnes, to catch the train to Bodmin. Two of my old Navy chums, Philip Payton and Dee Cleary are involved with the Bodmin and Wenford steam railway, which is having a special real ale and steam weekend.

It’s hugely popular and I am impressed with both the organisation and the bustling activity. We ride the two sections of the line and enjoy just sitting watching three or four steam locomotives shuffle around from one end to the other.

The next day is my 57^th birthday. What better way to celebrate than taking a train from Bodmin Parkway to Newquay, changing at Par. Unfortunately it is a foul wet day, with visibility at times reduced to almost zero. But Philip, an acknowledged guru on matters Cornish, points out various features, including clay works en route.

At Newquay, a young girl in a rubber suit pads along the pavement barefoot, carrying a surfboard. But for Philip and me, a birthday lunch in the adjacent Weatherspoons is the perfect umbrella.

Back at Bodmin Parkway, we just miss having a cup of tea in the signal box café which would have put the icing on the cake of an excellent day out.