Power Out.

We had 14 power cuts last night the final one keeping the power off for nearly an hour. This had me hunting out our torches and once I had phoned the power company (on the mobile as the land line was also out), we lit some candles. Very romantic but not good enough to read by. I do remember using Tilly (oil) lamps when I was younger but this only makes me appreciate our electric lights even more. Now back to my interrupted blog ....

This was my first chance to spend the day in quiet solitude so what do I do? Go and spend the day in town of course! I had to visit the bank, the post office and the library so I paid for an all day ticket at one of the car parks which is cheaper than 3 hours at the main car park and means that there is no pressure to rush back. I didn't spend all day shopping but at least I didn't get stressed by the length of the queue when I got to the Post Office and could take my time navigating around the groups of chatting (local) people. Indeed I myself stopped and chatted for ages to an old work colleague. Jobs done I strolled round the shops but didn't buy much, just some earrings that were in sale and a few other sale items. I think my brain filters out anything that is not on special offer or in sale as I rarely even look at the other goods. I then went to Tescos and stocked up on basics there but as I got into my car I realised that I had forgotten 1 item that I needed for Friday. Rather than head back into the busy shop I stopped off at The Co-op on the way home and yet again came out with 2 bags of extra items all off which were 50 -75% off. Mostly healthy things such as cherries, cottage cheese and blueberries but some ricotta cheese and fresh noodles also made their way into my bag. Along with the reduced bananas and strawberries that I had already bought I shall be having lots of healthy treats in the final few days of the 'summer' holiday. Many of the older lanes in Barnstaple have been demolished in various town improvement schemes starting with the building of the covered pannier market in 1855 but there is still a network of back alleys which in medieval times would have been standard streets just wide enough for a cart to pass along.


Barnstaple is not an exceptionally pretty historic town, although there are plenty of old buildings, but it is a large centre of commerce which reflects the current economic climate. The town centre is kept alive due to there not being any large shopping malls outside of town. All too often we see reports about towns that have lost their heart due to traders being priced out and shoppers heading out to the big malls. The major food chains do have big stores on the edge of town with a few extra shops by them such as chemists and DIY stores but for clothes and 'stuff' shopping then everyone heads into town. Along the busy pedestrianised High Street we have the Pannier Market which specialises in different things on each day and a small fairly smart indoor mall. There are more smaller specialist shops in the surrounding streets and a number of cafes, pubs and restaurants. For bargain hunters there are at least 10 charity shops. There are a number of boarded up shops especially on the outer streets which is a sign of a declining economy but it is not too bad yet. During the day, especially during the holidays, the High Street is always bustling and while I sometimes get fed up with so many people being in my way it would be very depressing to find empty streets lined with closed or struggling businesses.