How to bring an entire village to a standstill.

 

The two-lane road in Mousehole

“Lady! Move the car!” A ginger-haired, spittle-spraying, police officer bellowed at me through the passenger’s window. He’d assumed that I was the driver, being as we were in the British Isles, and the person on the right-hand side of the car should have been the driver. 

However, we were driving an Aston Martin, built in Britain for the North American market, which meant the steering wheel was on the left-hand side of the car.

Ha! I fooled him. But I prudently didn’t mention that to the irate man.

I wasn’t oblivious to the problem building up around our car on Wharf Street, in the hamlet of Mousehole. The traffic had been creeping past by alternating one way then the other, accompanied by filthy looks from frustrated drivers, when a large delivery van firmly shoved a cork in the bottleneck. It was unable to pass between our car and the ancient stone wall of the hotel, and the entire seaside village came to a standstill.

Mousehole is a tiny gem on the edge of the English Channel, in Cornwall, England. In 1991, on an extended road trip through Europe, we had wandered our way southish from Northern Ireland, through the Welsh communities of Swansea, Cardiff, and on to Bristol, England, regrettably bypassing Bath. We continued on to Exeter, then Plymouth, until we were on narrow country lanes that were hemmed in by stone walls and overhanging vegetation and littered with sheep traveling to and from their home pastures. As with every discovery on this journey, we had no set plan or route to follow and were content to go where the road looked interesting.

The harbour in Mousehole, Cornwall

And Mousehole, in Cornwall, definitely looked interesting.

During the stormy winter months, the minuscule harbour was originally sealed with massive timbers that were lowered into metal brackets. We were there in August of 1991, at what should have been the height of tourist season. Because of the recent Gulf War, very few tourists and virtually no Americans were traveling. 

In Mousehole, pronounced by locals as Muzzle, or as it sounded to me, Mowzel, the roads predate horse and carriage days, barely one vehicle wide and not designed for modern-day transportation. Lawrie parked the Aston Martin near The Ship Inn, with two wheels close to the hotel wall and her wide butt hanging into traffic. Ignoring my protests, he hopped out of the car and headed into the hotel. The Ship Inn would normally have had a two-year waiting list for summer visitors. A few minutes later, I glimpsed Lawrie and the manager traipsing through the hotel viewing the available rooms. 

The Aston Martin (green) on a typical road

Just as the British bobby was spraying me with spittle and anger, Lawrie and the hotel manager crossed through the traffic to the annex on the other side of the road. The copper lost his cool, screaming at the hotel manager, who gaily waved and continued on his way. He was more concerned with snagging the seemingly rich guests for a few nights’ accommodation than he was with the tangled mess of local traffic.

Frustrated, the police officer turned his blue-eyed glare back on me, “I said, move this car, lady." His expression said quite clearly that he would like to bash the shit out of the expansive hood of the car with his wide hand. The tiny alcove that the car occupied was the only place that vehicles could squeeze past each other.

Sheepishly, I squashed my holiday-sized body out of the passenger’s door, rounded to the driver’s side, and contorted my way back into the car. Climbing across the front seats wasn’t an option. The gearshift and handbrake created hazards for my nether regions. I started the Aston and waited for the copper to clear a pathway. Stomping past several cars, he angrily indicated they should reverse. Then it was my turn to inch back a few feet, allowing the delivery van to make a left turn onto a side street. Another policeman did the same for the oncoming vehicles, making everyone move back two car lengths to allow the stupid tourist to get the hell out of the way.

Everyone quietly fumed in their cars. No horn honking. No road rage. Just quiet, seething anger aimed at the idiots with the British Columbia license plate proudly displaying a Canadian flag.

Lawrie writing postcards to family

I squeezed the Aston Martin into a spot on the wharf, in an area reserved for the hotel guests. By the time the traffic was inching forward to their original destinations, Lawrie had registered us for a two-night stay. Smiling happily at his choice of a lovely seaside room, he joined me on the wharf, “Everything okay, then?”

Seeing my exasperated expression, he started to laugh, “I knew you would handle it.”

“Thanks, so very much,” I retorted, “you are buying me a nice dinner this evening.”

We spent two memorable days exploring the lovely side streets, cafés, and interesting boutique stores in the original cottages that had belonged to the fishermen and their families. At one store, we came across a sweet little children’s book by Antonia Barber, The Mousehole Cat. The cat, Mouser, is credited with saving the villagers one stormy winter’s night. The villagers were starving because they couldn’t get their fishing boats out through the narrow opening in the harbour, the seas were too rough, and the wind was ferocious. The old cat and her elderly owner, Tom Bawcock, set off in their tiny fishing boat to find fish for the residents, knowing they might never return.

Stargazy Pie

The fishing adventure ends with great success, and everyone in the village, including an assortment of cats, enjoys a hearty meal of Mouser’s favourite meal, Stargazy Pie. This pie is traditionally made with a combination of seven types of fish, including mackerel, ling cod, herring, and whole pilchards (sardines), and topped with a pasty crust. The pilchards are baked whole with heads poking through the pastry top, appearing to gaze at the stars. There are many variations of the original recipe, which include hard-boiled eggs, bacon, onion, mustard, or white wine. In late December on Tom Bawcock's Eve, Stargazy Pie is served at The Ship Inn in Mousehole, sometimes accompanied by a re-enactment of the legend.

Before we left Mousehole, I purchased a copy of The Mousehole Cat. The book traveled from Cornwall, England, through fifteen countries, before returning to Canada with us later in 1991.

Somewhere in the sorting and packing preparations to move to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, in 2008, I gave the book to a good friend as a keepsake. Recently, I discovered I could order another copy from Amazon! It arrived today. 

Tonight, I poured a glass of wine and re-read The Mousehole Cat, and reminisced about an entertaining experience thirty years ago with my love, my adventure partner, Lawrie.

For the full story, watch this little video on YouTube: Mousehole Cat

Link to The Ship Inn: https://shipinnmousehole.co.uk/

Cheers, 

Lynda and Sparky 

~

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