Some time ago I was walking along the cliffs at Lizard; I noticed there were a load of people looking at something, I followed their pointing fingers and saw what they were excited about...a bunch of crows. 'The National Bird of Cornwall' someone said proudly. America has the Bald Eagle, Scotland the Golden Eagle, for crying out loud, even Belgium has got the Kestrel, but what have we got...a crow. And they're trying to encourage them to breed! Doesn't show a lot of imagination does it, choosing a crow? Doesn't make people want to buy second homes here does it. Wouldn't it be terrible if people go to all that expense of paying for a good house here if all they have to look at is crows; they may just as well have stayed 'up the line', and that would be tragic wouldn't it, be honest, no-one wants that do they?
After looking at the Crows I felt peckish and went to the village, I asked someone where I could get some food and they pointed up the road and said I should get 'an pasty' (as they call them down that way). I went to this place and a little old dear tried to sell me a pie that she had cooked in her garage! Sometimes I think that the sooner Greggs bakeries opens shops here the better it will be. Wherever you go and whenever you buy a pasty in our beloved County it tastes different. (and as a personal preference I think that they don't put enough carrot or sweetcorn in some of them, and in others they don't mince up the sausagemeat enough, the meat is still in lumps in the pie). If I buy a bar of chocolate I know what it is going to taste like...chocolate...not marmite or jam, surely it is not too much to expect for a pasty to taste proper. Heavens Above, if Ginsters can make perfect pasties every time, then the Cornish womenfolk could take a lesson from their Devon compatriots and learn how to do it properly. Get some standardisation in so that if you buy a pasty at Crantock, St Kew Highway or Hayle they will taste the same as one from Callington.
I hear that another village shop is closing down, and it's closure is surrounded by the usual bleating and moaning, but these shops should move with the times. With the influx of money and raised standards that comes with the 'new people' moving into the villages the shops need to cater for that market. Next time you are in a village shop just note how many different varieties of cheese, pate or olives they sell. Not many I'll be bound, but that's what brings the punters in. Old Mrs Braund popping in once a week to cash her pension isn't going to pay the mortgage is it, and anyway, now you can get your pension paid monthly surely the old dear can afford to get a taxi into town once a month? Expecting a shop to stay open just for your own convenience is taking things too far I say.
