The culinary ups and downs from Bristol to Devon

Apologies for the lack of posts, I've been on holiday. It was an odd kind of holiday, involving lots of cycling and *lots* of hills. But there were some recompenses too, in terms of beautiful autumnal scenery and of course in terms of food and real ale, both of which taste extra special after hours of slightly pointless physical exertions in the fresh air. So in case any of you are ever tempted to travel from Bristol to Totnes by bike (or by a more sensible means of transport), I shall give a brief summary of our discoveries.

Obviously, starting in Bristol, we had the cheesy chips and Bath ales at the Hope and Anchor . Other highlights included the very pretty village of Priddy where, having huffed and puffed up the mendips, we were very glad of a lunch stop at the Queen Victoria pub. Luckily though the rest of the way into Wells was mostly downhill. It's a small, pertty town, but seemingly without any of the rough edges which such places often get due to the local youth getting a bit bored in the evenings. We had a fabulous dinner at the The Old Spott . Another great meal was had in Exeter, looking out over the cathedral from No. 21 and exploring its very reasonably priced wine list. The low lights included Taunton (very relieved to find a branch of a national pizza chain), Bridgewater (where pub lunch choices were limited to a Wetherspoons and a Smith & Jones pub) and Cullompton (where the ale tasted of ash).

But perhaps the best thing was that I discovered cheesy chips weren't just a Hope and Anchor speciality -- they seemed to be available in pretty much every pub we stopped in. So obviously I had to sample them all... which might explain how I managed to put on weight despite doing 30-40 odd miles a day on the bike.