I usually resort to a map to demonstrate how far south Plymouth actually is when trying to explain to foreign friends that I don’t live in the well known cities of London or Edinburgh. I normally relish the distance we live away from the big cities especially when I’m at home enjoying the more relaxed pace of life in Devon. On the other hand I do feel the frustration when I’m required to travel to the capital, or sometimes further, for work.
We naturally focus in on where we live and I became acutely aware of this last week. If I were to ask the population of Devon and Cornwall to sketch a map of the UK, I think it would look similar to the one in my mind - lacking a significant lump in the East. The vast expanse of country that extends to the northeast of London is much larger than I realised. I discovered this the long way when I set off on a journey to visit a school in the town of Wells Next The Sea, Norfolk. To break my journey I stayed the night with a friend in St Albans, Hertfordshire, assuming I only had an hour to drive the following morning. Au contraire - my morning commute took three hours!
Although Norfolk and Devon are hundreds of miles apart they share a lot in common: both have a stunning coastline, a thriving tourism industry (in the summer) and a lot of open green spaces. Sadly that is where the similarities end. I soon realised the most significant difference when I popped out for a short jog - it is completely flat. If only I’d taken my bicycle with me! No wonder Norfolk cyclists are apparently “faster” than those of us in beautiful lumpy Devon
