We were in St Endellion over the last weekend, attending the Literary Festival there. I think this is our fourth or fifth visit and we always have a most enjoyable and stimulating time, attending workshops, talks and performances,, and meeting others interested in every aspect books, reading and writing. We drive there and we usually stop somewhere for some lunch, and maybe somewhere else to stretch our legs, which is similar to our return journey when the fest is over. We may deviate a little to a place of interest, but we don’t want to delay too long as it is quite a journey. While we are there, sometimes there is a gap where we’re not booked in for anything and then maybe we might go to look at a place of interest nearby.
This year, instead of just passing through Wadebridge, we visited. A couple of us spent a morning there, finding a nice place for breakfast and a charity shop which had a good selection of second-hand books. For various reasons, we went there again, revisited the same café, Dollies – which I heartily recommend! The bridge in Wadebridge goes over the River Camel so you might wonder why it’s not called Camelbridge, but originally, when there was no bridge but the river was waded through so maybe the wade bit was put together with the bridge bit, but who knows! Camel by the way, is nothing to do with the desert dwelling animals.
As with many places, a settlement grew up around the place where there was a crossing place on the river, and this was Wade – because the word for walking or going through water was… wade! The bridge was built and the settlement became Wadebridge (forgetting the camels) after a proper bridge was built between 1468 and 1485. The town was very significant during the English Civil War, because of its strategic position, and Oliver Cromwell came with a company of foot and horse soldiers to take it.
It was extremely quiet when we were there, sunny and pleasant, it was nice to stroll up and down the streets, visit a bookshop, and find a bench to sit in the pleasant sunshine!
Lois Elsden 