Configuration And Juxtaposition

As you know, I don't go and explore the area as much as I should. Sheer laziness! But occasionally I'm forced into doing something against my will... which as it turns out was quite fun in this instance.

So yesterday's jaunt took me to Portishead. I have never been there before, and it certainly isn't somewhere I would have accidentally ended up in. Looking at a map you will see that it isn't that far away from Bristol so you'd think it was a doddle to get to... not for paranoid old me! Essentially it's a case of cutting across Bristol and taking one road pretty much all the way there, and while I'm good with directions I like to have the satnav on just in case.

I don't know how the rest of you react when using satnavs, in general I find I tell mine it's an idiot! Even if you don't know the exact way, you know the general direction you should be going in... so when my satnav instantly went in the wrong direction I was sceptical. I have however gone horrendously wrong by picking a different route and letting it recalculate... so I went with it. It wasn't too bad as a journey goes... until I got to a junction that said straight on but the giant sign pointing right said Portishead in rather large letters.

I did eventually get there in one piece. My final destination was The Royal Inn, which when you look on the map looks like it's going to be a nice coastal pub...

Unless you go there, there's no way to understand how wonderful the view is. Even with the soggy weather that was covering Somerset yesterday it's a pretty view. The pub itself is what us city folk would call a country pub... although as it was pointed out to me, it isn't technically in the country. But with a stunning building, a nice beer garden and no traffic noise, you get that countryside feeling.

  

The garden, apart from being leafy and flowery, has a great view over the water of the boats coming into Portbury... and Wales is there of course. You can walk down from the garden to a bit of rocky beach. It would be a lovely place to boat watch, with the rain everything looked clean and bright. Maybe it was just because I was in a good mood! If you go back out the front of the car park you can go down to the opening of the marina, and where they launch the lifeboats... at the latter you can see the entirely mysterious "gate" that sits across the ramp to the water... that can't possibly have a practical purpose.

I'm going to have to go back when it's nicer weather, I'm sure sitting on that beach watching the activity on the channel will make for a lovely way to procrastinate.