At the Cabin - Monday

We left the rather disappointing Clifton Hotel in Bristol, where we had stayed overnight. Its a city hotel, so I shouldn't have been surprised at the very small room, or probably the buy everything attitude, but I was. There was plenty of noise, but it stopped quite early, after that you could hear the sound of the dead bodies being dragged across the floor (the staff tidying up!). In the morning more strange noises – perhaps caused by the lift, as we were somewhere behind the lift shaft. The under building garage, 2 minutes walk from the hotel, was very strange, with a code for the door and motion sensors for lights and for leaving from inside. The roller shutter door did not inspire confidence as it slowly, oh so slowly raised its self above head height.

So off we went to find the Clifton suspension bridge, having decides that over £7 for toast and tea was too much. The bridge was only a little over a mile away. It is an impressive site, built in the 19^th century, it almost wasn't finished due to lack of funds. Brunell is remembered for this probably above anything else but is wasn't finished until after his death.

We found a motorway service station to breakfast at. A place of order and efficiency, or so I expected- sadly not so. All we wanted was cereal and milk, toast and jam. Nothing was where I, or the staff expected it to be. I had to ask three different people for Jam!! While eating I read of Jensen's famous victory. Buying a Monday morning Times used to be a tradition with me in the Damon hill days.

I set the sat-nav to avoid motorways, I needed things to do on the drive to stay awake after the poor night in the Clifton. "We could end up anywhere!", "We could end up anywhere!" – Jo was not happy, but we used to just drive before we had a sat-nav and time isn't pressing. Later I found out that she'd spent a lot of time splitting the journey into two short drives to take care of my shoulder.

We followed the A390 and were astounded at the accident rate – hundreds of accidents in the last five years. Why have they not done some road improvements?

Then a stop at Sainsbury's for shopping and petrol. The toilet had very strange blueish light (ultra violet?), I have never seen this before and can only conclude that is is to make people leave quickly. It certainly had that effect on me.

On into Lynmouth - the hills have warnings here, and escape lanes so that there is somewhere to go if your brakes are on fire. Some of the views on the road are amazing. We stopped a couple of times.

Going up is as much fun as coming down. Going round one corner we came across a deer crossing the road – it is a very rare sight, they are usually scared of traffic (sacred of anything actually).

Arriving at Lee Abbey we had some difficulty finding the Cabin.

It is small and very warm, entering by the kitchen there is a short hallway to the bedrooms and lounge, which is in an extension and does not get so hot. In the lounge there is the constant sound of running water from the brook right outside. It is very quiet, just the occasional car or walker.

Back up at the abbey (the big house) the session is starting and Adrian Snell is playing a couple of tracks from the Passion. Later Psalm 27 was used as a chant. It is going to be an interesting week - “Seven words (from the cross) for the 21st century”. Being rude I have to say that most of the people there didn't look like they would be seeing as much as half the century, or even a quarter. Probably me included!

Hot chocolate is provided before prayer, there is a small bookstall next to the serving hatch. There is a book called "The Blokes Bible" which caught my eye almost immediately – I have lost track of the Men's outreach stuff recently, but it seems there is still something that God is trying to say there.