Day 1 - The adventure begins - Free Country: A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain - page 11

Les worked for the coastguard and had bought his house a few years previously; it was
an old chapel, which he had converted himself. The place was really striking with a low
hungceilingandcleverlightinggivingitacosyfeel.Thekitchenunitsweredecoratedwith
paintings and drawings done by a small child. Either that, or Les was just really rubbish at
art.
Lesalsoofferedusarucksackafternoticingourarmsladenwithfood,waterandanum-
brella. We thanked him and continued walking in the fog towards the village of St Just.
The road between Land's End and St Ives is dotted with the remains of tin mines. Min-
ing had taken place in Cornwall since stone-age times, but the discovery of cheaper ore
in other parts of Europe, America and Australia practically destroyed the industry. Many
mines continued to fight off international competition well into the 20 th Century, but on
March 6 th ,1998, the pumps were finally switched off for good at South Crofty, just up the
road - both Cornwall and the UK's last surviving tin mine.
We reached the town of St Just with its proud status as the most westerly town in Eng-
land. The town is little more than a big village. At its centre is a pleasant little market
square, which is flanked by several pubs. It had been a tough morning, and we felt like
we deserved a beer so called into the first pub to try our luck. Asking for clothes and food
was one thing, but asking for free beer was something completely different. Unlike food
and clothes, beer was hardly a necessity, but after an exhausting morning's walking and
blagging we felt like it was as essential as oxygen.
Ipickedtheyoungestandbetterlookingofthetwobarmaidsanddecidedtotrythehon-
est and direct approach.
'Hi there,' I said in a cool and slightly flirtatious manner. 'We are travelling the length
of the country without spending a single penny, and we were wondering if there was any
chance we could possibly have a free beer?'
'Errr, ok,' she said with a nervous giggle. 'Are two half lagers ok?'
I decided that this was not the time to ask about trying one of the local ales.
'Two half lagers would be unbelievable. Thank you very much indeed.'
Seven hours earlier we had been standing in our boxer shorts in the wind and rain. We
were now fully clothed and drinking free beer in a picturesque Cornish village. Life was
pretty good.
We started chatting to a guy at the bar called Steve. He was not as inebriated as some
of the other locals, but his words were still slurred. We asked him if he knew anywhere or
anyone that could help us out with a bike.
'If you give me an hour, I'll get someone to sort you out with a bike,' he said.
'Would it be stolen?' asked Ben suspiciously.
'Yeah, probably, but you won't get caught,' said Steve.