Going back to my routes

Certain aspects of holidays remained a complete mystery to me when I was a child. One such mystery was those 'Holiday Route' road signs - a yellow rectangle containing the letters HR in black - that often marked part of our journey to the exotic lands of Devon and North Wales. I could never work out exactly when or why dad was following them. Their only purpose seemed to be creating a procession of slow-moving traffic for locals to avoid.

Today, as an adult and a driver, I'm none the wiser. These days you hardly see HR signs, anyway. Everyone's on the motorway with their sat-nav and no-one's sitting in the passenger seat of a Mini Traveller with an AA guidebook.

What I did understand as a child (and still understand today) was the holiday appeal of Lewes. I spent my 13th birthday in the town, celebrating by taking pictures of the castle and the railway station with my new 35mm ‘grown up’ camera. Although I didn't really appreciate the castle being hidden up a little lane behind the High Street, we had a fun day out. There was picnicking on mum’s home-made cheese tarts and dad’s home-grown tomatoes, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately the camera wasn't particularly good, so my memories aren't photographic.

This year, Lewes has received plenty more summer visitors. Now, like migrant swallows, most have departed - and the snaking queue of customers between Le Magasin and Bill's Produce Store has finally disappeared. (Some say the queue changes direction on occasions, with a few people at the back of the line being served breakfast as they wait for lunch at the neighbouring restaurant). Yet while Lewesians breathe a sigh of relief when the sightseers say goodbye, we in Ringmer have enjoyed an entire season of peace. In fact, although there are a couple of places in the village offering Bed and Breakfast, I think I can safely say that Ringmer is not a tourist trap.

How can I be so sure?  Just five simple checks. First, I've never seen anyone in Ringmer suddenly stop walking down the pavement to consult a map. Second, I've not heard anyone here complaining about all the shops turning into coffee bars... or turning into bookshops... or turning into antique dealers. Third, I've never found anyone peering into the local estate agent's window to compare prices with those 'back home'. Fourth, we don't have multiple buskers. And finally, there aren’t any holiday route signs directing traffic along the B2192. Unless… hmm… perhaps we’re at the end of the route. Maybe that's how those yellow signs worked. When you stopped seeing them, it was time to stop driving!

First published on vivalewes.com 19th September 2013: http://www.vivalewes.com/going-back-to-my-routes/