In which Sid and Doris find out that the way of consuming scones seems to be even more important than the way of pronouncing scones.
The idea for this trip has been brewing since Sid and Doris moved to Salisbury and found that they were now classed as being in the South Wet (a very apt typo). Handy for the holiday counties of Devon and Cornwall (not to mention Dorset and Somerset, which we won’t on this trip).
This Epic Journey name Jam First relates to the (probably fictitious) difference in the way scones are larded with jam first in Cornwall, that we visit first, and jam second – after the clotted cream- as in Devon which we visit second. This is quite convoluted for a very small joke, but happily, says Sid, Doris is easily amused. And it is her joke. [Doris says that it is not at all fictitious, and she is hoping to meet up with some Cornish barbershop friends and their quartet called “Jam First” in St Austell.]
There is also the possibility of a running gag about the pronunciation of scone. If you are reading in the style of Sid, then scone rhymes with on. There are other opinions, which are wrong. Or wrone.
How to plan a holiday for Sid and Doris? Favoured ingredients include bicycles, economic history and engineering, trains, ferries and dockside eating. S says not to forget ice cream. Doris says not to forget cathedrals, a new source of enquiry and delight.
How can it be that Cornwall comes first given it is at Land’s End (and vice versa)? Your wily duo will take the train to Penzance at the tip of Cornwall, staying in small towns (the sort there are in these counties) and visiting the wonders, riding Eastward (craftily downwind as the prevailing wind is from the south-west) before using the train to get home again at Exeter.
Here is the map that Doris will update as the days fly by:
PS Our reader(s) may know that the Bonkers have a cross-border marriage, as he was brought up in London south of the river Thames, and she was brought up on the northern side. However not everyone is aware that Doris was born in Cornwall and Sid’s family are from Northumberland.
A YouGov poll of “how do you pronounce scone” (do these people have nothing better to do?) came up with this map, putting Sid firmly in the red zone and Doris definitely in the purple.
