By: Blonde Two

My name is Blonde Two and yesterday I visited a shopping mall!

Shopping malls surely have to be the antithesis of all that is Dartmoor. Too many quadrilateral buildings, connected by too many quadrilateral corridors, lit by too many over bright lights, heated (always to the wrong temperature) by too many oddly placed air vents and populated by too many quadrilateral people.

The shopping people, of course, aren’t really quadrilateral but just the act of being in a mall (I hate even the word) seems to knock all of the interesting lumps and bumps off them.  Their faces become pale, their teeth and buttocks become clenched and none of them look like they are enjoying themselves.

By contrast, on Dartmoor, the buildings fail to conform to quadrilateral shaping.  Roofs sink in the middle, windows are unevenly spaced and most things man-made sit at odd angles to the road.  In a mall, you find yourself longing for the feel of rain on your face; on Dartmoor you will struggle to avoid it.  Coffee stops on Dartmoor find you crouching behind rocks gazing at long, people-uninterrupted views. Coffee stops at the mall find you standing in a corner gazing at overfull tables and wondering whether or not it would be acceptable to crouch.

I could go on for a very long time here but I think you get the message.  I use Cribbs Causeway for one reason and one reason only; as a halfway meeting point for myself and a very dear friend (yes, the Two Blondes do have other friends).

My friend “H” and I did a very good job of counteracting the indoorsiness of the shopping mall.  We spent a lot of time discussing and looking at outdoor gear, we swapped stories of daring-do (she solo up mountains in Scotland, me with loads of soggy kids on Dartmoor), we made a cuppa on a stove in the car park, we looked at maps and we planned walks together for some mysterious time in the future when we are both less busy.

It was lovely seeing her and it has just occurred to me that there must be some countryside halfway between Dartmoor and the Malvern Hills.  Maybe we should have gone for a walk!