The 2007 season is over

Posted on September 3, 2007
Filed Under - leaving the rat race |

We’ve hit September and the season is over, as suddenly as nightfall in the desert. It builds and builds from Easter onwards until the peak on the August bank holiday weekend - and then everyone goes home. I was out in Newquay a couple of weeks ago and the bars were packed. Last night I was out in some of the same bars and they were almost deserted. There are still one or two stag and hen parties wandering the streets but other than that it is really quiet.

Newquay has a bad reputation locally for being a crazy party town, but I haven’t found it that bad. Perhaps it depends on what you are used to. If you come from a big city, then Newquay on a Saturday night is no great surprise. In fact, I find the atmosphere much friendlier than in London. People are on holiday, so although they are being wilder than they would be at home, they are genuinely trying to have fun. There is less of a sense of imminent violence and things turning nasty. I am quite happy walking home at two in the morning in Newquay because it is fundamentally not a dangerous place. I read the local papers, I have an idea of what goes on and it’s much safer than London.

Local businesses will be counting the cost of a bad summer. The surf trade has been affected , especially since they did not have a good year last year either. People have been saying they can’t remember when the surf was so bad. The last genuine surf shop in Newquay, catering to the dedicated surfer, is being sold. We’ll have to wait to see what the new owner will do with it but it could end up pushing the same kind of crap that all the other shops push.

Normally, the fact that the hoardes are going home and the place is quietening down would be something to look forward to. But as the season ends, a lot of the people whom I have met here are also heading off for the winter. People who work in the bars or holiday camps are thinking about doing the ski season. The surfers are planning their winter trips. A friend is opening a surf school in Lanzarote. I would love to visit, perhaps after my tenancy agreement runs out in December. It would do wonders for my surfing to spend a few weeks somewhere with great weather and a consistent wave.

In the meantime, there should be some good deals to be had over the next few months so I should try and get some of my London friends down.

Stumble it!

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