We went to Spitchwick via Hembury this evening, partly because David Platt wanted to meet us there with Simon Barnes. When we arrived we found that David had been a silly little boy and injured himself. Many readers will know that there is a rope on the far side of the river pool at Spitchwick, attached to an overhanging tree. The idea is to swim across the river, climb the rocks to a place where you can grab the rope, swing out and let go, thereby landing in the pool below with a big splash. Sadly, David hesitated and let go just a fraction too late, when the rope was on the way back to the rocks. He landed too close to the rocks at the bottom and cut himself. Michael started to patch him up, but Tom's family were not far away and they whisked him back to Holne for repairs.

Simon rode back to Buckfastleigh with us via Buckland in the Moor and Ashburton. There were strange, cold patches of air along the way, which Tom Sawyer would have called the spirits of the dead. Sadly we had no option but to ride through them.