Tourettes Awareness Challenge . Day 6: Truro – Plymouth – Wells – Bath – Bristol

Day 6: Truro – Plymouth – Wells – Bath – Bristol What an amazing day. The sunshine we woke up to bright and early followed us from Truro up to Gloucester, and, from seaside to countryside, we have enjoyed beautiful scenery and warm welcomes.

To avoid the traffic congestion caused by city-centre roadworks the Mayor and Mayoress of Truro - Cllr John Tamblyn and Sharon Eustice - had thoughtfully suggested meeting at 8.30 am at the cathedral. We were delighted that both the Mayor and Mayoress had both been reading about our progress on our blog, and were keen to be part of our Tourettes Awareness Challenge. They undertook to issue a press release locally, and also liaise with Cornwall County Council, and health and voluntary sector partners to ensure that our information is shared as widely as possible in Truro and throughout the county. We had a great chat. After a quick peek inside the cathedral, and a little incidental awareness-raising, we hopped back into the Tourettesmobile and headed for Plymouth with Donna at the wheel. Soon we had wound our way along the tree-lined country roads of Cornwall and crossed the impressive Tamar Bridge into Devon and Plymouth. We met the Lord Mayor on Plymouth Hoe at Smeaton’s Tower. Only seaside-lover Eileen had known that this is not in fact a tower, but the original Eddystone Lighthouse, rebuilt onto the clifftop lawns, and an iconic symbol of Plymouth. And what an incredible vista.

The sun was shining on the bay, which was full of yachts and all kinds of pleasure craft. The Lord Mayor’s Mace Bearer, Steve, made us all laugh out loud when he lay full length on the wet grass to take the photographs to accompany the press release the Lord Mayor will be issuing on Monday. He also made Jac a happy lady by saying that she was just like Sarah Millican – who is fifteen years younger, three stones lighter and an awful lot richer than Mrs C. After a quick (and “not even a full cup” – quote Eileen) cuppa at Gary Rhodes’s place on the prom, we reluctantly left Plymouth, with Jac and Donna sharing the long drive to Wells. Wells is one of the smallest cities in our Challenge (maybe the smallest?). Set in the Somerset countryside, and with its historic buildings and quaint streets, it is also one of the most beautiful. The Mayor, Cllr Theo Butt Philip, had invited us to his home, the Old Vicarage.

We were delighted and honoured to be sitting talking Tourettes, cuppas in hand made by the Mayor himself, on the terrace in his garden. Eileen presented him with his Information Pack,

which he gladly agreed to disseminate, before we had to dash off to stay on schedule – and also to avoid getting sunburn in the blazing sunshine. Yes, really! And so to Bath, in heavy Saturday afternoon traffic. As well as the customary thousands of daytrippers, there was a children’s literary festival taking place in the City, so the city was very full. To avoid having to find parking, we had arranged a very quick photocall on the steps of the Guildhall.

Anneka Rice-style we pulled up in the loading bay and did what must have been the quickest photocall ever with the Chairman of Bath and NE Somerset Council, Cllr Neil Butters, and the Deputy Mayor Cllr Ian Gilchrist. Again, information will be disseminated within the authority and partnerships, a press release will be issued, and we look forward to reading all about it next week. Cllrs Butters and Gilchrist wished us well and waved us on our way.

Our last meeting of the day was in Bristol with Lord Mayor Cllr Faruk Choudhury and Rebeka Cross from the city’s Health Partnership. We were all also excited to be seeing friends Julie and Danny Ryall again, Jake’s mum and dad, who joined us outside City Hall on College Green.

The Lord Mayor was a little late, so it gave us time to catch up with Julie and Danny, and enjoy the surrounding scene, including the cathedral, and hot air balloons drifting in the sky. Students were wading in the fountain to retrieve their football. It seemed like July. Several times in the last week we have all guiltily said that sometimes this Challenge feels more like a holiday! Tonight we overnight in Gloucester, ready for our first meeting of the day tomorrow. This evening Liz and Donna had a PJ night in with a few beers and snacks from Sainsburys while Eileen and Jac visited Eileen’s cousin, who cooked a slap-up meal – and also very kindly washed and dried a dozen of our black Tourettes Action T-shirts and jeans. The Mayors of Lancaster and Carlisle will be relieved. We all got together before bed to have a look through today’s photographs, some of the fantastic press coverage we’ve seen tonight, and to talk about tomorrow’s schedule. We are buzzing. We can’t wait.