IT always happens when you’re in a hurry, right? I was a bit late for an appointment in Wadebridge but I knew with luck I’d get there in time.

I went down the hill out of the village to find the road closed. Ahh, I’d forgotten about them digging up roads everywhere to lay fibre optic ‘wotsit’ stuff that will revolutionise our lives, correct? What has been revolutionised is getting out of the village for months now has been challenging, to say the least.

Turning right, I zoomed up the hill, a slightly longer route but usually quick to get to the main road. Coming round a bend, the road was full of sheep, with the farmer moving them along in his truck. Great. I sat there for several minutes as they drifted past, some grazing in the hedge and a few glancing into the car. Several appeared to be sniggering.

Off I go again, deciding to take a secondary route to the Wadebridge road as it had a shorter narrow section. Good thinking, I was nearly through when I came across a lorry, going in my direction, but in fact going nowhere. Peering under his wheels, I saw a silver car in front of him who eventually started reversing - slowly. Very slowly. My God, he was doing literally two miles an hour and eschewed a couple of passing places, he crawled back for at least 300m, to a big gateway deemed acceptable. The vehicles, which now included a couple of tractors and some cars, filed past with an indignant air.

Right, onto the main road, let’s crack on…until St Kew and up the backside of a tractor. Arghhh...all the way to Wadebridge. Well, at least I had time to text apologies for my tardiness whilst I was stopped earlier. What a trip.

Finally, I leave you with a profound concept I heard said in the Blissy pub this week. A local observed, with great gravitas, that “if you have a skinful you can always eat, but if you’re stuffed with food, you can’t drink.”. That’s the priceless nature of pub philosophers.

• Fred Knobbit is a nature blogger. He grew up in the Pennines in Lancashire on the edge of an industrial town but is now safely in Cornwall. You can read his archive at www.bodminblogger.com