Black Cock Inn : Molland, South Molton, EX36 3NW

26th - 28th July 
The Black Cock Inn https://www.blackcockmolland.co.uk/
Telephone Number: +441769550297

We left CarFest on Monday morning and started our journey south towards Plymouth and ultimately the ferry to Spain.  Before we left Milton Keynes I had ordered “Home PCR Tests” for Eddie and Harry to use. Steve and I are double vaccinated, and George is only 9 so only the two big boys needed to test.

I ordered the kits from Randox Health as they are partnered with Brittany Ferries, and have an excellent drop box system.  We stopped at a moto service station around 1pm where the boys completed their tests. I then registered the kits on the Randox website, packaged them up and dropped them in a dropbox right by the front door of the service station.  The whole process took no more than 10 minutes, so after a quick trip to the loos we were heading south again.

The Black Cock Inn is deep in the heart of Devon, it serves pub food and has a family friendly campsite. George made friends with Harvey and had an absolute blast playing in the beer garden, swinging from trees in the main campsite and helping out in the pub by crushing cans ready for recycling. 

Our plan was to hangout and chill for a couple of days before heading to the ferry. Unfortunately, the tiny hamlet is in a mobile dead spot and we had no data and then disaster struck!!  Our aircon unit broke!  Aircon in the UK is a lovely luxury. Aircon in southern Europe with 2 teenagers sharing a bed above a cab is an absolute necessity. We woke up on Tuesday and decided to find a Truma Service Centre to get it fixed. 

Andy at Apple Campers was an absolute legend. He’s fitted many many aircon units, but this was the first time he had ever taken one apart to fix.  The problem turned out to be a blown fuse inside the main unit, once the fuse was changed we were back blowing cold air!  While we were there, Andy also fixed a rear panel that had been damaged and we bought a new Muggie to safely store mugs in.

Around 11am I received an email confirming that Eddie’s test had arrived at the lab and was being processed. It took another 33 minutes for the same message about Harry’s test to land!

After fixing the van we headed back to the Black Cock Inn. As the weather was wet and windy we decided to eat dinner at the pub. We wandered over and while we were waiting Eddie’s negative test result landed in my inbox - Hurrah!  It took a further 2 nerve racking hours for Harry’s to land, in that time we ate dinner, drank 3 bottles of wine, spent more time getting to know Gloria the owner, Jenny and Kim who live next door (in the most stunning home), and Harvey’s parents Gemma and Liam. 

Relieved, excited and a bit tipsy we left the pub and turned in for our last night in England.