h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I too live in the glorious county of Devon. S**t, that's a terrible start. How about 'Hello from wonderful Mid-East-Devon!' No, that's b****cks as well. Sod it - you probably get the idea, anyway.

I live in Cullompton, which many people seem to find amusing (the name of the town, I mean), which I am sure rivals Paignton in its tedium and unattractiveness. We have fewer palm trees and tourists than you, but have you got a motorway service station? I think not! And its got a McDonalds.

I used to quite like Cullompton, and although it has a motorway service area, at least it doesn't have a sewage-strewn beach and a permanent easterly gale!

Nice to know I'm not the only person down here on h2g2...

Oh great... Two people from Devon hanging around in here...

*GreyDesk doubles the guard on the Somerset border*

Oi! Less of the anti-Devon talk, please. There's nothing wrong with us down here, unless of course you count half the county being closed due to foot and mouth. You'll also need to turn a blind eye to the drunken inbreds who live in places too scary for even most other Devonians to visit. Oh, and if you could see your way clear to ignoring the hoards of tourists and the raw sewerage on the beaches then you'll probably have a slightly higher opinion of our county.

So what's so good about Zummerzet? (I bet you punch people who say that to your face, don't you?)

...yes...

Actually I'm a bit more special than just a Somerset person. I'm a WEST Somerset person from Exmoor. From our hilltop fortress I and all my cousins watch you "cosmopolitan townies" in Devon with a certain amount of suspicion. You nick all our good ideas like cider and clotted cream and pass them off as your own, leaving us with just the "Ohh Arr, Ohh Arrr.." west country stereotype

BTW IRL I am much concerned about the foot and mouth pestilence affecting you guys. No one deserves that much pain and worry

It's terrible. Luckily there haven't been any cases down here in the South of the county, but it's heartbreaking to see how it's affected places I know and like elsewhere in the county.

You know, I've only ever been up to Exmoor once, when my brothers were rowing in the regatta at Wimbleball Resevoir. I must visit that neck of the woods when I get some time off.

You really should come to Exmoor some time.

Its totally different to your high ground of Dartmoor. To get geographical here for a moment, Exmoor is the only place in Europe (the world?) made of unglaciated red sandstone. This gives us very steep sided ferile valleys. But because of these gradients the hills aren't intensively farmed, so you've got masses of flora and fauna for you to enjoy without that much interference of man.

Anyway if you don't want to come to see our lovely countryside, you should at least come to see where your water comes from. Wimbleball reservoir