Martin Hesp on Saturday

Read Martin's column every week in the Western Morning News

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SOMETIMES when we're travelling around the Westcountry my wife will look out the car window and, gazing at some empty-ish corner of the countryside, she'll say: “Oh dear, I couldn’ live there - it’s the middle of nowhere?”

Which always makes me laugh because where we live would be considered by most people as the back-of-beyond. For us, though, it is the centre of the universe. And of course, all those places she derides are the centre of someone's world.

‘The fact is that humans live in bubbles. Little bubbles called home, and bigger bubbles such as a city or region.

I was reminded of this the other day when a mate, who's a well-known figure in the national media, contacted me with an odd request. He said Exmoor National Park was selling off some of its old wooden footpath signs and he had seen one online which was a way-mark to his favourite place in the world. As the Dunster national park visitor centre had no way of taking payments over the phone, could I possibly pop over and buy it, and he would immediately pay me back and pick it up next time he's down from London.

No problem. I am glad to know that someone well-known on the national stage loves dear old Exmoor as much as I do.