Cornwall Part 2

28th Sep

Jubliee Pool. Penzance - credit:J

More fog today, quite thick. One of the locals said to Ross and Mad that it was typical St Just weather - I'm surprised more people didn't emigrate back when our ancestors did! We had a slow morning and lunch at home, hoping the weather might change. When that didn't happen, Jeremy and I decided to drive to Penzance anyway, wandering the streets for a while. I overheard one of the locals complaining about the mizzle - presumably the term for the dense mist which makes you wetter than you'd expect, but against which umbrellas are useless.

We found a couple of galleries, one of which had some great paintings and ceramics, before walking back along the waterfront past that slightly odd thing: the British seaside swimming pool. This one, the Jubilee Pool, was built in the 1930s and therefore quite deco.

Newlyn Harbour - credit:S

We drove around the bay to Newlyn, as there is an art gallery there, however the exhibition didn't appeal so didn't bother, but we did find a quaint cafe for yet another great cream tea! Newlyn is a also a large fishing port, and the harbour was full of colourful boats of all sizes.

It was only a short drive from Newlyn to Mousehole, this time for a proper look around. The mist there wasn't down to the harbour and the temperature was mild, so although rather gloomy, it was wonderful to wander around the tiny alleys that climb up and down the hill to the fan-shaped harbour. The 2 harbour walls make up the frame of the fan, golden sand decorates the top, with ropes from the beach wall to the boats acting as the spines (check it out on Google Maps satellite view!). It must be a stunning wee place in the sunshine.

Mousehole Harbour - credit:S

Many of the little cottages are now holiday lets or craft shops and galleries, but it still has a lived-in village atmosphere, with workers catching the bus home or chatting at the tiny newsagents.

Mousehole harbour - credit:J

Then it was back home to get ready for our dinner reservation, at The Gurnard's Head Inn. This hotel and restaurant is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, in an area of desolate windswept coastline: all bracken covered moorland and rocky outcrops. It's not possible to miss the Inn as it's painted a bright mustard yellow, although the fog was so thick that we were almost on top of it as it loomed out of the mist. Great meal and an atmospheric drive home in even thicker fog.


29th Sep
A great improvement in the weather today as we headed off to a small town called Helston to visit their museum, in part to follow up on some genealogy leads for Madeleine's family. It contained a large but very eclectic selection of objects, including a butcher's cart with the surname and village of one of Mad's ancestors. Helston's main street is on a hill and has a quirky feature: small cobblestone culverts running with water on either side of the street. Makes parking your car interesting and I'm sure someone must make money rescuing cars out of it.

Kynance Cove - credit: S

After lunch (during which I managed to spill an entire glass of drink over me), we drove to Kynance Cove, reputed to be a real beauty spot. Its reputation is well founded, although the wind and sun made photography difficult and we didn't do it justice. It was very crowded considering the time of year - it must be heaving in summer. At the top of the cliffs, a cold wind was blowing, so everyone going down was in jackets and hats, but at the bottom it was very sunny and sheltered behind the rocks on the beach, with people even swimming and sunbathing. The waves were spectacular, so some parts of the beach were only in use for the spectator sport of wave watching, a popular sport based in the number of participants.

Helford River - credit: J

Then it was off to the Helford River on the east coast of the Cornish peninsula for a river cruise. As it left from the Budock Vean Hotel and as we were a tad early, we prevailed ourselves of yet another cream tea!
The cruise was in a small uncovered boat - sort of a large dingy with a small open cabin and an outboard motor. There were 8 of us plus the young woman "driver"/guide. She took us down the river estuary almost to the sea, and back up the other side, detouring down side channels, such a Frenchmen's Creek, the inspiration for Daphne Du Maurier's 1941 book.

Frenchman's Creek - credit:S

The coast line was mainly rocky, with trees right down to the waterline. They looked almost like pohutukawas but were in fact oak trees, stunted by the rocky ground and salt water. The scenery looked a little like the Marlborough Sounds in parts, except for the height of the hills and the architecture of the farmhouses and riverside cottages. In some areas, there were huge expensive homes owned by people like Tim Rice and Roger Taylor (Queen drummer). The wildlife was a bit disappointing but we saw egrets, herons, cormorants and shags. The cruise lasted for 2 hours, and we arrived back to the hotel in the early evening sun.

Cruise end, Budock Vean - credit: S

We stopped off at the Penzance Sainsburys on the way home for "heat and eat" meals, and had a quiet night in.












30th Sep

Jeremy at Rick's place - credit:S

A beautiful sunny day today. Ross had managed to get us a reservation at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, much to our surprise. Jeremy is a big Rick Stein fan, and had expressed an interest some time ago to go to the restaurant, but we'd heard that it's booked out months in advance so hadn't bothered to follow it up.

Padstow is about 90 mins drive north of St Just, via Penzance and on the way, for the first time, we got to see St Michael's Mount and a wide expanse of countryside. Unfortunately most of the smaller roads have high hedgerows down either side, robbing us of the view, but the A30 allowed us to see rolling farmland, hatched with hedges and pierced by lots of giant wind turbines.

Padstow is a working fishing town, but also has a long expanse of golden sand along the River Camel estuary. But we weren't there for sightseeing!
First stop was the Rick Stein deli and shop, where we all picked up a few purchases, including a signed cook book. Then for the main event: a delicious 3 course meal, featuring seafood of course, with impeccable service. Two hours later, we waddled back to the car.

Cove, Tintagel - credit:J

Next item on the itinerary: Tintagel. The castle ruins are perched in a spectacular location - a small promontory (almost an island) surrounded by cliffs. Access is via a steep staircase (we wrked off some of that lunch!) down to a bridge then up the other side, high above a small cove. This cove has a bit of everything: several caves, a waterfall and crashing waves.

Tintagel Castle - credit: J

The castle ruins themselves are not that exciting to look at - very little left of the 13th century buildings, and lots of dubious connection to King Arthur. Recent archaeological work has discovered the possibility of a large and much older complex of buildings, suggesting the significance of the site over a very long period, back to the Dark Ages. As of this year, a rather cool (but controversial - everyone's a critic!) bronze statue of a knight has been installed, entitled Gallos.

Gallos statue, Tintagel - credit:J

It was a fairly long drive home, but again with the best views to date. We could even see Lands End and the Longships lighthouse as we headed down into St Just. Although the evening was mostly spent with packing etc, we did have a bit of excitement. We had spoken to a local last Sunday when walking around the village, asking about Nencharrow Terrace, as the 1841 census showed our 4xg-grandfather William Thomas (and wife and son) living there. A young couple  overheard and said they had deeds for their house going back to the 19th century and had names on it including a Thomas. Ross visited them tonight to discover their house was indeed once owned by our ancestors, and continued to be until the 20th century, down a line of our distant cousins. So we now have a copy of a document showing our William Thomas' signature.

So that was our week in Cornwall. Now it's back to London, via a night in Portsmouth for Ross and Mad (to see the Mary Rose) and a night in Bristol for us, so that we can catch up with an ex-colleague of Jeremy's, now living in Bristol.