Touring Cornwall

Contents

Wales
Cornwall
Falmouth
Further Exploration
Stratford and Home

Although Gordon grew up in England, and we have made several trips there over the years, we had never visited Cornwall. Since hiking in beautiful coastal scenery is one of our favorite pastimes, it seemed like an obvious place for our vacation this year.

We started with a side trip to Wales to visit Gordon's sister Bunty, her husband Hiag, and their neighbours' dogs (with toy). Hiag was proudly sporting his UNC vest (waistcoat). Bunty's pride is a beautiful garden (in an ideal setting for gardening). The garden shed itself offers a fine display.

We introduced Bunty to the sport of geocaching, beginning with a cache in the nearby town of Meidrim. The GPS took us to a large oak tree in the middle of a field, where Bunty found the cache, hidden in the roots of the tree.

After this short walk we took a longer hike along the Pembroke coast path, starting near Bosherston. After a pub lunch we set off along a narrow bridge across the Bosherston lily ponds - lilies were not in bloom at this time of year. After climbing a stile we tried to find our way to Barafundle beach.

Somehow we reached instead a small hidden beach that seemed to be quite inaccessible from above. Behind the beach was a very large sink hole. Perhaps there was a connection to the beach via the sink hole. Without clambering down into the hole, there seemed to be no way to find out.

After consulting the map we headed back. A quiet return hike was disrupted by the sudden appearance of a helicopter. NATO heads of state were gathered not far away near Cardiff. Perhaps we were seen as a potential security threat.

Next day we set off for Cornwall. We stopped for lunch in Tedburn Saint Mary at the Kings Head, a charming pub that provides very polite instructions for their car park.

After driving across Bodmin Moor we ended up in the tiny village of Maenporth. We had rented an apartment in a new development that was attractively landscaped. The back of the apartment opened onto a lawn, where we could enjoy a glass of wine and admire the view across the lawn to Maenporth Bay.

Below the apartment was a beach that was popular with surfers. It was enjoyed equally by the local residents and by visiting beach goers. On either side of the beach were trails, parts of the South West coast path, that provided views back to the bay.

Exploring beyond Maenporth was made tricky by having to negotiate narrow country roads, often not wide enough for two cars to pass. Eventually we got the hang of how it's done.

Three miles north of Maenporth lies the major port town of Falmouth. Falmouth boasts the third or fourth largest harbour in the world. Because of the harbour, the town has been important for hundreds of years. One can sit at Pendennis Point, the entrance to that harbour and watch ships come and go.

The main channel, Carrick Roads, connects to an estuary that serves as a yacht harbour. For the length of the Carrick Roads there are small fishing harbors that are still active, and quiet estuaries that provide anchorage for pleasure boats.

Defense of the Falmouth harbour has been important since the time of Henry VIII. Pendennis Point is well protected by a castle, as we discovered when we walked for a couple of miles in search of an entrance.

Pendennis castle is not very large as castles go, but it helped keep England safe during the Spanish Armada and later years. One can tour the castle and observe defensive operations from this time period.

During World War II the castle was the site for a major gun battery. Now, though, the only weapon fired is the noon gun, on this day an American howitzer named Long Tom, left over from the war.

As befits its history, Falmouth boasts an impressive maritime museum. We also enjoyed one of its churches, the church of Saint Charles the Martyr, where we were fortunate enough to find a concert of piano music.

Falmouth is also surrounded by beautiful gardens, which thrive in the Cornwall climate. We visited two, and spent several hours walking and relaxing in delightful settings.

Penjerrick Garden is aptly described as a "jungle garden". One follows narrow trails among tree ferns, other large ferns, and gunera ("giant rhubarb"). A little further on a bridge leads to a luxurious meadow and a small waterfall. Many trees bear limbs that are so overloaded they have to be propped up.

Much more manicured is Trebah Garden. Even though the garden features are carefully maintained, everything appears tropical in its abundance. Remember, Cornwall is at the same latitude as southern Labrador. It seemed strange also to encounter sequoias outside the Pacific north west. The garden boasts several champion specimens of plants, including the tree fern with the largest girth in the UK.

Some trees give the appearance of sleeping on the job, while ducks happily investigate a model of the Loch Ness monster.

A large section of the garden is devoted to hydrangeas. A bridge crosses the narrow stream that runs through the hydrangea beds. Here we stopped briefly for a formal portrait.

The lush tropical vegetation is not restricted to the large gardens. Palm trees and pampas grass can be seen growing in many private yards.

One of our favorite places to eat near Falmouth was the Pandora Inn, a 13th century building overlooking Restronguet Creek. The Inn features locally caught fish, including this generous serving of freshly caught mackerel.

As we explored the south western part of Cornwall, we came across the seal sanctuary in Gweek. Here seals that are sick or injured are held for treatment. In the "convalescent pool" the recovering seals wait anxiously to be fed by members of the staff. The convalescing males are housed separately from the females, but they too are fed by hand, and then treated to a relaxing rubdown.

Much of our exploration of Cornwall was on foot. There is an extensive network of trails that are open to the public. Most of the trails lead through beautiful countryside. Sometimes they take the walker through potentially hazardous areas, such as a golf course. Suitable warnings are usually provided.

The best trails are those that follow the coast. The coast path, maintained by the National Trust, stretches around the entire county. Even here, though, there are occasional hazards such as eroding cliffs.

Part of the joy of walking is to stop for refreshment in pubs along the way. The Red Lion in the village of Mawnan Smith was one that we enjoyed. Most of the pubs are housed either in elegant thatched buildings, like the Red Lion, or in somber grey stone buildings. One pub we saw in a remote area clearly wanted to break with this trend.

If a pub was not available, wherever we went we found blackberries coming into season. These provided tasty refreshments as we walked.

One feature we encountered often on our walks was granite pillars. These were probably erected in most cases as fence or gate posts, although some, such as this pillar in a church yard, may have had ceremonial functions. And this rectangular pillar, found on a remote moor, seemed very unusual.

From our apartment in Maenporth the coast path led both north and south. The southern route was the more interesting and varied. At first one could see back to Maenporth, and Falmouth beyond that, further to the north. We hiked the coast path as far as Mawnan Church, and stopped for a rest in the old graveyard.

We explored another section of the coast path along The Lizard Peninsula, near Gunwalloe Cove. Here we found a church dedicated to Saint Winwaloe that dates back to the 13th century. The graveyard contains one very odd, unexplained memorial.

The coast path along the north west coast of Cornwall is quite different in character - more rugged, with numerous rocky outcroppings. From the path one has views of isolated coves, and the path itself crosses a number of steep, rocky gorges.

Near Saint Ives we came across the ruins of a tin mine. Mining had once ben a major industry in this region, but it has now disappeared. We also met a couple of Belted Galloway cattle, a hardy breed developed in Scotland and introduced to the moors in South West England.

One walk took us to Pentire Head, near the town of Padstow. The path leads through fields to a headland known as The Rumps. At the crest of the headland lies Pentire farm, which raises sheep and cattle. The cattle seem to possess a keen sense of the dramatic, aided perhaps by old farm machinery that looks like a fantastic insect.

North of The Rumps lies the town of Tintagel, which takes its name from ruins said to be the seat of the legendary King Arthur. We walked for a way along the section of coast path near here. The cliffs and inlets are especially dramatic.

Just outside Tintagel, along the cliffs, is the church of Saint Materiana. In the belfry of the church is an old stained glass window with ferns growing on the ledge.

Many of our hikes were to places where Gordon could look for a geocache. Invariably these were placed in interesting locations we might not otherwise have known about.

Several caches were located along narrow lanes in bucolic settings, such as this tiny hamlet near Little Petherick. Others were hidden on remote moors where the heather and gorse were in bloom. The cache might be near a strange rock formation, or in a spot that offered a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.

One cache took us to an unnamed hill, not mentioned in any tourist guide that we saw. The hike took us across a moor with lovely views of the countryside. At the top of the hill, after finding the cache, we relaxed and enjoyed the view.

Near the town of Bodmin is an ancient defensive fort known as Castle Canyke - a mound surrounded by a moat. It is not sign-posted in any way, and information is hard to come by, but a cache is hidden in the center of the mound.

JoAnn was usually happy to accompany Gordon on the caching expeditions, although sometimes she preferred to let him explore alone. A few caches are hidden on the edge of steep cliffs. In these situations JoAnn allowed Gordon to go on alone while she remained on a safer perch. This did mean that sometimes she missed out on interesting views - an old water sluice that had been part of a tin mine, for example.

On another occasion the cache was hidden near a disused quarry. It was a pretty place, but getting to the cache required surmounting a hillside of very large rocks, then fighting through a patch of impenetrable gorse and brambles. One of the gorse bushes reached out and grabbed Gordon's camera from his backpack. He was unable to find it, but amazingly two days later another geocacher saw it and was able to return it.

Gordon was also caching alone one day when he encountered another hazard that JoAnn was happy to have missed.

After spending two weeks in Cornwall, with no rain and very little cloud, we moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon the day that rain threatened. Even so, the rains held off for the remainder of our stay.

The town of Stratford has retained much of its Elizabethan character. On every street are old half timbered houses, their ancient beams exuding history. Some of the buildings are oddly distorted, with not a right angle to be seen.

On one corner is the Old Thatch Tavern, the only thatched building in the town center. A series of fires had destroyed the others, and a 17th century law forbade the construction of any more. The tavern serves a fine dinner and is a fun place to partake of a glass of wine.

One of the best known churches is the Guild Chapel, which contains some unique wall paintings. The fresco "Doom", painted above the chancel arch, dates from the 15th century.

A mile from the city center, but close to where we were staying, is Ann Hathaway's cottage. The house has been significantly enlarged since Ann and William Shakespeare were married. The hearth, though, is much as it was at that time. Upstairs is a four-poster that may have been William's "second best bed", the one he notoriously willed to his wife.

The cottage (which was originally a farm) has some extensive gardens, which contain sculptures inspired by some of Shakespeare's plays. Lines from The Merchant of Venice inspired the moon seat, constructed from woven willow branches. A steel cutout represents Shakespeare's historical plays, while here we see a sculpture inspired by Cornelia's death in Hamlet.

While walking around town one afternoon we came across a Morris dance in progress. The Morris dance can take several forms. This one follows what is called the "Cotswold style". The music of the fiddle and accordion is supplemented by bells on the legs of the dancers. The dancers sometimes waive handkerchiefs, sometimes brandish sticks. The gentleman in the top hat and boa is the "fool", a jester-like character who provides a kind of running commentary on the dance.

The River Avon lends its name to the town, and the bridge and swans capture its charm. The river is used by many kinds of boats, including in the background the River Avon chain ferry. The ferry carries passengers across the river, and is propelled along a chain by the man who is turning a crank.

Of course, theatre is central to the life of the town. The Royal Shakespeare Company is housed in a building that contains two theatres. We saw a play, "The Roaring Girl", by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker, in the Swan Theatre, which is the smaller and more intimate of the two. We also attended a play, "Into The Breach", written and acted by Mark Carey, in a very different theatre. The Bear Pit is a tiny theatre located in a church.

Outside the RSC building is a lamp post donated to the town by the state of Israel. It features Tevye (from Fiddler on the Roof), Bottom (from Midsummer Night's Dream), and the owl (from Owl and the Pussycat).

While in Stratford we spent one day in Oxford. Since it was between terms the colleges were generally closed, but we could admire the architecture from the street.

Our main goal was to visit the Bodleian library. The library includes the Radcliffe Camera, also unfortunately closed. The original library was divided into separate sections, each housed in its own quarters. We took a tour of the Divinity School, built in 1488. The guide explained the details of its design and the magnificent ceiling. In other areas that we visited, photographs were not permitted.

Later we went for a walk past the Christ Church Meadow and along the banks of the Cherwell river. Here we were entertained by the efforts of novice punt operators. This is an activity that clearly requires extensive practice. Apparently a two person approach works better for those who are unskilled.

Our final stop before heading home was in Whittington, where Gordon grew up. This was our fourth visit in the last eight years. One reason we stopped this time was to find a cache or two, including one at the cricket field where Gordon had played as a youth. Another reason was to revisit the canal we recall fondly from our our canal voyage of 2011 (separate travelogue).

Watching the canal boats reminded us of a couple of cases of the difficulties of navigation. One was the problems we had seen in Oxford of handling a punt (above). The other was the adventures we had encountered on our own canal trip.

We had planned to have lunch in Whittington too. One pub we tried (The Dog Inn) was closed, the other (The Bell) was overrun with folks who had attended a funeral (!), so we ended up at a pub on the way to Lichfield, the Horse and Jockey. From there we continued to Manchester, an overnight stay near the airport, and a flight home the next day.

We arrived home to be greeted by two days of heavy rain, something we had not seen for our entire stay in Britain.

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