I reluctantly left Bicknoller @ 5:30 pm, on a Friday afternoon. I had the hire car (Hugo) for another 3 days so I thought I would explore Cornwall!
I’ve grown up reading many books set in Cornwall, many involving Smugglers, rugged coastlines, windswept moors and mysterious persons! Then, of course , there’s the legend of King Arthur @ Tintagel. Plus we have the Copper triangle ( or Little Cornwall) and Burra, in South Australia, and their links to Cornwall, and Cornish pasties! More recently, I have loved the Doc Martin series, set, and filmed, in Port Isaac, Cornwall. Max and Jan had told me about their trip around Cornwall many years ago and some of their favourite spots along the way, and whilst I was visiting them in Edinburgh, Andrew and Linley had a wonderful list of must-see, and must-eat recommendations , too! All in all I had a huge list of places to visit!
I stayed in a BnB in a tiny village in Devon on Friday night, and intended to “do” the sights of the Northern coast of Cornwall on Saturday, staying overnight in another Airbnb place in St Just, near Cape Cornwall & Lands End on Sat night, leaving the southern coast of Cornwall for Sunday, ending up in Plymouth Sunday night (Airbnb again) , with a longish drive to London on Monday!
It was stunning, amazing, picturesque, interesting, absorbing and much more than I could do in a weekend! I probably ticked off about a fifth of my list…..but what I did see was awesome! And although I covered only a few places….I did them all rather thoroughly…..with some interesting conversations along the way. To get to all the picturesque villages ( mostly fishing villages) , I had to leave the main roads and travel on lots of windy, narrow, interesting little roads. This being another reason for not getting as far as I’d planned! Not many miles covered, but a lot of time spent! The only ” long” driving spells I did was up and down the centre of Cornwall on the highways. Oh, I drove across Bodmin moor, and stopped at Jamaica Inn, too!
I did lots and lots of walking. Up many steep steps to see the castle ruins at Tintagel. Down from the car park along a very steep road ( and up again!) to tiny but picture perfect Port Isaac ( Port Wenn) . Down more steep steps to explore the Minack theatre, carved out of the rocky cliffs, overlooking stunning scenery. ( I sat and watched half a dress rehearsal for Aida there too, then spent two hours talking with a French/German couple in the cafe)
I walked up and down tiny, squeezy roads of a tiny place called Mousehole (pronounced Mouzel) , and that was after exploring Cape Cornwall(more climbing) and Land’s end! Marvellous, wonderful stuff! Some of the coastline reminded me of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Crashing waves, rugged rocks, etc, etc. And now……the photos……should have been interspersed at appropriate spots, but I forgot! Oh well, you can try and guess the places.