It was a Tragedy that we didn't see the Bee Gees!

Monday 30th May 2016 - to Bath.

I hadn't realised that the journey from Bude to Bath would take over two and a half hours.  The sun was lovely again as we set off from our little CL on the golf course.  It was a fond farewell to Cornwall.

We had agreed to do a bit of tourism before we arrived at our next site.  We were visiting the National Trust house near Bristol called Tyntesfield.  The Trust bought it in 2002 with help from a public subscription; I know because in a rash moment I donated £30.  I was a Trust member at the time and I was quite captivated by the House and its contents.  It is a Victorian mansion and estate that was built by the Gibb family.  I thought it would have been Barry, Robin and Maurice from the Bee Gees but it turned out to be William and his son Anthony who were traders who made their money by importing bird poo from Peru and using it in fertiliser.  Sounds weird doesn't it.  The poo was Guano and it seemed to attract a good price.  I believe they diversified into other business too.

We aren't members of the National Trust currently but we have visited a few of the properties and are getting a bit weary of being asked if we want to join by every staff member or volunteer.  We knew the admission price for Tyntesfield would be rather high and were willing to take the hit this time.  We were immediately greeted by the staff when we drove in, who asked if we were members etc etc.  He told us we would have to pay £3 for parking as well as paying the entry fee.  We then went to pay and saw that the standard price was £14.05 or with Gift Aid it was £15.50.  We have come across this 'scam' before at other houses but haven't had it at the National Trust before.  We can't understand why it costs more to the public to Gift Aid the entry fee.  I would normally be happy to Gift Aid the fee but I refuse to pay extra for the privilege, so we paid the £14.05 price.  I just about bit my tongue when paying, there is no point being cross with the volunteers at the desk.

The house is stunning and the gardens were lovely. 

It is absolutely in its original condition and all the items are documented so they know who made them and when.  Most stuff was made specially for the family and was probably cutting edge technology of the time.  The snooker table is unique, it has ornate carving around the side and has buttons on the top which link to an electronic score board on the wall.  The slate bed is warmed to speed the ball rolling.

There was a falconry display in the garden too.  We saw flying demonstrations by owls, a Harris hawk and a peregrine falcon.  The weather was particularly pleasant too, just right.  A good day, almost worth £14.

We arrived at our new CL about 2 miles outside Bath, not Baaaath like they say down here.  We had another experience of an eccentric site owner.  The place has signs to tell you not to set up without instructions.  The owner (Merv, with dyed red hair that has faded to a pale yellow and grey roots), came to give us detailed instructions advice. Here is the pack he provided....

Very thoughtful!  He was also very keen to take my cash immediately, it was another £14 per night, rather steep for a site that has no toilet or shower but at least he didn't ask for any Gift Aid!

In the evening we thought we would have a little cycle into Bath.  I have been briefly but Janice has been more recently.  It's a nice town, house prices in the estate agents windows were rather steep!

We had a look down by the river Avon, walked past Bath RUFC, peeped over the wall at the Roman Baths and visited the Royal Crescent.  The whole place looked very affluent with lots of good quality shops, bars and restaurants.

Wide mouthed frog!

Saturday 28th May 2016 - Bude.

It's been a bit of a funny day.  It started nice and sunny.  We cycled into Bude for lunchtime and as soon as we got to the shore it was like a curtain of mist had descended.  Even in Bude town it was quite bright and warm but as soon as we got to the beach and the coast it was so misty that we could hardly see the sea.  I told Janice it was a 'sea fret', she had never heard the term previously.

For our lunch we had what was probably our last Cornish Pasty from the Pengenna shop in Bude (same company as the Tintagel Pasty).  It was very nice but still lacked that full flavour of the Porthleven pasty.  I think it is now demoted to second in the pasty competition.  That still makes it a great pasty for substance and lots of succulent meat.

We set off on the coastal path walk despite the 'fret'.  We got to Widemouth Bay....

It led us to talk about Widemouth frogs and Janice remembered an advert for malteasers where the wide mouthed frog pretended to not to be a wide mouthed frog.  I recalled a Dave Allen joke of many years ago involving a wide mouthed frog.  Look it up on the Internet.  It was a classic, especially if you can remember Dave Allen telling it himself.

We arrived in the village of Widemouth Bay and had expected great things from the beach.....here it is in all its glory.....

The sea is out there somewhere, but that is the curtain of mist!

We went back to Bude and cycled back to the site where it was pleasant and sunny once more although the mist did creep up to us as the evening progressed.

Sunday 29th May 2016 - Bude.

Our last full day in Cornwall....and wall to wall sunshine.  

We didn't plan to do anything except have Sunday lunch at The Tree Inn at Stratton.  The carvery meal was super.  Three meats and all the trimmings.  My plate was so heavy with food I was having trouble loading more on and carrying it back to my table.  We sat outside in the sun too.  We spent the afternoon and evening back at the van relaxing and reading the Sunday papers.

Nude!

Friday 26th May 2016 - To Bude.

I thought the title might get your attention.  It was merely my spell checker prompting me to correct my current destination.  It could be worse it could have been a rude, lewd, nude, dude from Bude!

I have had some stick from my younger brother about my hair....he asks 'what have I done to it as it looks like a hawk'!  Well, I haven't done anything to it (at all, and you can tell) and he's wrong, it's more like a crested lark!

Moving on - we travelled at least 15 miles from Tintagel to Bude.  We had a little shopping trip on the way but still arrived by 11am.  The site is a CL on a golf course near Stratton, approx 3 miles north east of Bude.  It is quite a nice place, it seems very quiet as we haven't seen anyone playing golf yet despite it being a pleasant afternoon and evening.  Also, there are three other vans here but no-one has turned up to them yet (and I am writing this at 8.30pm).  If I had brought my own golf clubs I could have had a round for free.  The only down side about the site is that it is up a big hill and we will be staying for three nights which, at least, means there will be three long hill climbs on the bikes.

We set off down towards Bude on the bikes, cycling first through the smaller (and older) village of Stratton.  Bude was busy but it is the start of a bank holiday weekend.  We had a good walk around and we liked it.

Nice beaches, a river and a canal.

The weather was grey initially but as the afternoon progressed it improved, culminating in a lovely evening.

We visited the Castle Heritage Centre (not what I would call the real castle, so it didn't make up for the absence of a castle at Boscastle), and found out about the Battle of Stratton in the Civil War in 1643.  The royalist army won against the odds and were led by local man Sir Brevil Grenville.  He had a Cornish Giant as a bodyguard called Anthony Payne who was 7'4" tall and about the same around the middle.  He is a picture of him......

It's supposed to be life sized.  I think he's had a few pasties!

Apparently he lived and died in a house in Stratton which is now the Tree Inn.  Supposedly they had to enlarge the doors of the house to get his body out.

In the interests of research we had to go and have a look.

It was a lovely little sun trap in the courtyard.  I think we will go for Sunday lunch.

Back we went up the hill to the site.  It was steep too.  Never mind, it will do us good!

We had a nice simple tea of sausage, egg and beans.  I like to have plenty of pepper on my food but in my exuberance with the pepper grinder I managed to pull the top off and half the pepper corns tip all over my food and the rest over the floor!  What a plonker.  I tried to get some of it off but ate the meal with high doses of pepper followed by plenty of sneezing.  You may have realised that we have not been running a sneezing competition this trip.....maybe I should have started it after all.

Where's the Castle.

Thursday 26th May 2016 - Tintagel.

Whilst there was a Castle at Tintagel (even though it was a complete ruin) we walked in the opposite direction to Boscastle expecting another Castle but there was non at all....well not since 1478.

Our morning was spent at leisure on the site, basking in glorious sunshine.

We made our excursion to Boscastle after lunch.

All I knew about Boscastle was that it had a flash flood in August of 2004, although it seemed more recent in my memory.  Apparently it was one our largest rescue events ever.  Over 100 properties were evacuated and 81 people were airlifted out of the village by 6 helicopters.  Miraculously no one died and the biggest injury was a broken thumb!  The TV coverage was dramatic as it showed several cars being washed down to the sea.  

The presence of a harbour at all is quite a shock as you wouldn't think that any vessels would manage to get in at all.

The photo is taken from the inner harbour wall and that little construction on the right is the outer wall.  The tide was out but even when in any small ships would need to zig zag into the harbour with precision.  I don't think it's used much now.

I liked the place but we looked in vain for the castle!  We eventually found the site of the castle that was actually called Bottreaux Castle, built around 1100 by a Norman Lord and fell into ruin by 1478.  There was nothing at all to see, hence no photograph.

This is Janice and I having a little rest before our walk back!  Yes, I look a bit tired and heavy, this is what happens if you have too many pasties....be warned!

Here a picture of Forrabury Church which is the towns little church.  It looks out towards the sea and is adjacent to a large field which is divided into 'stitches' or strips that in the early feudal period were given to local people to be self reliant.  The division of the individual 'stitches' is still clear today.

Back at the van we must have been a bit confused because we had an English Breakfast for our tea!

We had a little think and worked out that we have seen the sea every day of the holiday except our first night at Tewkesbury and one day when we were near Exeter.

Quest for the Holy Grail.

Wednesday 25th May 2016 - to Tintagel.

Had a lovely lie in this morning, not bothered by the cockerel today.

I am reliably informed by my older brother that Goon means 'flattish lowland'.  I thought of Harry Secombe was a fattish baritone!

Set off to have a look at Padstow (otherwise known as Steinville after Rick Stein).  Neither of us have been previously and thought it was about time we got acquainted with the place.  Normal tactics applied - we parked the van in a lay by a couple of miles out and we cycled in.  First thoughts were that it wasn't a quaint little place but it did have a working harbour and a good range of ordinary shops as well as the tourist cafes and souvenir shops.

On closer inspection there was plenty of evidence of His Majesty Rick Stein.  Several food establishments were owned by him and a whole row of shops on the side of the docks.  It transpired that His Majesty was making an appearance next Monday to do a book signing, we are so sad to miss him!!!  To be fair, he seems a decent kind of fella and doesn't swear as much as Gordon Ramsay.

We travelled onto our new site near Tintagel.  What a stunning location for a site, overlooking the sea.  Here is our view from the front window...

Tintagel village and castle are a couple of miles away along the coastal path.  In the afternoon we walked around to Tintagel.  I know most readers will know that Tintagel Castle is the fabled place that King Arthur was concieved.  I felt the parallel between Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail and my quest for the Holy Grail of pasties.  I have previously been here and had a vague memory of a great pasty.  I could just about remember where the pasty shop was and found it again without any bother.  It was Pengenna Pasties.  They were 'top crimpers' instead of side crimpers and to be honest they were rather pricey at £4 but they were quite big and full of tender meat.  A real contender for the title.  I am placing them equal top pasty because of the amount of meat and its tenderness, but perhaps not quite as peppery as the Porthleven and Philps pasties.  The crows thought it was a good pasty too.....

It was a bit like a scene from 'The Birds' film by Alfred Hitchcock.  Don't worry they had no chance.

We had a look around the shops...

For some reason Janice declined to pose for this photo??

We walked down to the Castle but it is a complete ruin and it cost £8.75 each to enter.  It's location on the cliffs is amazing but we get those views all the time on our walks.  I was reminded of a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail film when some French knights shouted insults from a castle down to King Arthur who was trying to gain access.  The insults included classics like 

"You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person! I blow my nose at you, so-called Ah-thoor Keeng, you and all your silly English K-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-niggits! [makes taunting gestures at them]"

I apologise for my childish rememberances but I can't mention King Arthur without thinking of Monty Python.

We walked back on the coast and stopped briefly in Rocky Valley....

It's a lovely little inlet where a small river joins the sea and the cliffs are steep sided.  We had a lovely evening watching the sun go down till about 10pm.

St Piran, Patron Saint of Cornwall

Tuesday 24th May 2016 - St Agnes.

We were woken rudely at 6am by the farm cockerel.  I have now decided what we are having for our evening meal......Coq au vin!

I managed my first cooked English Breakfast of the holiday!  I can't really explain why it has taken so long before I have had one....it's very remiss of me.

I wasn't aware that St Piran (in Cornish language it is St Peran) is the Patron Saint of Cornwall.  I mention this fact because we cycled into Perranporth today which I think is closely connected to St Piran.  Piran was a Cornish Abbott from the 5th Century BC and legend has it that he came from Ireland where the heathen Irish tied him to a millstone and threw him into the sea.  The sea immediately became calm and he miraculously floated safely across to Cornwall.  I'm not so sure about the accuracy of the story because I prefer to think of him as the patron saint of Worcester Sauce or the patron saint of all Reginald's.

The day started a little breezy and cloudy but as the day progressed we had a lovely sunny afternoon and a beautiful evening.  In the late morning we walked along the vast beach at Perranporth, which I believe is named after St Piran.

What about that for a bit of beach.

We carried along the coastal path to Holywell Bay which was also lovely.

Holywell doesn't have much in the way of amenities but it did have a pub, coincidentally the St Piran Inn, where we had our fish and chip lunch and then walked back over the dunes toward Perranporth.  On an information board we also found out that a small Chapel dedicated to St Piran had been covered by the dunes and was now lost....we didn't look too hard for it and anyway I hadn't brought my bucket and spade.

We found some Shetland ponies as well.  I think they must have been lost on the dunes too, coz it's a long way from Shetland.

Looking at these pictures you may understand how great it is to walk the South West Coastal Path but I can imagine what it might be like in the rain too!

We got back to Perranporth and cycled back up the hill to the site.  We are getting very used to long climbs out of seaside towns.  The low gears are getting some stick!

We had a lovely sunny evening back at the van.  Probably the first time we have been able to sit out in the evening till about 7.30pm.  That Coq au van was lovely!  We can have a lie in tomorrow.

Goon Show.

Monday 23rd May 2016 - St Agnes.

Our first stop was at the Lidl store at Hayle.  I seem to be doing rather a lot of advertising for various retailers!  We like Aldi and Lidl and their seems to be more Lidls down here.  The main difference between the two is that Lidl has its own fresh bakery in store.  We have tried their scones before and were quite impressed so this time we bought four scones for £1, with the intention of making our own cream teas.  The clotted cream was a decent pot for about £1.25 and a jar of jam at £1.  Total cost of £3.25.  The normal price of a cream tea, comprising of two scones and a skinny bit of clotted cream and jam, plus a cup of tea in a cafe is about £5-6.  Need I say more, we have double the scones and enough cream and jam for about 10 scones.

I haven't really mentioned much about Cornish place names.  There are lots of places starting with 'Tre' and 'Porth' and plenty of names that are just strange, like Grumbla, Nanquidno and Gweek!  It probably comes from the Old Cornish language.  Today we moved a short distance to St Agnes, further up the northern coastline.  We are starting to travel north again and it feels like we are on our way home.  This area has several villages nearby that start with 'Goon', there is Goonvrea, Goonhilly and Goonbell.  If you know what it means I would appreciate the answer.  I keep expecting to see someone looking like Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine, Peter Sellars or Spike Milligan walking around the place.  The Goons, as they were called (for the benefit of younger readers) were one of the first comedy groups to talk absolute rubbish and get away with it.   I'm also trying to remember if Michael Bentine is still alive because the other three are definitely dead now.  Janice and I often play a little game to try and guess someone's age or whether they are actually alive.

The new CL is between St Agnes and Perranporth.  I have never been to the former place but I remember the great beach at Perranporth.  The site is nice and sheltered and as the sun was shining we sat outside and ate our lunch that was followed by a Cornish cream tea with a Lidl scone, cream and jammmmmmm!

It's as good as any cream tea we have had.

There is also a little pond on the site with some little ducklings. 

I'm not sure if this counts as bird watching but I don't see why not.

Our afternoon activity involved walking to the coast and following the coast path to St Agnes beach, onto St Agnes Beacon (the only hill in the area), into the village for a pint and back to the site.  Here are some views of the walk....

St Agnes Beacon.

Little row of miners cottages...the terrace is called 'Stippy Stappy', cute ehh!

Same again!

Saturday 21st May 2016 - Hayle.

It wasn't the greatest day of weather.  It rained in the morning but as lunchtime approached the lure of another Philps pasty was too strong to resist.  What a good business.....there was a queue of customers outside the shop.  We ate our pasties on the harbour area.

We continued to do a little bit of shopping at M&S and Lidl before cycling back.  Whilst at M&S we bought the meal for two for £10, including a meat main course, vegetable, dessert and a bottle of wine.  You can't beat it.  We had to choose things that could either be fried or microwaved because we don't have an ordinary oven.  Our main choice was Cajun chicken for 6 people and as I tend to eat for the equivalent of three people it would be enough!

In the afternoon we did a coastal walk up to Godrevy Point where we saw some common seals and some grey seals.  We had a long chat with a German man and his family who are on holidays near Newquay.  He spoke very good English and was very enthusiastic about England and how beautiful it was.  I didn't send him to Camborne to change his mind!

We also saw a curlew....that's another bird spotted.

We had a quiet evening in the van, Janice was doing her crochet and I practiced the violin whilst wearing my smoking jacket and monocle!  I don't know why people don't believe a word I write?

Sunday 22nd May 2016 - Hayle.

What an unexpected but gorgeous day.  It was sunny and blue skies all day, with a cool breeze.

Same again...we cycled into St Ives.  Our visit on Thursday was dull and damp so we gave the town a chance to show itself in a more flattering light.  We had made a picnic and walked through the town, the harbour and along the coast in a much more relaxed way.

We were even brave enough to have a paddle although many hardy souls were surfing and body boarding.

St Ives was unbelievable......

And even more unbelievable.....

We had our picnic in a sheltered spot on the harbour and we had a little sun bathe on the beach.

Pretty good ehh.

No Liquorice Allsorts

Friday 20th May 2016 - Hayle.

We decided we should have a longer cycle ride and see some of the local area.  We cycled along the coast eastwards past the village of Portreath, which was rather down at heel compared with the other coastal ports.  We then turned inland and visited Redruth.  The town and environs are actually a World Heritage Site for its Tin Mining history.

Here is Janice carrying a miner on her shoulders in Redruth shopping street.  Despite being a Heritage site we didn't have any high expectations of the place.  I do like some industrial heritage but the town didn't have much for the tourist.  We carried on cycling towards Cambourne.....again we had low expectations (you can tell this was a well planned cycle route).

However, in between Redruth and Cambourne we passed Carn Brea which is a hill, see below....

The ruin on the left is Carn Brea Castle, which was built by Baron Bassett, a local mine owner, nominally as a hunting lodge but it was probably a folly.  The location was used in a Harry Potter film when the stolen Ford Anglia car was found here (I have to include these facts because my daughter is a Harry Potter fan).  The monument on the right is a Celtic cross and is called the Bassett monument.  Lord Bassett helped to quell the Miners Food Riots of 1785 and petitioned against slavery in the House of Lords in 1828.  The monument was built by local subscription in 1838.  I was disappointed to find out that his first name was Francis, as I was hoping it was Bertie!  I still like to think the family went on to make Liquorice Allsorts but I can't find any connection.

There were other ruins of tin mining locations too.

Cambourne town was even worse than Redruth.  Whilst walking down the shopping street it dawned upon us that the town must have a very small gene pool.  There were a lot of people who looked scruffy and had rather strange expressions or peculiar gaits.  I know that sounds horrible but it wasn't just a case of poverty, something else was going on...I'm sure!  We must have stood out because a man came up to me and asked me if I had 20p.....times must be hard.  I refused to give him anything on principle that I don't give to beggars and then I realised that I couldn't have given him anything anyway because I hadn't brought any money and we couldn't even get ourselves a coffee anywhere.

Back to the site for our own coffee.  The cycle route hadn't been particularly inspiring but it had been a good 3 hours cycling with those two little stops in towns.  It had included quite a few challenging hills and it will have been good exercise.

After lunch we had a beach and dunes walk.....

You can't get fed up of a beach so good.

We had a little drink in the pub at Gwythian (the nearest village) before settling into the van for the evening.  We watched a DVD of Ashes to Ashes (the retro police drama that followed Life on Mars).  For those who know of the programme DCI Gene Hunt has a particular way with words, many of which I could probably put in the blog....believe me he is funny and it reminds Janice and me of our early time in the Police.  I can't resist mentioning a couple of quotes.... "Bolly Knickers" and "Fire up the Quattro".

New Installation at Tate Modern.

Thursday 19th May 2016 - to Hayle.

The weather forecast isn't too good for the next few days.  We can't have it all!  Today was supposed to be dry but dull whilst other days involved rain, so we decided to give St Ives a visit enroute to our next site near Hayle.

We have both been before but Janice was very young.  The town is pretty but commercial, not on the scale of Blackpool but it certainly has more art galleries per square mile than anywhere else I know.  Most of the galleries have the same style of paintings that predominantly use the colour blue (for sea and sky).  The town is also home to the Tate St Ives and those that know me will know my views on modern art!!  You will understand how sad I was to find out that it was shut till 2017 for renovation!!

However, I was pleased to see that Tracey Emin had done this thought provoking installation of scaffold poles and builders skip outside the museum.  I think it is part of her health and safety period!  She has certainly improved since she did the 'unmade bed'.

St Ives itself was, by its own standards, rather quiet (just as we like it).  The harbour and beaches were beautifully clean but it was very overcast and it did start to rain.

We had an obligatory cup of coffee to escape the rain and then browsed the shops before cycling back to our van that was parked up about 4 miles away.

Next stop was my favourite pasty shop at Hayle.....it's called Philps.  They make them on the premises and I remember eating many of them on previous holidays.

We wasted no time in buying a couple for our late lunch.  They were certainly fresh and piping hot.  I was trying my best to be objective in my judgement of the pasty.  The one we had at Porthleven has been the best so far and would be hard do beat.  Reluctanly I felt the Porthleven pasty is still the best but it was a close call.  The Philps pasty was really good and had good sized pieces of tender meat, it was also beautifully seasoned with the right amount of pepper but the Porthleven pasty clung on by virtue of meat the melted in the mouth and perhaps a slightly more moist filling.  I will be having a second  or third tasting over the next few days as we are staying near here for a few nights.  The competition isn't over yet, not till we leave Cornwall.

Our site is outside Hayle near the very large beach and sand dunes.  It is a proper Caravan Club site so we will be able to catch up on our washing etc.  The sites are usually of a good and consistent standard with a good range of facilities.  We may even have a shower.  ....The fact I mention having a shower will probably make you think that we don't otherwise wash our clothes or have showers and go around stinking.  Well, I must correct you....we do have our own shower in the van and we do wash stuff as we travel.

In the evening we went for a walk over the dunes onto the beach.  It is vast....

It's probably 3-4 miles long.  We managed to walk along the beach for a while and apart from two surfers there was no one else to be seen.  It was a bit chilly though!

Mont or Mount.

Wednesday 18th May 2016 - Marazion.

We had a slow morning due to heavy showers.  We utilised our slow cooker for lamb hot pot.

After an early lunch we walked a nice country and coastal route to Marazion.  As per normal the views were super.

We walked the last section along the beach.  

Our intention was to visit St Michael's Mount.  It would have been nice to walk across the causeway but the tide was well in so we caught the ferry.

This is a view from the Mounts harbour back towards the mainland. 

The Mount was very well conserved and unspoilt.  I had recently been to Mont St Michel in Normandy. They are almost carbon copies of each other.  Mont St Michel is larger and visually more stunning but the interior of the Abbey is very bare and the lead up to the Abbey is very commercial, especially if you like biscuits by 'Mere Poullard' who seems to own the whole island.  In contrast, St Michael's Mount is not commercial and not so cluttered.  The interior of the House and Abbey are filled with antiques, paintings and local historical objects, much better than the minimal approach of the French isle.  I was told that the French Mont was started before the English version but it was finished later.  I suspect that a competition was going on between the builders to out do each other.

It was breezy but the sun shone and gave us stunning views.

We got back to the mainland and had a cream tea day instead of a pasty before we walked back.

We enjoyed our hotpot with our own newly acquired bottle of Lea and P.

I recently found out that Lidl do their own version of Lea and P.  Not sure if I can compromise but maybe I should at least give it a try!

This morning I managed to do some catch up with the Sunday Paper.  An article was about a Continental Goldfinch Smuggling Mafia.  The Goldfinch may be the only finch that we haven't seen.....no wonder, they are all getting captured by unscrupulous bird thieves.  I had previously heard about 'budgie rustlers' but I was shocked to hear that Goldfinch thieves can be armed and dangerous.  One bird lover was attacked by a man wearing nothing but a T shirt and underpants, wielding a spade as a weapon.  Apparently they catch the birds by putting strong glue on trees!  I will be on the look out!

We had a quiet but sunny evening...lovely.