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.