Leanne and Don, life across the pond: A week in Corwall

We spent the last week in the Cornwall area and had a great time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall

The trip would take 5 1/2 hours by train, yes that is a long time. They do have overnight trains with sleeper cars but dogs are not allowed.

Except for the fact we had to ride backwards all the way there and back, It ended up being a nice relaxing ride. The views changed from city to countryside and then to fishing villages.

After five hours Coach was done with train travel.

We rented a car, which would be the first time in england, and set off for the cottage we rented. Driving on the other side of the road was an experience, and the narrow roads made it even more fun.

We got the cottage in one piece and with no dents on the car.

This was a plant next to the cottage. At first it looks like some kind of mutated rhubarb plant. A closer look and we can see it is not.

There was a lot of property to walk around. Behind our place was an old mill that has been converted into a rental unit.

The inside was small but had everything we wanted,

like a fire place. We had this going every night.

And we had a nice deck to relax on,

as Coach seemed to do a lot of.

After a good night's sleep it was time to do some exploring. We headed to coast to the Pendeen Lighthouse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendeen_Lighthouse

We could not go into the lighthouse but it did have a parking area. This was the view to the left

and this was to the right and the direction we would be walking.

This was a small working cove with about ten boats.

This beach was about a half mile farther down the coast.

This is how we got done to the water. The walk was a lot of ups and downs but nothing at all hard.

An old guy and his dog near the beach.

In this view you can see the lighthouse in the distance, the first cove and the beach. We took a lot of pictures and it was only our first full day.

We would be doing a circular walk of between 3 and 4 miles. This part would be thru a field, with a stone fence around it. All of the fields had fences of stone or hedgerows.

Being this was a walkway thru the farm it had places to cross.

Back on the road and heading to the lighthouse that is beyond the next farm house.

We passed a sign for a B and B---not sure if its still in business.

A view of the lighthouse, with Leanne and Coach.

Another view of the coast, far off in the distance are the ruins of old tin mines.

The main grocery store in this town, Leanne went to buy and few things and said there wasn't much.

And if you buy coal you have to carry it yourself----When was the last time you could by coal at the grocery store.

What looks like the entrance to an amusement park,

is actually a church.

For dinner we went to the town of Mousehole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousehole

This was another one of those postcard type of towns,

with small narrow streets that cars can barely fit down. For dinner Leanne had mussels, and I had a souffle. A great meal with a great view. The drive home was an adventure, narrow dark roads and the GPS on the phone was acting up.

The next day was supposed to be another easy circular walk thru the fields. We started off near the town of Sennen Cove.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sennen_Cove

Another place were you never get tired of the views.

Old guy crossing the road.

At this point of the walk everything was going fine.

It was a beautiful day with a good trail. The only problem so far was that Coach had accidentally jumped in a watering trough.

Then the trail ended, I realized that my map was lying to me. As we tried to get back to a trail we ended up going thru stinging nettles and thorny bushes. Everyone was not in a good mood. We finally got to a road, the only problem was that there was a hedgerow between us and the road. This is me making a path thru the hedgerow---did I mention that they're made up of stinging nettles and thorny bushes. We may need a pint after this one.

And there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a pub was close by.

This is the First and last inn,

http://www.firstandlastinn.co.uk/

Ok, lets check out the damages, this is what Leanne's knees looked like.

and these are mine, neither are a pretty sight.

We scored after we left the pub by crossing a potato field that had just been harvested.

There's always left over potatoes so we grabbed a few. Looks like fried potatoes for breakfast.

We would now hike down to Sennen Cove, it would be nice if our car was in that parking lot but it was not. It was to the right at the top of the hill.

So it would be a long down to a pub for a late lunch and then back up to the car. With great views all around it would be an enjoyable walk.

We have been trying to do at least a 3 to 5 mile circular walk every day. Today wouldn't be any different. This one had a climb to it and hopefully be nettles free. We still had the effects of the nettles from the day before. We decided if there were any we would turn around.

The trail would climb towards the top of this hill and continue behind or next to it.

We had parked our car next to an old tin mine. The mines were everywhere, there were signs warning about open shafts and to stay on trail.

The higher we got the better the views were. I am looking towards the lighthouse we were at a few days ago.

This is my view to the right of me. You can see the stone fences that make up the fields. Most of the buildings were also made of stone.

Near the top of the hill, we lucked out with a great day for views.

And Lee kept commenting on the wild flowers, there was a lot of color.

Me deciding which way to go. Coach the wonder dog waiting for me to give him directions-------or maybe a treat.

Just another open field, we did pass a few people on horses and a field with cattle in it. We have not seen much for wild animals, a few rabbits and that's it. Coach has been looking too, but has come up empty.

This was a house we would walk by. It's on top of the hill with views all around.

Not your normal sign on a hiking trail.

Look no stinging nettles.

This sign was to the left of the last pictures. No ropes or fencing around it, if you want to have a bad day just walk close to it.

Time for me to get moving, Leanne is getting way ahead of me.

We had to do a short road walk to our car and we passed this house. Most of the buildings looked like this, even the barns.

We parked our car next to this, it's an old pump building. They were used to pump the water out of the mine shafts.

One more look before we get back in the car.

It was another good day, and the lack of stinging nettles made it even better. Back at the house we each found our own way to relax. Leanne read her book, I played bridge on the computer and Coach found his happy place.

Tuesday night we went to the Minack theatre to see the play "The Wicked Lady"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minack_Theatre

https://www.minack.com/

This is the view leading down to our seats.

I had found this place online for things to see and do in Cornwall, it was not a disappointment.

Leanne is on the right, shes getting our seats.

Waiting for the play to start.

A view from the cheap seats, actually there all pretty cheap. Only about $30 for two.

And the rain waited till we got home, a good night.

The next day was rain, rain and more rain. We picked up some groceries and then did a tour of Geevor tin mine. Coach took the day off and chilled at the cottage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geevor_Tin_Mine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall_and_West_Devon_Mining_Landscape

Tin mining was big in the Cornwall area up until 1990 when the price of tin dropped.

It was a good thing to visit on a rainy day.

Besides seeing all the buildings and processing equipment we were able to go in a 18th century mine. It was more of a long short narrow tunnel carved out of the rock.

Leanne is modeling the latest in in mining gear. In case we got separated her green clogs and yellow helmet would glow in the dark.

Another great day even with rain and we got a rainbow at the Cottage when we got back.

Thursday we would do another coastal walk, this time towards St. Michael's Mount.

https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael%27s_Mount

We parked the car and started walking towards the island.

The tide was coming in, in a few hours this area would be under water.

Our view for the day, we do enjoy days like this.

As we got closer there were windsurfers and kite surfers. Everyone wore wetsuits, the water was very cold

Dogs are not allowed on this section of beach so we had to take the higher route.

There was a long line of people waiting to take a boat to the island. The water was to rough for me so we passed on going over.

Leanne took this picture, is this great or what.

Coach and I taking a break in a parking lot.

We took a walk thru the town that leads to the island.

And we found Leanne's court, she has places all over.

Just a sailboat out at sea.

When the tide is out you can walk to the island. As you can see there is a road going out there.

A windy walk back to the car and after that we headed back to the cottage.

Coach likes to relax on the deck whenever we're done walking.

Friday we did another walk near the coast, this time with views of the Minack theater. The theatre is in the left hand side of this picture above the beach. It's hard to see but believe me it is there.

We had started almost at the beach and then had to do a climb to get to the coast walk.

This is the view of where we are heading, blue sky's and blue water.

And the view in the opposite direction.

Right below the cliff in front of us is another beach, lots of people in wetsuits even the kids.

We would circle back going thru a few potato fields and also fields that cattle used for grazing. Our walk would take us back to the town of Porthcurno.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porthcurno

A very small town with a lot of history, it was a major international submarine communications cable station. At one time there was as many as 14 and one went from the UK to India.

Me again checking the map to see where we can go next.

Coach enjoying the grass and looking for rabbits.

This looks like something someone made but it's actually a plant/flower. They have a lot of weird plants over here.

An air raid shelter from WWII, very small inside. There may be room for 3 or 4 people.

Complete with german and british plane descriptions.

After the walk we headed back to Sennen Cove for lunch. We parked at the top of the hill and walked down to the restaurant.

We both ordered the fish and chips for lunch and watched the locals surfing. At the table next to us two kids were playing a game of pick up sticks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick-up_sticks

I had not seen that game since i was a kid. More than likely it's outlawed in the US because of it being a sharp object.

After lunch we had to walk up the hill to the car. But with a view like this the climb doesn't really matter.

Back at the cottage Coach found his happy spot.

For saturday we got up early to have one last walk on the beach before the long ride home.

The tide was out, it's amazing how much it changes from high and low tide.

We had bought some snacks and a bottle of wine for the ride back. For the first two hours there were a lot of kids on the train that seem to take turn crying. Leanne suggested we take a drink every time a kid cried. I said if a mother yelled we got to drink twice. The game only lasted a few minutes when we realized we would have to buy more wine with all the crying and yelling. Lucky for us most of them got off after 2 hours.

When we got near our house we saw these guys dressed up like Power Rangers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Rangers

It was good to know London was safe while we were gone.