| Day 19 - Cornwall |
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| Copyright Famocon Tours 2001 |
| We left the cottage in Twitchen bright and early to get off with a good start for this full day's trip to Lands End. From Barnstaple we went to Bideford for a quick look. In the 1500's Bideford was Britain's third largest port. Here there is an excellent 24 arch stone heritage bridge (1535) and medieval streets. This is one end of the Tarka Trail, a walk based on the travels of the fictional Tarka the Otter. Our next stop was at Clovelly where we parked the car, entered the large undercover shopping and tourist centre from where you take the walk down the cobbled lane through the quaint little stone village to the stone harbour at the bottom, which dates back to the 1300's. You will see the Red Lion Hotel which, with the Swan Hotel, are the most common pub names in England. The audio visual production in the visitor's centre traces Clovelly's history back to 2000BC and shows how little has changed in this hillside fishing village. We then drove to Bude for a look at the beach where the North Atlantic Ocean roars in. We then sailed through Wainhouse Corner on our way to Boscastle and its lovely river running through the Valency Valley. This valley was a mass of spring flowers, particularly primroses, but bluebells and snowdrops were starting to bud. The valley ends at a pretty village and historic harbour. Just south of Boscastle is Tintagel which has a charming and well photographed Post Office and Norman Church. But the highlight here is the ruins of Tintagel Castle, a Saxon stronghold built on top of some very wild cliffs overlooking a rugged coastline. This place has a deep sense of history as well as some optional steep climbs to get the best views. This is King Arthur country and the area is littered with whispers of this legendary king, including the claim that Tintagel Castle was Arthur's very own stronghold. Camelford, our next stop, is said to be the site of Camelot but the connection is not easily seen. We then headed south through Wadebridge and then detoured out to Padstow, another attractive harbour village, at the mouth of the Camel river and shown to the world in the English movie "Saving Grace". The village has also been made more well known thanks to Rick Stein's seafood restaurant. We then passed through St Columb Major, Indian Queens, Summercourt, Blackwater and Hayle until we reached St Ives, deep into Cornwall. St Ives is a visual feast with some of the prettiest sandy beaches to be found in the UK. Make sure you see the town from the heights before driving down to the village and the main beach areas. St Ives has some excellent museums and art galleries. In fact, it is such a visual delight that you can see why artists have regularly flocked here. We spent some time talking to Cornish folk about their part of the world. It doesn't take long to realise that they have a fierce, almost fanatical, local pride and they talk about England without seeming to know that they are part of it. On to St Just with its ancient cross and church before arriving at Lands End, the most westerly point of Great Britain. It was about 5.30 when we arrived and the tourist centre was closed. Nevertheless, we had the place almost to ourselves and the time was just perfect to capture memorable photos with the afternoon sun gloriously lighting up the rocky outcrops and coastline. We then found our way to our overnight stay - a lovely farm B&B near Lamorna Cove, with views across the sea to The Lizards which are the most southerly point of Great Britain. We dined that night at Mousehole (pronounced Mowzal, presumably to avoid embarrassing the locals), a drive about 15 minutes away. The restaurant overlooked the ancient circular stone harbour with its colourful fishing fleet bobbing on the tide. You will soon find out that Mousehole, along with Penzance and other nearby places, were invaded and put to the torch in 1595 by some Spaniards still smarting over the failed Armada - not that the Spaniards got away with it, mind you! You would think that as this was the last occasion this area, or for that matter England, was invaded, they could now get over it. |
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