We decided w
e would head towards Lands End today, but on the way we stopped off to see Marazion and St Michael’s Mount, we’d both seen it on the TV a few times but as we drove around the corner and saw it for real we both said how big it was! We managed to get a free parking spot on the road alongside the beach, which was lucky given the number of kite surfers there. The tide was in so we couldn’t cross to the mount so we made do with climbing onto the small rock outcrop on this side. We had a little bimble around Marazion before dropping back down to the beach and heading back to Tonks.
We then headed off towards Lands End, hoping we could park a little way off and walk
to Lands end on the coastal footpath. This can be done, but not in the time we had as it was about 3 hrs to dusk and there is only 1 road that gets into Lands End, we made do with a drive up to the theme park style entrance and then turned round and headed to the nearby Sennen Cove where we found a great beach from which we could see the lighthouse which sits on the rocks at Lands End. We had a walk along the beach and watched a few surfers, and then up into the dunes where there were still a lot of remnants of war battlements in place (concrete bunkers) in surprisingly good condition.
After a quick stop at the Minack Open Air Theatre we headed home, but on the way we made another stop at St Michaels Mount. We could see in the dusk light that the tide was out further and it looked very pretty against the moonlit sky. We parked up much closer this time and had a trot along the causeway. We weren’t quite brave enough to go all the way as the sea was still washing over part of it, but it was very nice to see it at dusk.
Next day Phil got went biking. A mainly road route of 20k to Truro that followed the national cycle route in and came back on quiet lanes, the ride included a diversion to the pretty Victorian Gardens in Truro. Meanwhile Linda went off on a walk to the pretty Devoran Quay following one of the routes the campsite gave us.
We then headed out to the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, a lovely little village with a very busy harbour. We were lucky to be visiting off-peak as there were only a few other groups in there and we got to see the feeding of the otters and then the feeding of the seals. It’s a great place to visit as they have a variety of seals of all ages, and the sanctuary is spread over quite a large area so you feel like you are getting real value for money! Linda bought a locally made little pottery seal from the gift shop before we left and headed for Goonhilly Satellite Station (and Goonhilly Downs).
Next day we headed out to Looe, a lovely little town with narrow streets and busy harbour. We
had a wander around then headed on to Polperro (as recommended by Tracy), again a lovely little place, narrow streets and a busy little fishing harbour. We had our picnic on the harbour front then walked around the village and found a pub which welcomed dogs, ours met the pub dogs (2 collies, one very fri
endly and chilled and his sister who was wired and watching a darts player avidly), we had a pint in front of the log fire. On towards Fowey via the ferry which was great, Fowey had tiny streets which we drove Tonks down, but then carried on to St Austell, it wasn’t as nice as the other places we visited, with lots of closed shops and not as much to see. Popped in to the brewery which was unfortunately about to close.
Next day we went for an 8 mile walk from the campsite. We headed towards Trelissick (a National Trust owned property), when we got off the local lanes and onto the National Trust land Princey found a small footbridge to go under as he soaked himself in the stream.. As we carried on and rounded the bend we came across lots of huge ships just sitting in the (relatively) narrow
estuary. It was quite a sight and we were confused as to what they were doing there, there were ships from Hamburg, Moldavia and Madeira just moored up on the side of the estuary, we came across a friendly lady who regularly walked in the gardens and she told us that the ships were moored there as a result of the recession and they were just waiting for some sort of recovery in the economy before they moved on, she said they had been there for quite some time. We carried on round the track and came across the floating bridge called the “King Harry Ferry” (named after King Henry
VI), we decided to sit on the dock there and have our picnic in the sun while we watched the ferry two-and-fro across the estuary. While we were there a small boat trundled up to us and moored where we were sat, we asked the cap’n what his boat was used for (thinking it was a foot ferry) and he said he was there for the ships crew while they were moored. Turns out the ships had been there for about a year now and were waiting for the recession to end as the business just wasn’t there. There were 2 car transporting ships and 4 container ships moored up in the estuary, and at present he expected them to be there for another year. After this we boarded the ferry as we felt we had to go over for a ride! The ferry is one of only 5 chain ferries in England and has been operating in this spot since 1888. We got a great view of the moor
ed ships on one side and the mussel farm which was on the other. There isn’t a lot to do on foot on the other side, so we hot footed it back on the ferry for the return journey and carried on our walk. We carried on a bit until reaching a little pebble beach where Prince could swim properly. We had a brief look at the house at Trelissick before heading back along the cycle route and lanes to the van.
Next day we went to St Ives, managed to find some on street parking and walked down to the harbour through lovely narrow streets and had our picnic sat on a rock on the beach in the sun. Then had a bimble through the town and back to Tonks
happy to have had a quiet, relaxing day!
e would head towards Lands End today, but on the way we stopped off to see Marazion and St Michael’s Mount, we’d both seen it on the TV a few times but as we drove around the corner and saw it for real we both said how big it was! We managed to get a free parking spot on the road alongside the beach, which was lucky given the number of kite surfers there. The tide was in so we couldn’t cross to the mount so we made do with climbing onto the small rock outcrop on this side. We had a little bimble around Marazion before dropping back down to the beach and heading back to Tonks.We then headed off towards Lands End, hoping we could park a little way off and walk
to Lands end on the coastal footpath. This can be done, but not in the time we had as it was about 3 hrs to dusk and there is only 1 road that gets into Lands End, we made do with a drive up to the theme park style entrance and then turned round and headed to the nearby Sennen Cove where we found a great beach from which we could see the lighthouse which sits on the rocks at Lands End. We had a walk along the beach and watched a few surfers, and then up into the dunes where there were still a lot of remnants of war battlements in place (concrete bunkers) in surprisingly good condition.After a quick stop at the Minack Open Air Theatre we headed home, but on the way we made another stop at St Michaels Mount. We could see in the dusk light that the tide was out further and it looked very pretty against the moonlit sky. We parked up much closer this time and had a trot along the causeway. We weren’t quite brave enough to go all the way as the sea was still washing over part of it, but it was very nice to see it at dusk.
Next day Phil got went biking. A mainly road route of 20k to Truro that followed the national cycle route in and came back on quiet lanes, the ride included a diversion to the pretty Victorian Gardens in Truro. Meanwhile Linda went off on a walk to the pretty Devoran Quay following one of the routes the campsite gave us.
We then headed out to the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, a lovely little village with a very busy harbour. We were lucky to be visiting off-peak as there were only a few other groups in there and we got to see the feeding of the otters and then the feeding of the seals. It’s a great place to visit as they have a variety of seals of all ages, and the sanctuary is spread over quite a large area so you feel like you are getting real value for money! Linda bought a locally made little pottery seal from the gift shop before we left and headed for Goonhilly Satellite Station (and Goonhilly Downs).
The satellite station turned
out to be closed for winter (who isn’t!) so we went for a short walk on the downs by the parameter fence. Took some photos of the massive satellite dishes before heading onto the moor where the dog got filthy (again). We thought we’d seek out the nearest beach to wash Prince off, which turned out to be Kennack Sands, just down the road from Goonhilly, a very quiet little cove which I imagine is quite the opposite in the summer.Next day we headed out to Looe, a lovely little town with narrow streets and busy harbour. We
had a wander around then headed on to Polperro (as recommended by Tracy), again a lovely little place, narrow streets and a busy little fishing harbour. We had our picnic on the harbour front then walked around the village and found a pub which welcomed dogs, ours met the pub dogs (2 collies, one very fri
endly and chilled and his sister who was wired and watching a darts player avidly), we had a pint in front of the log fire. On towards Fowey via the ferry which was great, Fowey had tiny streets which we drove Tonks down, but then carried on to St Austell, it wasn’t as nice as the other places we visited, with lots of closed shops and not as much to see. Popped in to the brewery which was unfortunately about to close.Next day we went for an 8 mile walk from the campsite. We headed towards Trelissick (a National Trust owned property), when we got off the local lanes and onto the National Trust land Princey found a small footbridge to go under as he soaked himself in the stream.. As we carried on and rounded the bend we came across lots of huge ships just sitting in the (relatively) narrow
estuary. It was quite a sight and we were confused as to what they were doing there, there were ships from Hamburg, Moldavia and Madeira just moored up on the side of the estuary, we came across a friendly lady who regularly walked in the gardens and she told us that the ships were moored there as a result of the recession and they were just waiting for some sort of recovery in the economy before they moved on, she said they had been there for quite some time. We carried on round the track and came across the floating bridge called the “King Harry Ferry” (named after King Henry
VI), we decided to sit on the dock there and have our picnic in the sun while we watched the ferry two-and-fro across the estuary. While we were there a small boat trundled up to us and moored where we were sat, we asked the cap’n what his boat was used for (thinking it was a foot ferry) and he said he was there for the ships crew while they were moored. Turns out the ships had been there for about a year now and were waiting for the recession to end as the business just wasn’t there. There were 2 car transporting ships and 4 container ships moored up in the estuary, and at present he expected them to be there for another year. After this we boarded the ferry as we felt we had to go over for a ride! The ferry is one of only 5 chain ferries in England and has been operating in this spot since 1888. We got a great view of the moor
ed ships on one side and the mussel farm which was on the other. There isn’t a lot to do on foot on the other side, so we hot footed it back on the ferry for the return journey and carried on our walk. We carried on a bit until reaching a little pebble beach where Prince could swim properly. We had a brief look at the house at Trelissick before heading back along the cycle route and lanes to the van.Next day we went to St Ives, managed to find some on street parking and walked down to the harbour through lovely narrow streets and had our picnic sat on a rock on the beach in the sun. Then had a bimble through the town and back to Tonks
happy to have had a quiet, relaxing day! 
We have now moved on to a beautiful little site near Salcolme on the Devon coast.
just wondering, who is doing the typing??
ReplyDeleteps, nice pics.
steve & co
x