St Teath 16 February - 24th February

Thursday 16 February

After a morning run down to Wadebridge for supermarket supplies we made the most of yet another sunny afternoon to drive the short distance to Boscastle, a small fishing village just north of Tintagel.

We went into Boscastle Pottery where they make Mochaware, which is decorated with tree and fern-like patterns.  A 'tea' is made by extracting the essence of a herb (tobacco?). Pottery to be decorated is dippied into a 'slip' made by dipping the pot into slip which is a liquid clay and then a drop of the herbal mocha tea is applied to the inverted pot.  The liquid runs and spreads naturally into the realistic trea and bush patterns.

The harbour is quite unusual, fitting into a narrow valley at the end of the river Valency and the village is known from the flash flood in 2004 where 50 cars were swept into the harbour and and the roads were covered in 9 foot of water.  It is easy to see how this could have happened, standing at the harbour and looking back up the valley.

We walked around the harbour onto the cliff to look out onto the Meachard rock and see if the blowhole was blowing (it wasn't).

Returned around the harbour and took the left hand walk up to Willapark where we visited the coastguard station and had a chat to the 2 volunteer coastguard on duty. The kids got to look through their binoculars at a French ship out to see laying cable.

From the lookout you can see the Foraburry Stitches, where medieval land was divided into 2 or 3 large fields which were then divided into strips and bounded by 'baulks' (uncultivated ridges about 1m wide) so they could be allotted to villagers. Each villager would have a holding that included several disconnected strips in each field so as to prevent the best land falling to just one man.


The arable land was divided into two or, more usually, three large fields, which were divided up into strips bounded by baulks (uncultivated ridges about 1m wide) and allotted to the villagers in such a way that one holding included several disconnected strips in each field - a measure designed to prevent the whole of the best land falling to one man. The stitches are now owned by the National Trust and each stitch is ploughed at least once every 4 years. In winter the stitches are grazed.

the stitches

Friday 17th February

Port Isaac

The Doc's place

The Krab Pot

Crab Sarnie

Saturday 18th February

Rugby today at Stithians, so we walked Yarna in the morning and set off after lunch.
The kids and I left Aaron at the ground and drove on to Penryn where we had a look at the harbour and then walked through the town in search of the town centre.  Apparently we walked through it without noticing, so we returned to the car and drove on to Falmouth where we just had time for a quick look up the river and a cream tea before it was time to head back to Stithians.

Penryn

Falmouth

Sunday 19th February

Foggy, damp and drizzly today so no outing.  Later in the afternoon when the foggyness hasn't let up I take Yarna for a good walk through Newton Green and then up through the woods and quarry to Darabole.


Monday 20th February

Another foggy, damp day. After lunch Aidan & I took Yarna in the car to Wadebridge for a walk along the camel trail before a quick stop at the supermarket for extras.

Tuesday 21st February

Another damp, foggy day. Check in at the holiday let cottage and collected the towels for washing. In the afternoon kids and I took Yarna across to Treligga in the car and then walked through the fields to the coastal path.  Rather treacherous with a pulling Yarna on the wet, muddy and rather steep paths down to the cliffs but worth the effort.

Thursday 23 February

So storm Doris is hitting the UK today but luckily for us, Cornwall is well out of the firing line.  There are certainly some strong winds about, but they have blown away the fog of the last few days and there are even some flecks of blue in the sky.

As we are well due an outing we decide to go inland rather than brave the coast.  We head across Bodmin to the village of St Neot and the Carnglaze Caverns.  Of course Miss Satnav doesn't recognise the postcode so once we reach St Neot we have to stop and ask a passerby directions.  Luckily we are not far off course and 5 minutes more sees us arriving. 

The kids want to go into the slate mine so we collect our hard hats and torch and enter the cavern which is a former slate mine where slate was both quarried and mined underground. 

We spend 1/2 and hour or so walking through and reading the sign boards.  The underground lake is indeed spectacular

The mine consists of 3 chambers and underground mining was begun in the 1700's to reach the better quality stale and so work could continue in all weathers.  The mine was worked by the ingenious method of backfilling the floor with the waste materials so ladders and scallolding were never needed.  

pile of rubble

The cathedral chamber still has 9.5metres of backfill beneath it.  

the Baby pool

Water flows in at the back of the mine through cracks and fissures. It falls a pool before gradually seeping through the backfill and out into the river at the bottom of the valley. The pool here is 2m deep.

miners worked off this ledge halfway up a wall.  Blasted blocks would drop onto the rubble heap and slide gently to the floor. 

The 3rd cavern is now underwater and the lake is 9.5m deep.  

When we emerge we take the woodland walk up the hill for a view across the fields to St Neot and down the hill again, past a number of holes labelled as badger set, fox holes and hedgehog holes.

Next we are off to the Golitha falls on the River Fowey. The falls are a series of cascades along the river as it travels through Draynes Wood. We make our salami and avocado baguettes in the back of the car and scoff them as we walk along. Very pretty walk through the woods and along the river path. There is a group of German (we find out later) photographers with their tripods set up hogging all the best spots for photos but we have a nice time clambering around the rocks and investigating the flecks of iron pyrite in the water and river bed.

hogging the best spots

Back to the car again and off again, this time in search of stones.  The first of these we come across by accident, in a layby on the side of the road, King Doniert's Stone.

These two fragments, one of which is known as King Doniert’s Stone, are the only surviving examples of 9th century stone crosses in Cornwall. The inscription on King Doniert’s Stone, bearing the name of a Cornish king, is the only such cross to feature a character known also from documentary sources.

Next stop is the Trethevy Quoit, an ancient burial chamber, also located at the edge of a field, which a row of houses built right on the fenceline only metres away. Quite an impressive sight to have virtually in your backyard.

This burial chamber was built during the Neolithic period dating from about 3,400 BC and was formed of six large granite slabs supporting the 20 tonne capstone.  Chambers like these are through to have served several other functions other than holding the bones of the dead, marking communal territory and a gathering place and for the ritual and ceremonial life of the community.

The wind is getting pretty chilly now, but we press on to seek out the Hurlers, just outside the village of Minions, the highest village in Cornwall (300m above sea level).

The Hurlers are 16 stones forming 3 Early Bronze Age stone circles. This grouping of 3 regular circles is unique. There are 3 adjacent stone circles aligned to the north-east and the south-west.  There are also 2 outlying stones known as the Pipers. Originally there are thought to have been 30 stones.

A local legend identifies The Hurlers as men who were turned to stone for playing the ancient game of hurling on a Sunday. The two isolated stones of the Pipers are said to be the figures of two men who played tunes on a Sunday and suffered the same fate. 

Aaron and I brave the elements to seek out the Hurlers, but the biting wind and driving rain turn us back after just a fleeting view.  Of course the rain stops and the wind drops as we return to the car but the has passed and we move on to seek out the final stop on our tour, the Cheesewring.

Discovering that we have no postcode for it and it is not marked on the map we retrreat to the pub for a drink before the journey home.

A chat to the barman reveals that the Cheesewring is in fact just a bit further across the moor from the Hurlers (something we probably would have seen had we not been forced to walk with our heads down to fight the wind.)   As the kids are settled with a lemonade, I undertake to make the trek alone.  

Of course not only does the wind and rain return as soon as I start to cross the moor, but it soons turns to almost horizontal hail as I shelter inadequately behind a gorse bush.  Again it all stops as quickly as it started and I can see the Cheesewring ahead on the lip of the quarry.

This time I get to stop and spend some time inside the Hurlers before carrying on across the rather soggy moor to the base of the quarry.

Once there the view is indeed spectacular and well worth the wet and blowy trek.

clearly the wind is not unusual on the moor!

Returning to the pub where friends have been made and twizzlers sampled (and rejected)  we make our way homewards.

As I neglected to plan dinner before we left, we get to treat ourselves to a pub meal tonight and decide to take Liz's recommendation and try out the Mason's Arms in Camelford.  

Lucky we brought our apetites as the quantities are massive and the quality to match.  Our earlier companions from the Falls turn up also, minus their camera gear. The landlady on finding out about our travels is eager to press gifts upon the kids so they leave the proud owners of some Cornish bar towels and a couple of horse brasses.  

Friday 25th February

Today we hired bikes from Wadebridge and rode the Camel Trail to Padstow for a potter around the harbour and a cream tea. Then back to Wadebridge and on a bit towards Bodmin.