Afternoon in St Ives

We went into St Ives this afternoon with Jo and Paul.

We were going to drive in but as we approached the roundabout and passed Wyevale Garden Centre Jo mentioned the train and so we parked up at Lelant Saltings and checked the timetable only to find a train was due in 5 minutes time! Perfect.

The tide was out and there were plenty of birds enjoying the mudflats ...

St Ives wasn't too busy and we made our way along to Smeaton's Pier. Once on the pier we passed St Leonard's Chapel ...

where we saw this plaque ...

As we walked down the pier I looked over the side and the water was so clear that you could see the slipway under the water ...

Then there was an old anchor ...

with the plaque ...

Someone has a sense of humour!

I loved the weather vane ...

on here ...

There were loads of lobster pots piled up at the side ...

and at the end of the pier was the lighthouse ...

It was a lovely view across to the town ...

We strolled back through the main shopping street and then got ice-creams before making our way to the Station for our return train.

In no time at all we were getting off at Lelant Saltings ...

and looking across the mudflats you could see that the tide was on its way in ...

Back in the Water

The Good Fortune went back in the water this afternoon ...




Spring must be on the way!

Walking the Mule Track

It wasn't a brilliant day weather-wise but we fancied a walk up the mule-track in Portreath today. The start of it is on Lighthouse Hill and you climb quite steeply to begin with hence the need for a photo stop!

Looking back towards the beach ...

A little bit higher and you look down on the Square ...

The first of the violets are in flower ...

Even higher and below us is Greenfield Gardens ...

Up on the horizon is Gwel an Mor where we'd enjoyed a meal with Jo and Paul just recently ...

Diagonally across this photo is the Incline ...

and as shown on the information board in the Harbour ...

Once you reach the top of the track it veers off inland and emerges at the top of Lighthouse Hill ...

where there are old buildings from WWII when RAF Portreath was in existence ...

We made our way back down the hill as the coast path is closed now ...

The view down into the coves is lovely though where you can get close enough ...

We steadily dropped down the hill ...

passing the folly ...

and with Gull Rock in sight ...

Once round the bend at the bottom you can see the beach which was practically deserted today ...

and the Harbour below us ...

with the tide just coming in ...

The noticeboard explains all about the Harbour ...

and the Tramroad ...

It was just a matter of walking past the boats on the hard standing ...

and we were back home for a very welcome cup of coffee!

My Brother ...

... would have been 62 today but very sadly he only lived for one day.


RIP Roger John Marshall xx

Home from Devon

It was the last day of our long weekend away and it began as usual with Hamish having a walk along the prom ...

Mike got back and said that there had been a landslide at the far end of the prom so while he had a stroll into town I took Hamish for another walk and went to photograph the fallen tree ...

There was another one just waiting to follow it ...

At this end of Sidmouth there is a bridge which was originally built in 1855 ...

but is now a more modern one built in 1900 ...

The architecture is amazing on the seafront with very pretty buildings ...

There were also a lot of Westies being walked - these two are Frazer and Max who took a liking to Hamish ...

After checking out of the Hotel we all gathered in the car park ...

and some of the cars left with balloons flying ...

We made our way to Topsham ...

where Mike and Sharon found the narrowest of roads to take us along ...

and as the car park at the Quay was full we returned to Darts Farm where we parked up for a coffee break ...

While most of the group went inside to look at the shop I went around to take a photo of the symbol of the farm ...

It was now time to get onto the M5 for the short hop to the A30 and to head for Sourton where we were having lunch. We have passed The Highwayman Inn so many times and not been inside - big mistake! It is an amazing place and not very far from the A30. So next time you're travelling to Cornwall and you need a lunch stop then think seriously about visiting this pub. My photographs don't really do it justice - you need to call in and look around for yourselves. The first thing you see when you park is that it is the shape of a boot ...

then as you walk round to the entrance you pass a little mouse home ...

a highwayman on the wall ...

and a fake shop ...

The entrance ...

and more of the front of the pub ...

Inside is just fantastic ...

and the food was excellent and very reasonable. It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.

We all said our goodbyes and made our way home in our own time.