St Michael's Mount

We were due to have another day out yesterday but unfortunately when we got home on Tuesday Hamish had been poorly so we thought we'd better stay at home with him just in case he needed a walk during the day. Typical of him - he was fine! Still it gave me a chance to get some housework done as we've got the boys coming down for the weekend.

So this morning we set off for Jo and Paul's thinking we were going to Heligan Gardens only to hear that we were going to St Michael's Mount instead. They had both joined the National Trust and wanted to make use of their passes. It was a lovely morning and after parking we set off across the cobbled causeway ...

Jo had worked out the tide times and it was perfect for us - walk over and boat back. The first place we saw was the Dairy ...

and then we went up the Pilgrims' Steps ...

On and on up past the Giant's Well and Giant's Heart ...

Stopping for a breather on the way ...

We reached a level bit where the cannons were ...

and there was a lovely view back down ...

Not much further to go!

After entering the Castle we went through a couple of rooms before reaching the Library ...

It was then on into Chevy Chase ...

The name of the room comes from the plaster frieze running around the walls depicting hunting scenes and refers to the medieval 'Ballad of Chevy Chase'. The furniture was beautiful and the stained glass windows were so pretty ...

On into the Smoking Room which had this lovely window ...

and then we were out onto the Terraces. I had to hold my camera over the edge as it made me feel quite sick trying to look!

When you go through the gaps either side of this building ...

this is what you see ...

There was also a good sight of the causeway from up here and we could see that the tide was well over it by now with people paddling across ...

We went up these steps ...

and looked down again ...

This is the view from the North Terrace ...

The next place was the Priory Church ...

and then the Blue Drawing Room ...

with large Italian vases which were specially commissioned for the places they stand ...

On further and into the Map Room where there is a mummified cat!! Apparently it came from Egypt.

There is also a model of the Mount made entirely out of champagne corks ...

We then walked along the Long Passage and Kitchen Stairs to the Garrison Room. One more corridor and room with the list of St Aubyns ...

and a saddle from Buffalo Bill's circus which was gifted to the family when he visited Cornwall in 1904 ...

We then made the long trek back down to water level where we saw the amphibious vehicle which is not in service at the moment ...

This is what stores for the Mount are put in and sent up to the Castle ...

We then made our way over to the entrance for the Gardens and had a lovely walk along the Avenue looking up at the Castle ...

past the Pill Box ...

and the Gun Emplacement ...

and into part of the walled garden ...

We then set off up the west terraces ...

and up to the well ...

Down to the tortoise lawn ...

then through the east terraces and back past the cemetery ...

Lunch was next on the agenda at the island cafe and then a mooch around the shop before going to the ferry for the return trip. On our way we passed the entrance to the causeway which we had earlier walked along and which was now completely covered ...

Not long to wait for a boat and we were off on the short hop to the mainland ...

It was a lovely day and I highly recommend visitors to take the time to go over and see it for themselves.