Incredible Cornwall

Cornwall is just as wonderful and spectacular as everybody says it is. What a county! So much to explore and enjoy. But where did I go, what did I do? Well, here're my GPS points from Burnham-on-Sea on the 5th until the 28th of April. It takes a log every 2 hours, neat huh!

5.4.2014 - 28.4.2014

Up the top you can see my initial trip with Bryce and Terri along the north of Devon, complete with a teleportation to Cardiff until I set the logger up properly. You can see my trip back to Somerset, down to Corfe Castle then back via South Devon to Cornwall to where I am right now! This entry covers that bit on the left.  

On the northern coast I visited Tintagel Castle. This Castle has rumoured linked to King Arthur. It's rather curious to read marketing drawing you in along these lines, then arrive to have everything systematically debunked! But it was interesting to read the history, and a bit about how the myth of King Arthur came about. Also interesting how the creation of King Arthur along idealistic lines by a well-meaning men of education can be accepted, and other probably similar situations will not be entertained! The castle perches precariously above the sea on a rocky outcrop - it's quite something. Personally though, Corfe Castle on the south coast awed me more - no need for fiction with a history like England's!

Tintagel Castle

The adjoining keeps on the mainland. The cliff is slowly falling into the sea, the cliff-side from that top keep defies gravity

Picking up the Ordnance Survey Touring Map for Cornwall, I headed inland to the nearby 'Cornwall at War / Air Museum'. This wee place is run by the most enthusiastic Cornish chaps. The information is haphazard and lacks a 'journey' but you can't help but be sucked in. Based in outbuildings from the old neighbouring Davidstow Airfield, it was absolutely fascinating reading about the WW2 actions from there. Apparently Memphis Belle flew from there with the other B17s. Could probably rein in the volume of saucy female mannequins though (it's creepy). 

After my visit I drove down the road and across the runways of the Davidstow Airfield. Now grazed by sheep and ponies and slowly crumbling to dust, it felt quite special to be on one of these runways that played such a big part in our modern history. This was only further enhanced by sleeping on it - I parked in a jet parking bay and spent the night on the airfield. It was pretty epic! A special moment I won't be forgetting in any great hurry.

Me on a taxiway

What a magic evening! THIS COUNTRY!!

The next day I spent just tidying up the van really, maintenance and rest day in Camelford. Try as I might to relax though, I can only do that for about 20 minutes before I get bored and feel guilty for wasted opportunity. So I headed to the wee neighbouring village of Boscastle.

Boscastle, nestled in the river valley.

In 2004 (?) a huge flood swept down the valley and washed a lot of Boscastle away. They've done an amazing job of repair, you'd never know! The only tell-tale for me when I was there was in the strange Museum of Witchcraft - which was something a bit different and interesting, though not really the 'window to the culture' I was hoping for. Of interest was the so very thinly veiled conflict between the museum and the Christian bookshop across the road! Live and let live, godamn.

Boscastle's wee fishing marina.

In the visitor centre in Boscastle I read of the 'Camel Trail', a cycle route along an old rail from inland Bodmin to Padstow on the coast. So the next day I parked up in Wadebridge (in the middle of the route) and hired a bike. And what a bike! Sitting on a frame that's actually built for a 6'5 freak like me always makes me happy. One day. One day a giant bike shall be mine.

The ride was lovely, easy riding and nice views along the Camel river. I headed to Padstow, had an ice cream and fish and chips, then headed back past Wadebridge and up to Bodmin. The gradient increased and I passed lots of old retired train stations, it was neat. Unfortunately I missed a steam train coming in, I heard the whistle after I'd made it halfway back to Wadebridge and I couldn't be bothered going back - I'm still kicking myself!

Padstow behind me somewhere

Padstow.

After that I drove to Port Quin, a wee village now run by the National Trust as holiday homes - a relic wee port. Beautiful wee spot, I wanted to walk around to Port Isaac but it started pissing down so I went back.

Wee Port Quin

The Coast Path between Port Quin and Port Isaac - wonderful powerful coastline, all around, everywhere!

Heading back inland to an A39 layby, the roads to these wonderful places tend to be tiny one-lane hedgerows. Not quite as bad as Sussex, but not great! Heading back from Port Quin, second gear racing in a 17% downhill gradient, I come across a fully laden tractor and trailer. Great! So I skid to a stop, and now I'm backing up a 17% gradient in my crap rear-visibility van on tiny lanes. But hey, that's what life's about! I mostly thoroughly enjoy the wee lanes - so English, and there's that added level to it - the gamble of will I or won't I met someone? Mostly I find it quite an adventure, and it's perfectly fine and easy provided farming machinery use the road. Occasionally Google will send me onto a lane which tractors mightn't use - you have to just say, nope, I want to keep the bells and whistles on the roof thank you! By and large trusting sat-nav has provided a wealth of additional adventure and I wouldn't have it any other way. And if it all goes horribly wrong? It's one of my rare opportunities to blame someone other than myself.

So in the morning I headed to Port Isaac. This is the home of Doc Martin! You know, that show with that cantankerous British guy and that grumpy woman. The tourists come in droves so I came early, but the town is still a real cutey! It has what is heralded as Britain's smallest thoroughfare - 'Temples Bar' - supposedly so called because Mr Temple put a bar across the footpath to stop people looking through his window! If you're a fatty you have to suck your gut in to get by. It is so small I failed to find it, but you can use your imagination.

Looking down upon Port Isaac

The main drag in to town. Wonder how many caravans have a crack over summer?

SO ENGLISH AND AWESOME.

A short distance away to the South East were the Bedruthan steps, part of Cornwall's amazing coastline. So I rocked out there, the parking guy said 'quite the retro van you have there'. Fuck you guy, I'm older than the van.

The steps were somewhat reminiscent of the 12 Apostles in Aussie to me - rugged coastline with a few stalwart rocks holding out against the raging surf.

Because it's England and so much of the natural beauty is all fringe-developed (as New Zealand will be in a century or so), there are some precarious steps down to the beach here. Once you navigate the steps you are rewarded with overhanging cliffs, a huge cave and two lovely beaches at low tide. Unfortunately it wasn't low tide, it was coming in, so it was a bit gnarly. This dude, I would love to see his photos. He almost got wiped out about five times while I was down there.

I love Cornwall.

Part of Cornwall's cultural identity is the mines. Mines, left right and centre. It's a known mine thing that every mine across the globe will have a Cornish man at the bottom of it - such was their prowess, innovation and trailblazing.

Cornwall must have been a barren hellhole in its heyday, with 600+ beam engines dotting the countryside, their boilers burning coal, and the broken rock polluting waterways or piled everywhere. But hey, it's not it's day any more, nature is making its return and the relics of when Cornwall was the worlds mining mecca are now romantic monuments to history. All across the countryside are old funnel stacks, remnants of mining industry.

The mines circa-heyday. Reminds me of the slash'n'burn shots of early Wellington!

So I went to Redruth to visit two National Trust protected Victorian mines. The East Pool Mine features a wee museum and really great video about Cornish mining heritage. Knowledgeable guides were on hand to show me around - I had seen a lot of mighty steam engines in London and Manchester science museums, but to see a massive beam engine 'in-situ' - it was pretty fantastic. 52 tonne, this monster - and just as impressive were the wooden beams holding everything up!

Across the road, they have a beam engine that's running (albeit on electricity). Wonderful to see!

As evening approached I headed to St Agnes. The Rough Guide suggested the beacon as a nice lookout of the area. And it was!

St Agnes Beacon.

But the more impressive sights were to be had closer to the coast. As the light diminished I visited more old mill buildings and pump stacks, right on the rugged coast. Watching the surfers below as the sun went down, with these Victorian industry monuments behind me, it was fantastic.

The mine relics at St Agnes beacon

Another poser shot? Why not.

As I walked back to the van, hoping to have everyone piss off out of the carpark for the evening so I wouldn't feel like a cheapass sleeping in it, I got to talking with some Cornish dude. He'd been doing paragliding too, and we got to chatting away. He left, and I left too, to pretend I wasn't staying there (and turn the van around so my head wasn't below my feet). I returned 10 minutes later, but he returned 40 minutes later. He just had a car, weird.

In the morning I wanted to visit Lands End - I wanted to knock this shit off and hit the eastern tip of England. So I high-tailed it down there at sparrows fart. And the drive was fab. The mist had rolled in overnight and at one point it was just those fields with yellow flowers, and wind turbines jutting out of the mist either side of the road - it was something else.

By accounts Lands End is a bit of a tourist joke now, 'Cornwall at its worst'. There's a big theme park and all this other shit. So in an attempt to avoid that I parked at Sennan Cove, a few kilometres north. Walking along the ever-present coast path to get there I didn't meet any of that tourism shit. In fact I discovered a historic coast guard hut, a wrecked ship and an old castle. I recommend doing it this way!

Sennan Cove. Worth a visit in its own right!

The wreck in dollar cove

Lands End itself features a lighthouse and a bunch of dodgy reefs. Kettles Bottom and Shark Fin. Causes of hundreds of wrecks over the years, including that above.

THE LANDS END SIGN. You had to pay for a photo so I took a pooing-pants selfie from miles away instead.

ENGLAND!!!

Cornwall is just the most wonderful place. I feel like the luckiest man in the world to explore it like I am. There is so much more, the things that've spoken to me the most are from more recent days - and it's too much to go in to one post. Stay tuned.