kimbofo

A visit to Veryan

All pictures taken: Veryan, Cornwall.
Date: February 25, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

One of the best things about going on holiday is exploring places off the beaten track and so it was when we went to Cornwall last month. We came equipped with The Rough Guide to Devon and Cornwall and a detailed road map, and each day we set out in the hire car to see what we could find. Generally we had a vague idea about where we were going to go -- for instance, "let's go to Land's End" or "let's eat fish'n'chips at Rick Stein's posh fish'n'chip place in Padstow" -- but if something caught our eye along the way we'd welcome the diversion and see what we discovered.

Visiting the little village of Veryan was never part of the bigger picture, although I had spied one sentence in the Rough Guide that suggested it might be worth a look -- something about round houses and thatched roofs and little crosses on the top warding off the devil.

On the day -- or should I say very late afternoon/almost evening -- we visited, we'd already wasted an extraordinary amount of time exploring another diversion: a tour of the St. Austell Brewery in which our party comprised two other "civilians" and about a dozen teenagers with special needs from the local college. From there, we'd visited Mevagissey, and then with the light fading from the sky we decided to make a quick run to Veryan.

WEEE Man at the Eden Project

Place: WEEE Man sculpture at the Eden Project, Cornwall.
Date: February 27, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

Ever wondered what happens to all the waste electrical and electronic equipment you throw away during your lifetime? I'm talking keyboards, washing machines, tape decks, mobile phones, vacuum cleaners and the like.

To be honest, I've never really thought about it. I suppose most of us don't think about it. Which probably goes some way to explaining why this giant sculpture is on display at the Eden Project in Cornwall. WEEE man is made from the 3.5 tonnes of WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) an average person living in the UK throws away during their lifetime. Impressive, eh?

You can see more of my Eden Project pictures here.

The inn that inspired a novel

All pictures taken: Jamaica Inn, Cornwall.
Date: March 1, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

Daphne du Maurier fans might recognise this building on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall as none other than Jamaica Inn. Yes, it's the very inn which inspired the 1936 novel of the same name.

The inn was once a coaching house that smugglers used as a base for their crimes. Ms du Maurier apparently sought refuge in the inn after becoming lost in thick fog on the moor while out horseriding. While she was recovering here, the local rector entertained her with various ghost stories (the inn is supposedly haunted) and tales of smuggling that inspired her to write her novel.

All pictures taken: Jamaica Inn, Cornwall.
Date: March 1, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

Daphne du Maurier fans might recognise this building on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall as none other than Jamaica Inn. Yes, it's the very inn which inspired the 1936 novel of the same name.

The inn was once a coaching house that smugglers used as a base for their crimes. Ms du Maurier apparently sought refuge in the inn after becoming lost in thick fog on the moor while out horseriding. While she was recovering here, the local rector entertained her with various ghost stories (the inn is supposedly haunted) and tales of smuggling that inspired her to write her novel.

Mevagissey Harbour

Place: Mevagissey Harbour, Cornwall.
Date: February 25, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

I'm a sucker for fishing harbours, especially if they're filled with brightly coloured boats and lined by equally colourful buildings. So I was pretty much in my element when we visited Mevagissey on the Cornish coast.

The tide was out, so the boats -- a mixture of pleasure vessels and working fishing boats -- were nestled on thick, black mud (of the strangely odourless variety) and everything was eerily quiet, with only the sound of aggressive gulls filling the wintry air.

After wandering around the little town with its narrow streets and strange mix of shops, we found a little cafe facing the inner harbour and treated ourselves to a light bite. I opted for the quintessential Cornish "cream tea" -- a pot of freshly brewed tea accompanied by a gigantic scone, a little dish of raspberry jam and a tub of rich, thick clotted cream.

I didn't want to leave...

A visit to the British Cycling Museum

All pictures taken: The British Cycling Museum, near Boscastle, Cornwall.
Date: February 29, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

I'm not one who normally frequents museums but when we went to Cornwall I made an exception and paid a visit to the British Cycling Museum.

The museum is one mile north of Camelford on the B3266 Boscastle Road in the north of the county. It's basically an old railway station that's been covered over and converted into one rather large building. From the outside it doesn't look like much...

But step inside and it's like a magical Aladdin's Cave!

The church Thomas Hardy helped to restore

Place: St Juliot's, near Boscastle, Cornwall.
Date: February 26, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

St Juliot's is a very pretty church that lies in an incredibly isolated area in north-eastern Cornwall, England. Its 14th century tower rises up above the landscape that comprises rolling green fields, tall hedgerows, moss-covered stonewalls and long, rambling laneways.

Its claim to fame is that Thomas Hardy, the architect-turned-writer, worked on its restoration in 1872. It features in his novel  A Pair of Blue Eyes.

It was here, too, that Hardy met his wife-to-be, Emma Gifford, who was the sister-in-law of St Juliot's vicar. The couple married in 1874.

I visited the church during my recent trip to Cornwall. I've been fascinated by Hardy, ever since I found out about his past as an architect, and given this landmark was around the corner from where we were staying it would have been remiss not to pay our respects.

The first thing that strikes you is the isolated position of the building. There's an enormous sense of loneliness about the place, with the wind whipping up the valley and not a sound to be heard bar the twittering of birds in the trees. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to reach in Hardy's time, long before the advent of cars or other modern transportation.

Inside, the church is quite small and understated, with a high vaulted wooden ceiling and a set of stained glass windows. There are two plaques on the walls, one dedicated to Hardy, the other to Emma Gifford, claiming their place in the church's long history. There's also an etched window dedicated to Hardy complete with the dates of his birth and death (1840-1928).

I took many photographs, but I couldn't quite capture the simple beauty of the church and its position in the landscape. It was incredibly peaceful walking around the churchyard, admiring the headstones, the Celtic crosses and the early blooming daffodils.

You can see all my photographs here. You can find out more about the church here.

View from a windscreen

Place: The roads leading to Boscastle, Cornwall.
Date: February 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

Coming from a land of wide-open spaces with lovely wide roads, I'm completely, utterly fascinated (and a little bit in love) with the gorgeous country lanes for which England is famous. Even the busier "A" roads are often lined by tall deciduous trees and ivy-covered stone walls.

Last week we travellled hundreds of miles along these kinds of roadways as we explored Cornwall by hire car. Everything looked so picturesque, but it was impossible to stop and take photographs, simply because there was nowhere to park the car safely -- hence these snapshots were taken through the windscreen!

Back from Boscastle

Place: Boscastle harbour, Cornwall.
Date: Sunday February 24, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

If you've been wondering why things have been so quiet around here lately -- and even if you haven't -- it's because we've been holed up in Cornwall for a week of much-needed rest and recreation.

Last weekend we hired a car and drove to the other end of the country, where we stayed in a gorgeous little three-storey house in Boscastle, a fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall. It was remote and quiet, which is just the way we wanted it, the perfect antidote to the London rat race.

We spent our days exploring the Cornish countryside, with assorted day trips to various villages and fishing ports, including sojourns to the Eden Project (impressive) and Land's End (tacky), while we spent our evenings in various local drinking establishments enjoying great food washed down with locally produced ales and ciders.

All up it was a very relaxing way to spend a week, helped in part by absolutely no internet access and not even a mobile phone signal to keep us in touch with the rest of the world!

As usual I took a trillion photographs -- well, okay, 456 to be precise -- so I'll try and get some of them up online as soon as I can. Stay tuned for future posts about our little jolly over the course of the next few weeks...