Sunday 29 June 2014

Around Cornwall....Bodmin Moor, Tintagel, Falmouth, Etc.

We visited Rough Tor (417m) on Bodmin Moor which is the second highest point in Cornwall.  We went up almost to the top for a view of Brown Willy (420m).
 Rough Tor from the Car park
(Photo taken by my friend Eve)
 Looking across the remains of a prehistoric settlement on the flanks of Rough Tor
See my previous post from my 2012 visit to Rough Tor for more details
 Showery Tor close by Rough Tor
 Little Rough Tor with Rough Tor behind taken from the saddle between Little Rough Tor and Showery Tour
 Brown Willy from the same spot
 Mum on the saddle admiring the view behind which takes in the North Cornwall coast from Padstow to Tintagel
 A Highland Bull grazing near the Car Park
A Horse and two foals grazing at the same spot

Next we visited Tintagel Castle.  They make a big deal in Tintagel of the stories linking the castle with the King Arthur's Stories.  Unfortunately, there is not much fact linking Arthur with the area as the castle is medieval and there was a late Roman/early Dark Ages trading community there before that.  There is a considerable history of trading with North Africa, Spain, and as far as Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean area.  They would have been exporting locally mined tin and even gold in exchange for spices, wines, pottery goods, etc.
 On the path to the castle
 Bees collecting honey from this bush
 Mum and my friend Eve taking a photo of the Bees
 The approaches to the castle with the Outer Bailey in the foreground and the Island with the rest of the castle behind
 Back when I first visited Tintagel back in the 1950's there was the island was connected to the mainland by a narrow neck.  However, 20 years or so a go this neck was washed away in a winter storm and has now been replaced by this bridge.  
I have a notorious bad head for heights and the last few times I have not been able to summon the courage to cross the bridge
The next two photos are from colour slides I took around 1972 during a visit to the castle
 This photo shows the neck before it was washed away
and this is the view across the inner bailey across to the outer bailey back in 1972.  I apologise for the quality of the photos, but colour slides don't seem to maintain their quality over the years.
 I chickened out again, my friend Eve had to proceed alone
 I followed her progress from a Cafe below
The next set of photos are taken by Eve
 Mum and I enjoying a coffee at the cafe
 In the great hall in the inner bailey

 A medieval tunnel.  Whilst it's purpose is unknown, it may have been a storage for wine.
 The medieval chapel
 the outer bailey from the Island with the village of Tintagel in the background.
 Looking up the coast towards Boscastle and Bude from the island across the medieval garden area

Next we visited Falmouth to find the grave of my great grandfather and his wife,Alice.  It took a bit of finding and our only clue was a photo of the grave taken very soon after Richard's funeral in 1925.  Alice died in 1933 and her details were engraved on the headstone then.
 The original photo from around 1925
The names on the gravestone are Richard Billett who died in 1925, Wilfred Billett, Richard's youngest son who was lost at sea along with all his crew mates in 1915 and Elizabeth, a daughter who died aged about 6 months
 Looking across the cemetery towards Swanpool.  There some Billett graves there including Richard's brother John, but their gravestones have long disappeared
 Richard's gravestone today.  It has fallen down and broken into two pieces.  The portion that was added for Alice is propped up behind the stone seen here.
 Glendurgan Gardens on the Helford River not far from Falmouth

 The maze

 Mum and her friend, Lesley, who lives in a granny flat at her daughter's farm near Quethiock and is not far from Saltash
Lesley's dog, Button

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Around and About Devon and Cornwall 1

Recently my Friend Eve and myself went to a Music Festival in Millendreath, a little coastal hamlet near Looe.  There we saw many local bands and also their headline act Fairport Convention.
 This was a very nice band called the Greenaways from North Cornwall
 This is their website:
 The current line-up of Fairport Convention is Simon Nicol (lead vocal, rhythm and electric guitars), Dave Pegg (backing vocals, bass guitar, mandolin), Ric Sanders (violin), Chris Leslie (lead vocal, fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin) and Gerry Conway (percussion and drums)
This is a link to their website:
They were joined by Martin Barre, formerly a guitarist with Jethro Tull, at Millendreath
It was very muddy and wet there that weekend!
 Looking towards Rame Head from Cawsand on Plymouth Sound
 A mysterious plant that suddenly decided to flower.  It appears not to have over the last 10 years.  We think that it is a Bird of Paradise plant - or Strelitzia
 Powderham Castle, the ancestral home of the Earls of Devon, which is on the banks of the  Exe Estuary near Topsham.
 The front of the house with the Rose Garden in the foreground
 Roses
Deer in the Deer Park
 Yachts participating in the La Solitaire du Figaro solo yacht race laying over in Sutton Harbour Plymouth
 The Saltash Regatta - The grand Parade proceeding down Saltash's main shopping street
 The Morris Dancers in the Parade
 The drummers bringing up the rear
 A Gig preparing to race
 Three Gigs racing
 Nina's yacht Tiger dressed overall for the Regatta.  Tiger won a prize in the recent Falmouth Classic Boats event.
 The sailing barge Shamrock usually on display at Cothele Quay on show at the regatta
A sailing dinghy and a yacht under sail at the regatta
 A stall showing the progress on the Saltash Heritage Tapestry project