Out with family and friends

 Jonny, Mum and myself (sucking on an olive) enjoying pre-dinner drinks on the terrace of the View, Whitsand Bay.  Nina is taking the photo

http://www.theview-restaurant.co.uk/

 The view from the terrace of The View Restaurant looking out over Whitsand Bay towards Rame Head

 Nina, Johnny and Mum at dinner

The sunset over Whitsand Bay looking towards Looe

 The family - a gathering of the cousins at the Hayloft - a Pub near Liskeard

Jonny, Mum, Alexander, Jan, Alan (or Chips), Nina and Matthew.  Alan is my cousin (Mum's nephew).  Jan is his wife and Alexander and Matthew are his children.  The rest you have met before.

The same group with me replacing Alan who took this photo
Alan and his family had just visited the nearby "Adrenelin Quarry" along with Nina and Jonny to particpate in the thrill seeking activities there.  this link is a leads to a video of their adventures:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM-FycmmRVE

 Mum and Eve enjoying a street performer at the Plymouth Food Fest

 The crowds at the Food Fest

My friend Ed and his partner Jeanie at a get together on the Barbican

 Birds feeding on Mum's Bird feeder

 We were visited by a Grey squirrel who was investigating ways of getting at the Bird feeder - without much success

 Today we diceded to re-visit Buckland Abbey which is close to the River Tavy between Plymouth and Tavistock to see some parts that have only recently become available to visitors.  This is a cottage which started life as the monastery Abbots House and which dates back to the 14th century.  It is now available as a holiday let

 This is the Cider Press cottage which is just in front of the Abbots House

 In the Cider Press garden

 The cider press - now a garden feature

 A carving of a Cistercian Monk in the woods

 The carp pond which feeds the Hydraulic Ram.  Some weeks ago we visited the site of a Hydraulic Ram near Restormal Castle near Lostwithiel.  We found that Buckland Abbey has a functioning Ram which can still provide water to the estate

 The building containing the Ram

 The Ram

A plaque explaining the Ram.



Around Cornwall

Last weekend we went down to stay with Mum's friends Phyllis and Charlie.  But first we had a walk around Cotehele House on the River Tamar near Calstock.

 Mum with her friends Christine and Leslie on the road to Cotehele

 A Robin who wanted to share our coffee break

An apple sculpture in the orchard

 An ornamental lake

 The front garden and the house

 Looking towards the dovecote

 Looking towards Calstock from the front of the house

 The Calstock viaduct over the Tamar from the gardens

 The village of Alturnan on the Edge of Bodmin Moor

 The village church looking across the old Packhorse bridge

 Two views of the old packhorse bridge

and then we went on a circular walk around the surrounding countryside

There were quite a few stiles to climb over - these are three of them

 There was a ford

 But luckily there was an old granite slab footbridge as well

And finally an old medieval granite cross which is now serving as a garden feature at a local farmhouse

 Between the village of Luxulyan and St Austell there is an industrial archaeological site pertaining to mining.  In the nineteenth century a light railway was built to take the China Clay mined in Central Cornwall to the Port of Par for shipping away.  There are a few impressive remains including this viaduct which is now hidden by trees

Here is some more information about the activities in this valley over the centuries:

http://www.luxulyanvalley.co.uk/history/

 One of the walking tracks along the route of an old Tramway

 Two views of the remains of Water wheel that powered some of the processing activities that occurred here in the 19th century

 Whilst we were staying with Phyllis and Charlie we visited Godolphin House near Helston.  This was the family seat of the Godolphin family who made their fortune from Tin Mining.  The most notable of these was the first Earl of Godolphin who was treasurer to Queen Anne and a strong Political friend to the First Duke of Marlborough.  The house is mostly 17th Century.  When the Godolphins ran out of sons, the house passed into the hands of the Duke of Leeds.  These Dukes were absentee landlords and by the end of the 19th century, some of the house had been demolished and it was no more than a farmhouse.  The National Trust have now acquired the property and are busy restoring the gardens and turning the house into holiday accommodation.  More information can be found through the following Links:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/godolphin/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Godolphin,_1st_Earl_of_Godolphin

 More views of the house and gardens

 Beehives at Godolphin

Mum and Phyllis at Godolphin

 Marazion is an old fishing village between Helston and Penzance on Mount's Bay

 Which means that it is ~Access Point for St Michaels Mount

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael's_Mount

A plaque in memory of HMS Warspite which was wrecked near here on it's way to be broken up after World War 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warspite_(03)

http://www.warspite.dk/

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/warspite.htm

 Phyllis, Charlie and Mum near the Maritime Museum in Falmouth

 Charlie in the Car

 Some Ships and Yachts around the Maritime Museum in Falmouth

 Trelissick House and Gardens at Feock

http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/national-trust/trelissick-gardens.htm

 Caqrrick Roads from Trelissick

 The River Fal from Trelissick.  Ships are laid up here when they become un-econmic to use commercially

Tregothnan House viewed from Trelissick home of the Boscawen family and not generally open to the public

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tregothnan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Boscawen

 We drove home via the Cornish North Coast

This is a view of Trevose Head lighthouse

http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/trevose_head.html

 Two views of Padstow harbour.  Padstow is the home of the celebrity chef Rick Stein and his businesses are quite prominent

 There used to be a railway that went from Padstow via Wadebridge and Bodmin to a small hamlet called Wenfordbridge.  The purpose was to move the China Clay mined on Bodmin Moor to Padstow for shipping.  Today most of this line is a Rail Trail called the Camel Trail after the river that it runs alongside but a small part is utilised by the Bodmin and Wenford Tourist Railway.  The first two pictures are of the drying Shedswhere the China Clay slurry was dried prior to shipping
Here are some links:
http://www.thisisnorthcornwall.co.uk/camel_trail.htm
http://bodminrailway.co.uk/
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-495204-wenford-dries-st-breward

The Hamlet of Wenford Bridge and it's Post Box

The bridge at Wenfordbridge crossing the River Camel

The next bridge down - Poley's Bridge and the River Camel

One for my friends Helen and Angela - The Jamaica Inn at Bolventor on Bodmin Moor.  This inn was immortalised by Daphne Du Maurier in her novel of the same name about Cornish Smugglers.  This is in memory of the last New Years Eve when we watched the classic movie after seeing in the New Year.
http://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Inn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Inn_(film)