Murder and Mayhem

On our second night in Padstow, Taylor and I walked to the village and had a lovely dinner at Rick Stein's Cafe.  As we started to stroll back to Treverbyn House I had the urge to wander a bit among the winding lanes that make up Padstow.  Taylor, worried I was going to take him on a forced march, went alone back to our room.  

As I looked up one narrow lane some open black gates caught my attention.  Naturally I had to go see what was through them.  As I got closer, I heard singing.  As I stepped through the gates in the twilight I realized I was in a church cemetery. The singing I heard was choir practice in session.

Choir music was seeping from these windows and filling the twilight.

I enjoyed the sight and sound of that special moment, and then my imagination interrupted.  It occurred to me that in Midsommer Murders, or in Morse, when a person walks into a church yard there is usually a dead body already there, or the person who is doing the walking is about to become the dead body.

What to do?  Stay?  Or go?

I looked around a little bit telling myself that I wasn't in a TV show, and then I nonchalantly walked back through those gates and found my way back to Treverbyn House.  You never can tell about these quaint English villages, after all. I went back to my room and to my book, Elizabeth George's  A Banquet of Consequences.  I wonder if I should change my reading and TV choices?

Rambles on the Coast Path

As you can see from this map, the Cornwall Coast Path goes along the coastal borders of this part of England. Parts of it are easy walking paths, parts of it are treacherous and challenging.  People actually walk parts, or all, of the path for vacations.  The trails follow bluffs, cross beaches, go over hills and pastures, and even go through towns, and sometimes on busy roads. We were lucky to take three different small hikes when we were in Cornwall. The first walk was from Padstow heading Northeast (I've marked the map in black at our starting points).  The second and third walks were from Charlestown, first heading South, and the next day heading Northeast.  

Padstow to Hawker's Cove

 It was a windy day, but much of the walk was in wooded areas so the wind wasn't a problem for us.

The beach was breathtaking - literally.

 

We managed to climb over stiles, and we went through some kissing gates as well.  The path is well marked so there was no issue of getting lost.

When we got to Hawkers Cove we found a very tiny hamlet and it had a Tea Garden!

The Tea Garden is up this path to the left.  It's actually in the back of someone's house.

On the way back to Padstow, kite surfers were out on the water - can you see the red and blue kite in the sky?

Being in a village full of tourists we looked for more of a local bar for our post hike pint.  We found it.

And we enjoyed our local pint.

Charlestown to the South

The harbor village of Charlestown is about 4 coves from the left.  Until now most of this walk was sheltered woodland.  We are about to start walking through steep sheep grazing fields.

We just emerged from these woods.  Some of the sheep are on a distant hill.

I am about halfway up a very steep hill.  The picture doesn't begin to do justice to the steepness.

I finally made it to the top.  The reason the grass looks like it might have a drop off is because it does!  Just think, I'm going to have to go down this to get back home.

After making it up the very steep sheep hill we had to go up and down a few flights of steps.  Taylor counted 167 steps on this one.

We made it back to Charlestown unscathed, even after going up and down multiple steep hills and treacherous stairs.  Charleston Harbor looks so safe and inviting.

Did I mention Poldark yet?  This is where the town scenes are filmed.

Charlestown to the Northeast
Today's hike was very different from the previous two hikes.  This time we walked for a long distances at the top of a cliff and next to a golf course.  I couldn't believe they allow walkers on the golf course, but glad we got to be there.  The beach scenes as usual were spectacular. As we neared our destination of the village of Par the scene changed.  Industry!!

We had gotten so used to spectacular beach scenes and sheep pastures that we were unprepared for industry.

We walked into town, found the Yummy Scrummy Bakery and had a wonderful lunch, then turned around to head back to Charlestown.

Taylor approaching the golf course on our way back to Charlestown.

After a day's hike who doesn't deserve a pint?

On Location at Portwenn

North Cornwall

You may remember that several years ago Taylor and I attempted to visit Cornwall.  We drove from Exetor through Dartmoor, heading toward Cornwall when we panicked over driving on the wrong side of very narrow roads.  After having a little incident with the rental car we abandoned it in Dartmouth and refused to go further (although we did eventually return the car to the rental agency).

When we determined to come to Cornwall this year, we decided not to rent a car.  Hence the train, and taxi.  However, we wanted to see the area with its multitude of little villages and twisty roads.  I solved the problem of how to do this by hiring a tour guide to drive us around for two days to show us the sights.

David, our guide, picked us up at Treverbyn House in Padstow and off we went.  Taylor was quite excited to enjoy the view without the stress of managing the narrow one track, two lane roads that are lined with hedges disguising stone walls.  The entire day of sightseeing, with all the beautiful scenery and narrow lanes, was quite relaxing when neither of us was in charge.

Many people travel the world to see historic points of interests.  That, after all, is evidence of intelligence and sophistication.  We realized, as we were wandering through Port Isaac that we aren't among those intelligent folk.  We were exploring a TV set!  Port Isaac - Portwenn for all you Doc Martin fans - is a small fishing village extremely charming and filled with tourists.  We were there on a calm day, as filming  happened the day before. Filming brings huge crowds of lookers along with the people and equipment it takes to film a TV show.  And Port Issac looks exactly like Portwenn does on TV. It does not look, from the outside, like fame and fortune has gone to its head.  I wonder if the production company has required that the village make no changes as long as Doc Martin is being produced.  Even the fish store, where the Doc buys his fish, smells to high heaven.  Other than that, the village looks a little shabby but comfortable.  It certainly is in a great location.

The Doc's house is really quite tiny.  I love the dog in my photo - everyone has a dog in Cornwall.

Louisa's school is really a restaurant.

There are lots of charming shops in town.

I was too embarrassed to have Taylor take my picture in front of the Doc's house, so I had him do it in one of the side streets.  I needed proof that I was there.

Isn't it amazing how small Doc Martin's house is?

We tore ourselves from the TV set and drove all along the North Coast.

One of many beaches on the North Coast.  This one is Newquay (pronounced Newkie). It is popular with surfers.

This huer's hut is where the fishermen would take turns standing watch to look for pilchards and herring.  The lookout would give the cry, and all the villagers would run down to the beach with their baskets and nets to bring in the fish. Poldark fans have seen these fishing scenes on TV.

A village, even smaller than Port Issac.

Here's the quay below the house pictured above.

There are so many perfect little quays like this all along the coast. The contrast between the surfing beaches and these little keyhole harbors is quite striking.

The ruins of Tintangel Castle.  This is the setting of the King Arthur legends.

This was our first full day in Cornwall.  We came home to Treverbyn House exhausted and happy.  Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without fish and chips.

Once again we're on TV location.  Rick Stein is a well know TV personality chef and cookbook author.  We ate at two of his restaurants.  He's got a good product.

Taylor is a happy camper:  no driving required, and fish and chips.

European Adventure 2017 - on to England

North Cornwall - Padstow

Reluctantly we said goodbye to our family and friends in Bruxelles and put ourselves on the train  to London. From London we took a second train to Bodmin Parkway.  We are now in North Cornwall!!!!

Our prearranged taxi driver collected us at the station and drove us 19 miles to the fishing village of Padstow on the River Camel where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

I have been fascinated by Cornwall for years.  I suspect my first introduction to Cornwall was the Elizabeth George novels that I love.  Her detective Peter Lynley comes from an estate in Cornwall. Who wouldn't be intrigued by that? Plus, I had further evidence that I might like Cornwall from watching Doc Martin and Poldark on TV.  I'm not proud to admit I came to Cornwall because of murder mysteries and TV shows, but there you have it. What I wasn't prepared for was to fall in love at first sight .  And that is what I did.

Treverbyn House B&B gave us a room with a view.

The weather was spectacular.

The downtown harbor which is a short walk from our B&B was captivating.

There was no opportunity for annoyances.

There is even a tasteful Almshouse - although I think it is now expensive apartments

And, at the end of our introductory ramble we had sherry to sip as the sun set.

With an introduction like this, I'm sure that we will have a great 8 days in Cornwall.