AFTERNOON TEA & OTHER MEANDERINGS

Back to my blog, once more, now that Christmas is over. So a few odds and bods starting off with afternoon tea!

We were gifted a Cornish afternoon tea at the Rosevine Hotel, Portscatho, which was quite pleasant.

The first three photos are of the hotel. It is set in a pleasant position, just a short walk to the sea.

Oh, and don't forget that, with a Cornish tea, the clotted cream goes on top of the jam on the scones.

An an old milestone below. I have now travelled to St. Austell - 13 miles from Truro. according to the stone.

Just along the road, from the milestone, is a more up to date signpost.

When approaching St. Austell by car there is a nice green area with a few interesting trees, even in the winter.

The monkey puzzle tree tree (Araucaria Araucana), always fascinates me - think I have mentioned this previously in a post.

The foliage is quite distinctive.

Moving on I walked towards St. Austell town. In doing so I passed something unique within Cornwall - high rise flats! Somehow they seem out of place.

Despite the chill in the air a small flower nearby managed to survive in the undergrowth

Walking on I had a peek at the Gover Stream.

Next, near to a Co-op store, are the remains of the Pentewan Railway Clay Cellars.

The Pentewan Railway once carried local china clay from St. Austell to the harbour at Pentewan for export. This was operational from 1829 to about 1918. The Pentewan Trail for walkers now follows the  route of the railway.

Below shows how the harbour at Pentewan was once full of sailing boats exporting china clay worldwide in the late 1800's and early 1900's

Today Pentewan harbour is landlocked, and is enjoyed by swans, ducks and the like - though they must have been hiding when I snapped the photo.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you had a great Christmas and and have a wonderful New Year.

Good wishes ~ Mike.

ST. AUSTELL TOWN PHOTOS & THE EARTH GODDESS

There's been a rumbling of sorts, in St.Austell and all because of a new piece of artwork, as above. It's big!  It is the UK's largest ceramic sculpture and is said to have cost £80,000. Oh, and in the photo above I missed off the very top of the sculpture. The title of the artwork is 'The Earth Goddess'.

The controversy rumbles on because some Church leaders are urging the town council to significantly change or remove the goddess. They claim that the local authority has likely, unknowingly, chosen to reject God by allowing the artwork to be erected.

Anyway let's move on, I'll come back to the Goddess later in the post. For now though, lets take a look at some of the much older parts of St. Austell town. Below is the Coral Moss shop and ...

... then a local Estate Agent. Property prices are rising in Cornwall.

Next we have the lovely Holy Trinity Church. There has been a church building on this site  since 1169. Part of the current building dates back to 1290.

The church stands on high ground and overlooks the White Hart hotel and pub. The hotel was previously the town house of Charles Rashleigh the Charlestown founder. See my previous post Photos and a Brief History of Charlestown, Cornwall

Another view of the church.

Looking from the opposite side of the church is the old Market House. There is also a free, but small, museum.

A touch of street art on the side of a building next to the Market House.

If we look outwards from the front of the church there is Fore Street, one of the main shopping areas. It has to be said, though, that, as with many towns, there are a few empty shops.

A view of the church looking back from Fore Street.

We have now slipped out of the Fore Street and into Biddicks Court where there is the Wetherspoon outlet called Rann Wartha.

A couple of photos from the back street.

Moving on to the newer part of St. Austell - a butcher and a greengrocer but no candlestick maker. There are bakers though, so a ready supply of pasties is available.

There are lots of flowers in this new(er) section of St. Austell.

Below is looking outward from the shops.

Four photos now of some of the flowers by the newer shops. As you can see I managed  to click the pics when there wern't too many people about.

So here we are again back at the controversial earth goddess - including the top part.

I guess when the goddess is in the right position, with the cinema and flowers in the background, she doesn't look too bad at all.

A close up of a section of the goddess.

Nearby there is a pleasant odour of fish and chips - even though I'm vegetarian!

I wonder what some of  St.Austell's well known people, from the past, would have made of the goddess?

That's all for today. I have, though, written a previous St. Austell post: A Flavour of St. Austell, Cornwall - 26 Photos if interested.

All good wishes ~ Mike.

Walking by the River Fowey and Fowey Town, Cornwall

As we walked along the Esplanade at Fowey all was quiet and peaceful. A sailing boat made its way silently towards the sea.

As we reached the town there were a few people wandering about, mostly tourists. The chill in the air must have kept people indoors - though goodness knows why.

The quay was quiet and the ferry, which crosses the the river to Polruan, had very few passengers.

By the quay is the Marine Aquarium.

The cruise ship Ocean Nova was anchored on the opposite side of the river.

We walked along Fore Street passed The Lugger pub. The oldest pub in Fowey, however, is the Ship Inn which was built way back in 1570.

A few small boats moored on the river.

An abundance of flowers spill over the road just before Customs House Hill.

The road is narrow, very narrow, luckily it's one way traffic.

More of the river.

The photo below shows the car and passenger ferry which crosses the river to Bodinnick.

The house by the river, with blue shutters, I have mentioned in several posts. This is where Daphne du Maurier was living when her first book was published.

About turn as we return in the direction of Fowey Quay to devour a Cornish Pasty - mine  a veggie version.

 The church grass has been allowed to grow, which somehow makes it more inviting.

After consuming our pasties - okay plus a pastry and coffee we made our way back along the Esplanade to where our car is parked.

The cruise ship can be seen from the water's edge. Always a pleasure to visit Fowey whatever the season.

ANOTHER DAY - had a flying visit into St. Austell.

It was good to see flowers. The tulips seem to have lasted well.

YET ANOTHER DAY - My wife had a dentist appointment in Truro so, while she had her check-up, I walked to Truro's Victoria Park. I met a strange lady while on my way!

I passed the Cornwall Council building - note the languages are in English and Cornish.

The gardens are next to the County Courts.

Here I am in the park with the bandstand in the distance.

A water fountain and ...

... a close up of the traditional bandstand.

More water but only a trickle of a stream.

The viaduct is used by trains. Below is a pleasant walk through the trees.

A few of the mature trees look outwards to a view of the city.

As I wandered I came across this memorial, so a touch of sadness.

The gardens were originally created to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

That's all I have time for so I head for the steps in the photo below I'll be back at the County Courts and can retrace my steps back to my wife's dentist - it seems all went okay.

Thanks for visiting my blog. All good wishes ~ Mike.

Here's a post of a lovely walk from Fowey: The Magical Hall Walk at Fowey Cornwall - With Lots of Photos

and also a May flower post : May Flowers In Cornwall