Cornwall's Eden Project and its Varying Art Work

Today a different look at Cornwall's Eden Project. Instead of the usual plants and flowers we look a few of Eden's art work.

Above is a marble statue, which is also a water fountain. The work was created by Ryan Gander and is fabricated in the likeness of his wife, Rebecca, who playfully spits water!

In the outer regions of Eden is the gentleman below - not exactly sure what he signifies.

Moving on to the Mediterranean Biome we find Gaia, an illuminated globe by Luke Jerram. 

The globe is seven metres in diameter and has NASA detailed imagery of the Earth's surface - as it would be viewed from space.

The bird below was happily amusing himself on cacti plants.

Oh, and this wicker animal was also frolicking happily in the Mediterranean Biome - well he would be if he could.

Moving on to Eden's Core building we find Infinity Blue.

It is believed that Infinity Blue is the world's biggest ceramic sculpture. It weighs in at 20 tonne and is said to pay homage to cyanobacteria, one of the world's smallest living beings.

The structure is around nine metres tall and fires out vapour rings spasmodically from it's 32 'cannons'.

This is popular with children as they enjoy trying to catch the vapour rings before they disappear. Okay, I do too!

Moving on, there is art work around the gardens in varying forms.

Finally for this post we come across artwork called Crowd 4 designed by Julian Opie. I don't really get this, but it is described as a monolith sculpture with animation played on a double sided LED screen.

The film features a number of people crossing the screen, thus creating a monument to crowd or flock.

So there you are - various art at Cornwall's Eden Project.

All this art work, so I thought I'd give Rebecca a bit of colour instead of her marble whiteness. 

More Posts on the Eden Project:

Cornwall's Eden Project With The world's Largest Indoor Rainforest - Plus Much More

A Flavour Of Cornwall's Eden Project: 15 Photos

More Flavour of Cornwall's Eden Project - 14 Photos

Walking The Cornish Lanes Looking for January Flowers and Other Things of Interest

'Twas a dull morning, a little drizzly, but I always feel I need a walk so we decided to head for the lanes near Trenance, St.Austell. There's rarely any traffic and perhaps I would see some colour in the hedgerows.

Well I did find some flowers as can be seen by my photo above. Yes, they are daffodils - very early, even for Cornwall.

It sure looked like rain!

Gradually the greyness lifted and it was possible to look across the fields. The view would have been a better if the hedgerows weren't quite so high.

Yes, the grey must have been frightened away as the sky turned blue. There's a wind turbine in the distance.

This is/was china clay country as can be seen below. The hill is made from the spoils of the china clay industry. Nature has taken over and made the scene quite pleasant.

It started getting dull again. That's Cornwall for you, travel a short distance and the weather can be quite different.

Water was gushing onto the road from the recent heavy rain ...

… and joined a small river ...

… which gradually became wider.

We then came to the bridge across the Trenance Road built in 1859.

Actually there are two bridges as can be seen in the photo below. The second bridge was built in 1899.

Trains thunder across the Gover Valley via the bridge and also a viaduct. This is used by trains travelling from London Paddington to Penzance and vice versa.

From here we followed a footpath to take us down to the valley.

Looking south are houses and the block of flats - the only high rise flats in Cornwall - I mentioned in a previous post. 

That's it for today - keep on walking!

See also: 

33 Photos: A Circular Walk Based On Gover Valley, St.Austell, Cornwall

Illuminations and lights at The Lost Gardens of Heligan

If you go down to the woods today you're sure of a big surprise … no, not teddy bears but illuminations at The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

We went to see the illuminations in the hours of darkness and how different the gardens and trees looked from a daytime visit.

Parts of the walk were quite creepy as there were sounds complimenting the illuminations.

The old walls and buildings were transformed.

I spotted this figure from the past still attending the plants. Was he real or a figure of imagination?

The illuminations were created by an international renowned light artist Ulf Pederson.

Ulf's description as to what he has created at the Lost Gardens of Heligan is to "have transformed the act of looking into a physical experience - where audiences frequently find themselves immersed in a sensational play of light and colour as the space metamorphoses into something unique and magical".

I enjoyed the visit, the lights and displays as a whole.

I most liked the transformations of the trees and bushes as they seemed to take on a whole new persona. 

All in all it was a lovely evening, especially as the frequent rain we have been having in Cornwall, stayed away. 

Even a few feathers floated across the pathways.

And to finish with, something black and white - as we made our way back to our car.

I have made several posts, with photos, about the Lost Gardens of Heligan, here are a few:

Lost Gardens of Heligan - Voted UKs Top Visitor Garden

The Lost Gardens of Heligan In July :16 Photos 

The Lost Gardens of Heligan: 18 Photos of Farm Animals, Plants and Jungle

2020 - Happy New Year (Bledhen Nowydh Da in Cornish)

Another year - wishing you happiness and success.

As Albert Einstein is quoted as saying:
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

Bledhen Nowydh Da* 
Mike

*Happy New Year in Cornish

Perranporth Beach Loved By Surfers, Bodyboarders, Beach Lovers, Children and Dogs

The beach at Perranporth, Cornwall seems to go on forever. A bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but the golden sand stretches for at least three miles accompanied by clear water.

I'm always happy walking on a beach - though there was one time I wasn't - but that's another story for perhaps another time.

Perranporth is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast and is popular with surfers, bodyboarders and the like. There can be some good surf and waves. 

The beach is also liked by dogs - as you will see by the photos.

The beach is dog friendly and they are allowed on the sand all the year round. There is one restriction though during July and August when dogs must be kept on a lead from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. And, of course, any dog mess must be cleared away by doggie humans.

The RNLI are on duty during the main busy times of the year. Their website gives dates and times when they are present on Perranporth beach.

As you wander along the sand there are sand dunes behind the beach.

Their are also cliffs and rocks depending on how far you walk.

The photo below shows the most popular part of the beach, especially in the summer months. Most people don't like to walk much further. There are tyre marks on the sand as the beach had just been cleaned.

If you keep walking around the bend or headland shown below you will find that ... 



… the beach continues and there are lots more sand dunes. 

From the lovely stretch of beach above I headed back to where I started ... the dogs were still having fun!

See also:
Miles and Miles of Beaches at Perranporth Cornwall Bring Miles and Miles of Smiles