Walking From Tresillian Alongside the River to St. Clement, Cornwall

A meander along the Tresillian River, near Truro, to the small village of St. Clement. The tide was out so there was a great deal of mud to contemplate. But not to worry though, as there is a path alongside the river for walkers.

A rivulet did its best to try and fill the river but it was a lost cause.

We passed an attractive lake on the opposite side of the path. All was quiet and a dog walker told us she had just seen a kingfisher.

Looking back there was definitely more mud than water. But the sun was shining, the sky was blue, so pretty good for late February or early March.

A flow of water from the hills was making it's way towards the river, but wasn't making much of an impact.

The path ahead, however, looked green and pleasant.

Finally we reached St. Clement where a few cottages overlook the river.

Around the corner from the cottages is  the Old Vicarage, now an upmarket Bed & Breakfast establishment. Something about its appearance, though, jars with me a little. It's very smart and only a few yards from the river but to me it looks out of place. Mind you the property is valued at over £1.3 million.

The church is at the heart of the village with traditional cottages.

Below is the aptly named Church Cottage.

More cottages:

A Public Footpath sign points the way to Malpas see: Walking to Malpas, Cornwall Alongside the River.

A few cottages over looking the river ...

... and a small boat at the frontage. 

As we made our way homeward bound we followed a horse on exercise - though not too closely!

St. Clement is such a peaceful village, idyllic on a sunny day. We also visited the church, but will write about that on another day.

Another view, on our return walk, overlooking the reeds and a blue sky.

Where we parked the car:
We parked at the end of Tresillian village (3 miles east of Truro). On the left (travelling from the St. Austell area) there is a big car dealership. After this is a pull-in off the main A390. There is room for about five cars -  providing drivers park neatly. 

My Grandad, Vintage Coincidence & Reincarnation

I'm off subject for today's post. Instead of Cornwall it's about coincidence, life and my maternal grandfather. He was a man I never met as he died way before I was born. For some reason, though, I have always felt a closeness to him. I can't explain why.

I have several items which belonged to him, including his tiepins and spurs as in the photo above. The pin to the left of the photo is said to be the tooth of his favourite horse.

The British census for 1891 shows that, at that time,  he worked as a groom at Egglestone Hall, which dates back to the 19th century. That's him posing at the bottom of the photo below. 

Grandad, Frederick William English, was a widower when he married my grandmother, so there was quite an age difference. They had several children including Alfred, Wilfred and my mother Winifred. They must have run out of 'Fred' names as they also had Ella and Florence.

He died in 1940, below is the telegram informing my mother of his death - how communication has changed nowadays.

There's another photo of my grandad below - the man with the red ring. Of course, it's thanks to my grandad that I was born. If he hadn't have met my gran, then the world would be slightly different in a small way. 

Life at times seems to be one big coincidence. 

If, Frederick William English hadn't met my grandmother, I wouldn't be writing this now as I wouldn't exist - nor would my son, grandchildren etc. etc. And it would also have affected my wife's life as she would never have met me, so would have different children.

We therefore appear on first glance to be creatures of pure chance - unless, that is, life is all pre-planned, which doesn't really seem possible - or does it!

From a very early age I've always been interested in Buddha. No idea why, as this was far removed from my upbringing. But there is a connection with my grandfather as you will see later in the post.

When I moved into my very first home one of the first things I bought was a small Buddha as an ornament. I didn't know anything about Buddhism at the time. 

Later in life, when I was married, I saw a Buddha in a shop while visiting Spain. I just had to buy it. "Why?" asked my wife, but I couldn't really give an answer. It was simply something I felt I had to do. 

Below is the Buddha I bought. It has been on the mantelpiece of each of my homes.

Moving forward many years my mother had a severe stroke and had to move to a Nursing Home. It was such a sad and difficult time. Just before she died we managed to transport her to our house for a visit. It was very emotional as she thought she would never see our house again.

As she sat in our living room she looked at my Buddha on the mantelpiece, photo above, where it had sat for many years, including all the while my mother was fit and well.

Out of the blue, she said, "It's strange, my father always had a Buddha on the fireplace mantelpiece as well." My mother went on to tell me that her father was a Buddhist. 

I was amazed at this, as it was something I never knew and was something my mother had never mentioned previously.

As I said at the beginning of this post I have always felt a closeness to my grandad. A friend suggested to me that this is all down to reincarnation - but I guess that's another whole discussion, perhaps for a later date. 

Thanks for visiting my blog - back to Cornwall again for the next post. All good wishes ~ Mike.

Geese, Par Beach, Sand Dunes and Flowers

The sun was shining  so we went along to Par Beach, on Cornwall's south coast, for a walk.

Years back we had two caravans on the site, which we let out to holiday makers. So it was interesting to see how things had changed.

All was well with the world and the geese seemed content on the lake - along with a couple of swans and numerous ducks.

Par isn't a favourite beach, but it's quite a long stretch and the water is usually quite shallow and placid.

We crossed the sand dunes to walk on the flat sand.

Then, wham bang, the weather changed within a few minutes. The sky wasn't quite as inviting.

The sea wasn't too inviting either. It's usually flat and shallow but waves rolled in.

As it looked like rain we headed back across the sand dunes to find our car.

You often find in Cornwall that if you move along the coast a little the weather can be quite different. This was the case on our trip.

We wandered down a few lanes and there were flowers galore ...

... even a host of golden daffodils ...

... and some camellias.

Plus bright gaudy colours.

Amongst the woods an old wall was covered with moss ...

... and there was more moss on the trees - made me think of Christmas, which I didn't really want to think about!

We decided to make our way back home, a mug of tea was the order of the day - okay, and a biscuit. Yes, a chocolate one or maybe two.

All good wishes, thanks for visiting my blog.

Out and About Near St. Austell, Cornwall

Peekaboo! Approaching St. Austell I noticed this lucky cat on the welcome sign.

And below another welcome to the town - not that there is anything going on of course.

In town, however, I did see a tiger ...

... and the very large humming bird.

On the outskirts of the town are sheep ...

... and this little fellow was wearing his best coat.

A pig was rooting about, churning up the grass. What a busy life.

Darkness filled the sky for a while but a rainbow brightened the view. To the right of the rainbow you can just see St. Austell's White Pyramid. 

Moving on to the coast. Below is Porthpean Beach, about 2.5 miles from St. Austell town. Often described as the beach where the locals go, but no one about today.

Inland again and a sheep with an itch!

Then it's along to the lake at Par Beach where there are usually ducks geese and the like - though the seagulls often like to boss the surroundings. 

And finally a flower, just because it's nice and colourful.

All in all a mixed set of photos for this post, but such is Covid-19 life at the moment.

Take care.

Cornish Money and Their Very Own Parliament

Back in March 2019 I wrote a post on Cornish money as issued by the Cornish Stannary Parliament in 1974. I still have one of the banknotes - as  seen above and below. You can see my previous post here: Cornwall's Very Own Cornish Money!

I was recently reading how Cornwall, in days of old, had a special place in the country because of the Cornish  tin miners (tinners).

Early in the thirteenth century they were, by charter, given law courts, a prison and even a Parliament of their own. The last Tinner's Parliament was held in Truro way back in August, 1752.

Only for such crimes as linked to 'land and limb' were tinners subject to the main courts of the period.

The charter also declared that tinners had the right to search for tin on any unenclosed land. 

So perhaps Cornwall is entitled to its very own money, though this probably wouldn't be very practical.

In the 18th and 19th centuries there were Coins known as Cornish Pennies, though they were really only trade tokens.

Thank you for visiting my blog, stay safe.