The Lovely Riverside Town of Fowey, Cornwall, 21 Photos

Sometimes you see a house which seems to have a perfect setting, like the one above in Fowey. 

What a view - overlooking the sea and the entrance to the Fowey River and also near to Polly's Leap and cove - which, perhaps, may not be so good. 

There are varying stories, but someone called Polly is said to have thrown herself and her new born baby from the cliff after being jilted by her boyfriend.

We were walking along the Esplanade in Fowey towards the town.

We continued to the end of the Esplanade and turned right by the red post box

Though I did take a quick look at Fowey Church.

We meandered towards the quay passing the Aquarium - with an outside barometer. According to the info Admiral Robert Fitzroy produced this design back in 1857.

Two hundred of the barometers were placed around the coast. The barometer shown below is number 103 and was given to Fowey town on  the 21st of January, 1871.

On the quay is a Rook with a Book. This is to celebrate the author Daphne du Maurier who lived in Fowey.

One of her books, The Birds, was adapted for Alfred Hitchcock's classic film of the same name.

There were also some Spring flowers in boxes.

The Polruan Ferry came into view. This, as the name suggests, crosses the river from the village of Polruan to Fowey and vice versa.

We moved on to Fore Street but only walked as far as Mrs. Noahs, Instead we took a back street,  Bull Lane.

From here we could look down on the rooftops and ...

... a good view of the 16th century church tower.

We came across a quote from Wind in the Willows: "and you really live by the river? What a jolly life."

Some say that Pont Pill, a creek which joins the River Fowey, was  the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame's Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger's adventures in his book The Wind in the Willows

Another view of the church.

We now start to go downhill via steps.

A few brightly coloured cottages show the way.

The photo below is looking back to where we had walked.

And bob's your uncle, we are next to the church once more - along with some Spring flowers. The 14th century church, is dedicated to St. Finbarr

So it's back to the Esplanade to retrace our steps. A couple of photos of the cottages. 

The Fowey River is to the left and if you take a sneaky peek through a window, when no one is looking of course, you'll see the river.

And finally for today looking across the river to Polruan.

Fowey Car Parking:

The car parks in Fowey can be quite expensive, but at this time of year (October to April) I park roadside where there is a single yellow line. See sign below which verifies this is okay. Always double check the signs though.

Thanks for visiting my blog:

For more of Fowey please see these posts:

A Flavour Of the Old Town of Fowey, Cornwall With 24 Photos

Fowey - The Cornish Town With Narrow Streets and River Views - 18 Photos

Time Really Did Stand Still

A while back my wife and I wandered into, Devon which is the next county to Cornwall. It was here that I discovered that time really can stand still.

We went for a walk on Dartmoor. There wasn't another soul to be seen, so perfect for walking and forgetting the rest of the world. 

For a while we followed a path alongside a small river, which we crossed using some stepping stones. We then had to make our way up the side of the valley via some uneven stone steps. All quite reasonable and shouldn't have caused any problem ... but little did I know!

Karin was ahead of me and when we were nearly at the top she must have missed a step or slipped on the uneven rocks. Whatever happened she started to fall backwards. I was a couple of steps behind her ... and it was then that time stood still.

Thoughts started flowing through my mind ..."When Karin hits me I wall fall backwards as well ... I'll hit my head on the rocks below ...she will land on top of me but will still have a nasty fall ... what should I do for the best ..."

I was methodically working out what to do and the consequences as Karin was falling backwards, so it can only have been a second in time, if that.

I then felt my back foot being lowered to the step below and, goodness knows how, I caught her! I didn't fall and neither of us was hurt.

The point is that time definitely stood still. I couldn't possibly have had all of those thoughts and react to catch Karin in a normal, every day, time frame.

We reached the top of the steps and looked down. Karin was shaking and was in tears thinking of what might have happened to us both. She said words to the effect that our Guardian Angel must have been looking after us. I still can't explain how I caught her.

All in all a weird experience.

I have never experienced anything like this previously.  Oh, other than when I was riding a donkey facing backwards in a donkey race - and thought I was going to fall off - but that's another story!

Seriously though, there does seem to be much more to our lives than we fully realise.

Thanks for reading - will be back to a Cornwall theme for my next post.

A Glimpse of the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall - 21 Photos

We managed to get to the Lost Gardens of Heligan. They are only open, at the time of writing, from Wednesdays to Saturdays and then only for local people who have annual passes.

We found there was lots of room for visitors. Well I guess there should be with over 200 acres to explore.

An archway of apple trees below.

I snapped a few photos as we walked.

Here we have plants growing under glass.

A few lettuce coming along nicely.

We looked in on the old tool shed ...

... and the original Head Gardener's office. It's good to see so much preserved.

A glass house for plants needing warmth.

Next the Sundial Garden.

Probably not at it's best at the moment but a lovely spot in the summer.

Daffs alongside a path.

I think these two were trying to escape.

Now we are approaching the jungle!

Quite a gaggle of trees and plants.

A small jungle lake, with fish.

And more of the same.

Sheep on the open fields under the shade of a tree.

Something a little more formal.

An old building with the history of one of the original gardeners.

And then we reached the end of our chosen walk through The Lost Gardens of Heligan. There is much more to see, but on another day.

Here's a summer post on The Lost Gardens of Heligan:

Lost Gardens of Heligan - Voted UKs Top Visitor Garden

Thanks for visiting my Blog, hopefully there will be better days ahead once we have Covid-19 under control. Fingers crossed!

Looking Down on Mevagissey Harbour From On High

I wasn't intending to visit Mevagissey again as I had recently published a previous post: A Perfect Chilly Winter's Day in Mevagissey, Cornwall - 12 Photos.

I was actually heading for The Lost Gardens of Heligan but got their open days wrong. They are only open, at the moment, Wednesdays to Sundays for us locals with passes. So I made my way to Mevagissey instead, which is near by.

As I wanted some different photos to my previous post I took the high road to look down on the harbour. 

The first three photos show views from different positions - as does the next picture which is also of the coastline. It was another beautiful, but cold, winter's day.

The small lighthouse came into view. There were many steps to go down to reach it, quite a trek.

Looking across the sea to the other side of the outer harbour.

From here some of the the cliff top houses can be seen.

I climbed the steps again and below is the entrance to Mevagissey's inner harbour.

A few of the harbour side cottages.

A pile of pots and floats after descending the many steps again

And alongside the inner harbour with many fishing and other boats - all tucked up safely.

A final photo I took while up high.

Hopefully I'll get to the Lost Gardens of Heligan another day soon. 

All good wishes ~ Mike

Problems at Charlestown Harbour and Beach

I wasn't wandering lonely as a cloud but I did see a host of golden daffodils - a beautiful arc of yellow. I believe they were originally planted as a reminder of the Marie Curie cancer charity

Anyway, we were on the way to Charlestown harbour, one of my favourite places. The winter sun was shining, the sky was blue.

Unfortunately we discovered that there were problems at Charlestown, part of the harbour wall had been damaged.

All sorts of equipment and machinery were in view and the harbour was closed to the public and boats. 

As the harbour was built between 1791 and 1801 it's no doubt due some sort titillation. 

There was also a problem with cliffs falls at Charlestown, so the small beaches were closed as well.

The Pier House was okay but, of course, was closed because of the coronavirus lockdown.

A few ships were in port. I guess they won't be travelling very far until the harbour is back to normality.

The Rashleigh Arms old bumpy car park was empty...

... as was the pub and restaurant.

Birds are lucky, as they don't seem to be affected by the virus - they still have their freedom and something to eat.

I have many posts about Charlestown, here are a couple at random:

A Stroll Around Poldark's Charlestown Harbour, Cornwall - 12 Photos

Charlestown Harbour, Port and Sailing Ships - Plus Prostitutes in the 1700s and1800s

Thanks for visiting my blog ~ Mike