Shades of Colour While Walking In South Cornwall

Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers, rain to grow the flowers - and so it seems, as suddenly there is an abundance of colours.

We were wandering locally. Cornwall never lets you down. It's not just beaches, though some are quite special.

An early display of bluebells almost hidden in the hedgerow.

Not sure what the small flowers are but they brighten an old wall.

We looked down on the valley with the old chimney, from the china clay industry, still in position.

More ways to brighten an old Cornish wall.

An abundance of forget-me-nots

Then when in silence thou doest walk,
Nor being round with whom to talk;
When thou art on the mighty deep,
And do in quiet action sleep;
If we no more on earth do meet,

Forget me not.*

Back to reality, this little fellow joined us on our walk but soon got bored with our company.

Colour on the bushes.

A rhododendron in all its glory.

Ah, and just in case you need to know the time - a dandelion clock.

A colourful duo - a post box and a yellow hydrant sign - the numbers indicate the size of the water main (top number) and the bottom number indicates the distance to the actual hydrant.

Another shade of yellow.

Ah, and a lonely pansy.

Finally, as it's April some May flowers! 

Remember though: Ne'er cast a clout till May is out. Back in the 15th century clout meant a fragment of clothing.

* The poem, from 1841, by Ann Plato.

Thank you for visiting my blog ~ Mike.

Padstow Harbour, Beach and Walking the Coastal Path

Here we are in Padstow. The harbour, photo above, is a little empty as there is maintenance work being done, getting ready for the tourist season. The harbour will then be filled with water and boats.

We decided on just a short walk along the coastal path - the yellow arrow on the post below shows the way.

Padstow sits on the west bank of the River Camel Estuary. When the tide is out there are huge stretches of sand, as can be seen by the photos.

On the opposite side of the inlet is the village of Rock.

Lots of May blossom alongside the path at this time of year.

A building remains from world war 2 - part of the defence of the inlet. 

We sat and had our lunch with no one in sight - perfect.

In places along the path farmer's fields can be seen - this one is ready for planting.

From here we decided to retrace our steps back to Padstow itself. You can of course carry on walking for miles.

The path cuts between fields of green with the fishing port of Padstow in the background.

When the tide is right there is a ferry which crosses the estuary to Rock - and return.

Moving the estuary sand, below. You may have read my post Padstow, the Mermaid and the Perilous Doom Bar telling of the problems in the past with drifting sand in the estuary.

How the harbour looked on my visit, a bit muddy.

A few boats seemed to be stranded in the harbour.

And finally back to an  almost empty car park and the Harbour Hotel. In the popular, busy times of the year the car park can get very full, as can Padstow itself.

Thanks for visiting my blog ~ Mike.

A Glimpse of Charlestown, Cornwall While the Harbour Walls are Being Repaired

I was wondering if Charlestown had managed to repair their harbour wall - see my post https://mikescornwall.blogspot.com/2021/03/problems-at-charlestown-harbour-and.html. So I decided to pay a visit via the coastal path.

The May blossom was out in all its glory. It always reminds me of the old saying: Ne'er cast a clout till May be out. My mother said this every year on seeing the first May blossom.

The flowers were in abundance as I made my way towards the harbour - and other plants too.

The first glimpse of the harbour from the coastal path - all looks quiet.

The path continued downhill past a Beach Retreat.

Ah, and now a clear view of part of the harbour showing the heavy equipment still in situ. 

Two more photos of how the harbour looks (at today's date 04/04/21).

A couple of doves seemed very interested in what was happening.

A few boats in port.

Nearby is the Shipwreck Treasure Museum. Haven't been in their for donkey years.

That's all for today, thanks for your visit ~ Mike.

Flowers This Year In Cornwall

Okay, here we go with some flowers I have seen in Cornwall recently.

I'll admit I cheated with the photo above as they are flowers my wife received on her birthday.

The flowers in the next group of five photos were all growing happily - wild and free... those were the days!

Some quince. We used to have one of these in our garden. I can't quite remember what happened to it, though it did bear fruit. 

Heather seen near Cornwall's Eden Project.

Next proves that Cornwall has had some  pleasant blue sky days - contrasts well with the pink blossom.

Ah, and one of my favourite birds, the robin, always a welcome visitor.

Two more flowers which were growing wild, quite an explosion of forget-me-nots

Primroses: often seen wild but these are from our garden. The red coloured brick is from the cottage where my wife was born in northern Germany. On a visit to the area the cottage had been virtually destroyed to make way for a new main road - so we brought home a brick as a souvenir.

Next is Toby's bush in memory of our favourite ever dog, a wonderful border collie. His photo is at the end of the post.

A pink azalea in our front garden, hasn't been quite as bountiful with the flowers as usual.

Another photo of the same azalea.

Oh, and some roses my wife also received on her birthday - well that's what she told me! 

Thanks for visiting my blog - all good wishes.

My favourite photo of Toby