Going Bananas in Cornwall, Plus a Harbour and Lots of Heligan Flowers

Going bananas in Cornwall, well not quite but my son has bananas growing in his garden, as can be seen in the photo above.

Another view of his plant.

Actually, the plant looks to be quite a cool dude.

Here's a better photo of the plant - they often look quite scruffy following high winds or heavy rainfall.

Moving on to one of our regular walks in Charlestown. A dog was waiting patiently by one of the cottage gates.

Looking down on some of the ships and boats in dock. This area has a gate to retain the water and there is also a leat to keep it topped up.

Looking west from the Charlestown harbour wall.

As the tide was out it was possible to walk further along the cliffside - carefully!

Looking east at the harbour entrance.  Visiting boats will have to wait for the tide to change.

Moving on now to  the Lost Gardens of Heligan, another of our regular haunts.

Lots of flowers on display as can be seen by the next six photos.

We walked past the Potting Shed but not much potting was going on.

Lots of apples though.

This is the sundial which gives this garden its name - the Sundial Garden.

There is much more to see at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, it stretches over 200 acres. From the gardens its possible to see the sea in the distance.

Below some fungi spotted on an old tree and ...

... shhh! finally the Mud Maid sleeps peacefully.

Thanks for visiting my blog - have an interesting weekend and week ahead ~ Mike.

On Tour: City of Bath and the Roman Baths

Yes, you are quite right this isn't Cornwall but, while no one was looking, we scuttled away to the city of Bath in Somerset. I wanted to visit the Roman Baths.

The photo above is Pulteney Bridge in Bath built way back in 1774.

It was a dull day initially. We wandered through the park and headed for the Roman Baths.  

To start with a quote of Solinus in the third century.

Destination achieved here we are looking down on the water from a high walkway.

I read that thermal springs rise on this site and the baths can still flow with natural warm water. 

Some fine statues alongside the walkway.

Another look at the water from a different angle.

Two maidens smiled as I snapped a photo by the bath - okay one of them did.

Looking across the water again.

The stone below is said to be the earliest inscription from the baths. It is from a small monument and dates to 76AD. This means the baths must have been built by that date.

Seemingly the inscription above reads: 'In the 7th consulship of the Emperor Vespian'. This was seven years after he became Emperor in 69AD. 

Another walkway leading to various original exhibits.

There is, of course, more to Bath than the baths. The Abbey for example. It was founded in the 7th century - but has been rebuilt twice in the 12th and 16th centuries.

There were lots of street entertainers about near the abbey.

Can't be easy playing a violin while balancing on a tightrope. Not that I have ever tried.

This gentleman made a pleasant sound.

We made our way through some of the streets, full of character. Jane Austen lived in Wells from 1801. Some say that Bath was the site of the Battle of Mons Badonicus where King Arthur defeated the Saxons, circa 500AD. But, whatever, it's a very pleasant city.

After we had our fill of Bath we hopped on a bus to take us to the city's Park and Ride where our car was waiting.

And, for us, that closed the door on Bath. 

A FEW OTHER POSTS OUTSIDE OF CORNWALL

(1) On Tour: Visiting Wells Cathedral - 16 Photos.

(2) On Tour: Visiting Glastonbury Abbey, Glastonbury Tor and King Arthur

(3) On Tour: Visiting Cheddar Gorge

(4) From Cornwall to the Canary Islands

Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you have a happy weekend and week ahead ~ Mike.

Goss Moor Walk and Newquay Beaches

It was a grey, drizzly day and, after much discusion, we decided to go for a walk on Goss Moor*. Incredibly, at least for us, was that we had never been on the seven mile circular walk previously.

We found one of several starting points and parked our car. There was no one else about.

We found out that we were actually walking on what was originally the old A30 road. Okay, but to be honest, it was a bit boring as everything was the same and  there were no views. If you looked left or right you just saw shrubs and a few flowers as the above photo.

A train zoomed past near by, thus the railway crossing photo below. The train was on the Atlantic Coast line which runs from Par to Newquay - just about 21 miles.

We continued walking, but it was still drizzling with fine rain.

I guess though that the history of this stretch of the trail is interesting. It is thought that it was once an old Roman Road and could well have been a prehistoric track prior to that. In the 1700's it was also a Turnpike road - part of  the coaching route from Jamaica Inn on the Bodmin Moor, to the coaching Inn at Indian Queens. The Jamaica Inn will be familiar to Daphne du Maurier readers because of the book of the same name.

The rain got harder so we decided not to finish the trail. We'll have another try some other time, starting at a different point on the trail.

*See Goss Moor Multi-use Trail

MOVING ON:

Something, perhaps, more typical of Cornwall, a few photos of Newquay.

This is the small harbour at Newquay built initially to export china clay in 1875. Back then there was a railway line to the pier on the left of the photo below.

Next, the small beach at the harbour.

Of course there are many superior beaches in Newquay, at least ten. It's why so many visitors head for this area. It is often said that Newquay is England's surfing capital.

Three photos of different Newquay beaches.

MOVING ON AGAIN:

A while back I wrote a post The Green, Green Fields But With A Sting In The Tail. The sting has started as they are now building on the green fields.

Below are green fields next to the development. I wonder if these will also disappear in time.

It is, of course, necessary that people, especially young locals, can purchase affordable houses near to where they live. This isn't always possible in Cornwall because of inflated house prices due to outsiders purchasing them as second homes or for the holiday trade. Anyway, I won't ramble on!

I will mention though another development,  near to the one above, that will have 460 homes, 150 of which are described as 'affordable'. There will also be a hotel a pub and restaurant, shops and so on. I did a post on this a while back: Large New Development at Higher Trewhiddle, Cornwall Is On It's Way 

Thanks for visiting my blog, hope the sun will shine for you ~ Mike.