21/8/26 Lands End , St Just & Cornwall Point , Marazion

We went to the southern most point yesterday , so it seemed logically to go to the western point today - Lands End . We pulled up in the carpark and paid for our parking before heading in for a look . It seemed to be geared up for kids & families , with 4 different attractions to keep the kids happy & entertained , there was also a pub .  There were a couple of red phone booths contrasting the whitewashed buildings , that have souvenir shops , cafes etc.

Then there was the all important spot where you queue up to have your photo taken with the sign telling you how far you are away from various cities in the world - you do get your family name on the sign as well !! We declined , it wasn't warm enough to hang around that long 😉

There's a light house out on a rocky stretch off the coast as well .

Leaving Lands End a little underwhelmed , we headed over to the next small village of St Just - seemed appropriate to us anyway 😁 We came upon this driveway leading down to a large manor house - Forthledden House , the Warner Family so the sign said .

Continuing down the road to Cornwall Point , we had stone walls either side of the road , there were a couple of houses down below and a tower or something on top of the rocky outcrop .

We parked again , another National Trust area , so free parking for us , and went for a walk down to the houses - being used for holiday accomodation again .

We walked down past the houses , as the track continued on . We could have gone upwards to the top of the rocky outcrop , but decided to go here first .The views back across the bay were excellent , with a few more cottages perched on the side of the hill.

We followed the track around the headland and had great views back along the coast towards Land End .

The track started going upwards , and we paused to let a younger couple come down , and chatted to them for a minute or two . They were from Manchester, and down till tomorrow . They told us the track led up to the top of the hill , so we continued on .

 

The path and rockwall stopped and steps appeared , so did a small building perched on the cliffside . It was a coast watch building , manned by volunteers and you can wander in and have a chat with the volunteer , so we did . Said Hello to this gentleman in uniform and had an Aussie accent straight back at me , G,day . He was from here as a boy , but moved to Melbourne with family many moons ago , now lives in Penzance , and has done for the last 26 years , and loves it ! After chatting for about 15mins , we headed off up the steps? , rocky slope to the top , near the tower .

The views from up here were extensive and well worth the walk up . Down in the bay is a boat ramp and boat sheds . There are a couple of commercial fishermen that fish out of kayaks - filling their kayaks as full as they can , even using the buoyancy tanks to store their catch in .

In the valley on the other side are the ruins of many buildings - Boswedden Mine - mining for copper & tin in the 1900's 

The views are stunning with stone fences dividing up the hill into smaller paddocks . We also noticed there's a golf course on top of the hill just above the houses just right of centre .

We made our way back down then up to the car and headed toward Penzance for a look . Well Penzance was another big place with little parking , so we continued driving the narrow streets and found an island out in the bay - St Michaels Mount , complete with castle on top , so we set out to get there for a look .

  Finding our way round the bay was easy , but again parking was a fair walk away from anywhere we wanted to look at , so this next shot is from the cemetery . Penzance is the town in the background , and access to the castle is via a ferry - or there is a causeway at low tide apparently ,if you don't mind wet feet.

We settled for our view and headed back toward our apartment in St Austell , but with a slight deviation to Charlestown , also on the coast very close to St Austell . It's a port where they used to export clay , you can see a shute near the boat on the left . Apparently it was as dusty as hell with clay dust flying everywhere whilst they were loading up . The water in the bay didn't look very palatable - a very off browny green colour ( that was what I was seeing anyway). We walked around the bay , and there was a bridge at the ocean end to cross over , which was handy !!

A hotel , restaurant & shops beside the harbour.

Break walls protect the harbour from the prevailing weather conditions , which can be far from what we were having today .To the left of the small inflatable is a lock , so that the boats in the harbour stay afloat at low tide ???? That's where the bridge across was , across the top of the lock .

That was our day , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1xGyzEDCK1lDJ8XQKSO2440EqVb9kB_Y&usp=sharing

 

20/8/26 The Lizard

 

  Today we head to The Lizard - the southern most point of England .This part of England is quite spectacular , with rugged coastal cliffs and great views , rolling countryside and a reasonable climate due to the surrounding ocean keeping the climate a bit more stable - if that's possible 🤔 We followed some roads and took a couple of diversions to reach Housel Bay and the resort , which we parked in for a few minutes . Even down here beside the water , it's dry and parched , not it's normal green .

We drove back into Lizard - that's the town - and down Lighthouse Rd to a parking area . It is under the control of the the National Trust , so we got free parking and entry with our National Trust membership . There's walking trails here ( there's walking trails everywhere in UK ) that lead down to the cafe and also along the cliff tops , going in both directions .

It's certainly a rugged coastline here and we did spot some Grey Seals in the water , they were just there with their heads sticking out of the water - probably looking up at all the tourists .

The road down to the cafe also went further down to a lifeboat station , it certainly was a steep track !

We came back up and thought we'd have a look at the lighthouse , but no , it's now holiday rentals only .

There's plenty of narrow little lanes around this part of England , thankfully we didn't meet anyone on this one .

Along the coast a little further is the Devils Frying Pan 

And for a size comparison , a small boat cruised in and back out again .

There were great views of the coast as we drove along , there weren't too many places where you could stop & have a decent look though .

Continuing on , we headed to Falmouth and Pendennis Point . There's a Coast watch building , then a round turret which is part of Pendennis Castle .

   Back down in Falmouth to Castle Beach - we didn't see much beach , appeared to be a lot of rock shelf .

Falmouth Hotel is on the right , with further accomodation all along Cliff Road . 

 Another interesting habit in the UK , if you need to park , it doesn't seem to matter which direction you're driving , you just park , so you end up with parked cars facing all directions !

That was our day in Cornwall , more to see yet . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=19VTMVb-FdPtZ_zXxmD0FBKu3qjCpFCU&usp=sharing

19/8/26 Croyde , Woolacombe & Barnstaple

   After a nice breakfast at the mill , we headed off again toward Croyde , a small town on the coast that's popular with surfers and people wanting a beach break when the sun comes out . This is the view from Croyde Rd toward Lunde Island .

This is Saunton Beach , complete with beach huts and a reasonable crowd - most in the water .

The winding narrow road took us down to Croyde Beach , Croyde is a holiday destination and seems to cater mainly to campers with about 8 campgrounds . There are also cabins and houses/ apartments for rent as well . Normally a quiet little village otherwise .

Parking seemed non existent where we were , apart from caravan / camping areas , so we continued on to Woolacombe . This is Woolacombe from the top of the hill on our way in .

Again , the parking was well away from where we wanted to look , so we continued on to the next little village . This is Woolacombe Beach .

 Some of the beach houses in Woolacombe .

This is The Castle , at Woolacombe , you can stay here .

Next village is Morthoe , the narrow streets continue and you have to be prepared to give way at short notice .

This is a section of the road back to Woolacombe .

Due to the popularity and lack of parking of the beach areas , we headed back to Barnstaple for some lunch . Finding some parking beside the river , we found a cafe and grabbed a table . Parking in the UK is mainly paid parking - doesn't matter if it's a paddock or bitumen , its user pays !! We ordered a couple of toasted sandwiches  - bacon, brie & cranberries . It also came with some salad , and was delicious .

Barnstaple is beside the River Taw , and Long Bridge in the next photo is the same bridge that was first built across the river - it was 10ft wide , but has been widened a few times since being built in the 1300's - yes that was 1300's , been there a long time .

   And with lunch done , we drove out over Long bridge and headed to St Austell to our accomodation for the next 4 nights . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1euGKEoGFL95NF_a7pokKsmbVBf0cTNw&usp=sharing

18/8/26 Mere & Chard

 

     Back from Oslo , we stayed with Justin & Isla for a week before we hired a car and disappeared again . This time we headed toward Cornwall , it was driving on motorways , so 2 lanes either way and traffic was busy but not bad . Then we slowed to a crawl , the dual lanes disappeared and became one each way . We were about 3klms from Stone Henge , we thought we'd have a look , but then changed our mind when we saw all the traffic and the amount of people walking around . Luckily for us we were going slow enough to get some photo's as we passed slowly by .

After the traffic started moving again we turned off the motorway and went to the little town of Mere for a toilet break and some lunch . Parking in the carpark , we wandered up the road to the shops . Skinny roads, narrow footpaths , and old houses & shopfronts - this was what we wanted to look at - some typical old english towns .

The road led round to a square with a town clock , a couple of hotels , supermarket and a couple of specialty shops . Nice flower beds and a tidy place as well , some tudor style buildings as well .

We grabbed some sandwiches and sat in the alcove below the clock to eat them . We checked out the church , then found another one on our way back to the car .

Heading back down the road , we decided that we wouldn't go too much further and found somewhere to stay . We found an old flour mill that's now used as a wedding / function centre , and also uses the rooms for just our purpose . The old flour mill was a large building that they added rooms to , they kept the old rafters as a point of interest - also a good hazard - a good head banger if you weren't watching . The owner  showed us our room , via several sets of stairs & doorways , being very vigilant every time we had to duck. Then he showed us our room , suggesting I sleep on one side of the bed to avoid the beam running through the room , when using the ensuite . We tried sleeping on the other side of the bed once many , many years ago - it didn't work then and we aren't going back for a 2nd attempt !! Here's the room with the beam running through it .

The grounds surrounding the old mill were great , a stream was running down the edge , there were paths running around the pond , a small fountain was bubbling away at one end in a mixture after trees & lawns.

 

There were some nice roses around the gardens as well .

Heading into Chard for dinner , we stopped at one hotel and went in , they didn't do meals . Another hotel in the main street , same deal no meals - it was Tuesday and just after 7pm . Tried another up the street , same response , up to another one , yes sorry no meals till Wednesday to Saturday . Oh well across the road and down to the chinese takeaway - they weren't greatly interested in, but took our money and gave us what we ordered . Back to the mill and our dinner . This is the main street of Chard.

 Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1wxfS4bAjiJJTrLO1iCwP5F5K8Fdx_0Y&usp=sharing

9/8/26 Fram Museum

 

     Today we head to the Fram Museum . It involves , trams & ferries , and some walking . The Fram was the ice breaker ship use by Roald Amundsen during his Arctic & Antarctic expeditions . It was very busy with people everywhere . It was a good day for museums today , the wind was atrocious , making anything outside very cold & uncomfortable . 

There were some good exhibits and lots of information .

   After all we've done this week , it was hard to get motivated and involved . The extra people didn't help either , but we persevered and went across into another building to check out the old plane they used to explore with - scary stuff . These guys were certainly pioneers and adventurers , putting themselves out there and exploring these places . There's also a few other museums nearby , a maritime museum , the Kon tiki Museum , Viking Ship Museum & Norwegian Museum of Cultural History . We were all done with museums and headed back to the apartment .