Old Cornish Tin Mines

Wednesday 30th April

Today we drove about 30 miles to the far west of Cornwall to the Levant Mine near St Just, not far from Lands End.  I have always had something of a fascination for old mines and as this area has many of them we took the opportunity to get a few photos of some of them. Unfortunately it was dull with light drizzle in the morning but things brightened up a bit for a while in the afternoon.  The weather didn't stop us, we watched a film about the mine, had a look around the beam engine and saw it in action then headed out into the elements to find some geocaches, one of which would be the furthest west we have done to date (others were not to be attempted on the cliff edges).

Levant Mine

The mine covers a very large area.

Along the coast a little, looking towards Pendeen Lighthouse.

We then returned to Levant Mine and walked along the south west coast path in the other direction until we came to some more mines, the first one was way below on the rocks.  Just before this we got chatting to a Cornishman who was out with his camera and extremely long lens (made my Nikon Coolpix look a bit inadequate to say the very least) photographing birds. You know how it is once you get chatting it just goes on and on ......but he was very knowledgeable about the local birds and wildlife and gave us a few ideas of things to look for, choughs, seals and dolphins for instance. He also bore an uncanny resemblance to Bert from the tv programme Doc Martin!  Anyway once we got away from 'Bert' we saw a kestrel, the first this week and according to our new friend 'Bert' there aren't as many around in this area because of the winter storms and kestrels struggled to find food and starved to death.

More mines.

Just after these mines we went to find a geocache in a small quarry place, covered in rocks, big, small and anything in between - the hint for the geocache being 'under a rock'!!!!!!!!!!!!  We decided to not bother with this after all, we could well have been there until it got dark.

And one more mine on the lane out of Levant driving towards St Just, I had to nip out of the car a bit quick and take this over a wall.

We definitely did the whole mine experience today, walked 5 miles and had a great day.

Circular walk from Mullion Cove to Predannack Wollas, Cornwall

Tuesday 29th April 2014

We luckily didn't take any notice of the somewhat dodgy weather forecast and had a lovely circular four and a half mile walk from Mullion Cove across farmland  to Predannack Wollas and back along the coastal footpath.  The morning was cloudy but dry and this afternoon turned out to be sunny warm and very pleasant.

The steps to the right of the picture are actually a cattle stile, there were quite a few of these today across the fields and they made crossing field boundaries very simple, I like these a lot!

This looks flat but it's stepped.

Fern fronds unfurling.

Predannack Cross - a medieval wayside cross - in the corner of a field in the middle of nowhere - I'm not sure if this is the sort of behaviour you would expect at such an old religious cross but I was trying to give an idea of the size it.

Now then, I have never heard of this flower until today - spring squill - according to an information board along our route it is common in this part of the country and it wasn't wrong, there were squill flowers everywhere and the cliffs in places had a blue haze about them there were so many.

This was taken at the site of one of the nine geocaches we found on this circuit today, it was a fantastic spot, overlooking Mullion Island which had masses of sea birds on it, many of them cormorants.  We were told by the owner of our holiday cottage that in the winter storms earlier in the year, waves were going straight over the top of the island, hard to imagine on a calm sunny day like today, especially as the island stands so high.

We walked back down the steep hill in to Mullion Cove - saved from sliding down on my backside only by my epic walking boots.  The damage to the harbour walls from the winter storms is very visible in this photo.

Mullion Cove

Fisherman at work in Mullion Cove (taken in stealth conditions!)

To finish this walk I had an Eton Mess ice cream and it was absolutely delicious! 

Poldhu Cove to Gunwalloe Church and Beyond! (Cornwall)

Monday 28th April 2014

It was another bright start here in Cornwall this morning so we made the most of it and got out early.  We parked at Poldhu Cove and walked along the coastal footpath to Church Cove and Gunwalloe church which is on the beach, well almost. 

Church Cove and Gunwalloe Church

The sea looked too inviting not to at least have a little paddle - it was cold but ok once my feet went numb!

Cold and clear.

We had a look round the church, St Winwaloe, which has been on the site since the 15th century then walked on along the coastal footpath, taking in two geocaches and failing to find one.

St Winwaloe Church, Church Cove - there were some fantastic old slate headstones in the churchyard, some dating back to 1832, still very easy to read (despite the very fancy writing) as the carving has lasted so well.  

Looking towards Gunwalloe village and Porthleven in the distance.

We saw and heard quite a few birds, most of which were small, brown and warbling - small birds at a distance I find difficult to identify as they all look the same! 

This one we have just looked up is a female stonechat - we think!

However, swallows I can identify and they were swooping about near a particularly smelly farm. We also nearly trod on a very feisty fat caterpillar on the footpath - I didn't know they could fight back when you try and move them to safer ground - well this one did - I've never seen anything like it!

Don't mess with one of these!

We walked back along the same route still in glorious sunshine - coats off no less - back for a trip to buy food.  Nearly 4 miles walked.

Poldhu Cove to Mullion Cove, Cornwall

Sunday 27th April 2014

Today is the start of our break in Cornwall, we arrived yesterday in heavy rain, but this morning looked to be a bit more promising - oh how wrong can you be!  We are staying close to Poldhu Cove (near Mullion on the south coast of Cornwall) overlooking the sea in a fantastic house, one of the poshest we have ever stayed in!  We didn't have to walk far to get to the south west coast path and we joined it at the Marconi Memorial - Marconi sent the first transatlantic transmission from Poldhu in 1901.

The clifftop memorial to Marconi.

We walked along the coast, taking in the dramatic seas and being blown around by strong winds off of the sea.

Poldhu Cove

All along the coast path there was an abundance of bluebells and wild garlic of all things!

We noticed birds swooping across the beach so we went to have a closer look to see what they were and found they were sand martins, nesting in the sandy cliffs.  They didn't seem particularly pleased to see us, but when we moved on down the beach they returned to their holes, and we managed to get some photos of them perching at the entrances.

Sand martins perched outside their nests.

We found a second geocache at Poldhu then started to walk on along the coastal path towards Gunwalloe but it started to rain and it didn't look like it was going to clear up any time soon so we turned back and went back to our holiday cottage for lunch. A quick three mile walk.

After lunch the weather brightened up so we decided to walk in the other direction along the south west coast path towards Mullion Cove.  The first place we came to was Polurrian Cove, a very pleasant place for a sit down in the sunshine.

Looking towards Mullion Cove.

Polurrian Cove looking towards Mullion Island.

After a stop we walked on - uphill - to the Mullion Cove Hotel, where apparently the Queen Mother, Enid  Blyton and Cary Grant have stayed!  The canon in the photo was found in Mullion Cove during the building of the harbour walls.

Mullion Cove Hotel.

It was then a steep walk down into (and back up from) Mullion Cove where there is plenty of evidence of the winter storms, both harbour walls needing quite a large amount of repair work.

Mullion Cove.

With  the damage to the harbour walls, the National Trust will need to do a fair bit of fundraising.

Taken from the harbour wall.

Fishing still goes on from Mullion Cove, mainly for shellfish - crabs, lobsters and crayfish.

Fuchsias are a popular hedging plant in the south west, and on the way back I noticed this one blooming already - and it's only April!

This afternoon's walk was three and a half miles, making a total today of six and a half, a very good day.

Southampton Common and the Fair

Thursday 24th April 2014

Today we had a swift walk around Southampton Common where the fair is in town.  The fair was all closed up when we walked through but there was plenty going on, cleaning etc. Passing the Ornamental Lake we watched some of the birds, a moorhen being chased by a particularly aggressive coot, a couple of swans and ducks.

Ornamental Lake.

A moorhen 'doing stealth' after being chased by a coot.

A coot, who thought we came bearing food - we didn't!

The fair is in town.

Not likely!

Linford Near Ringwood

Tuesday 22nd April 2014

We had a successful morning geocaching today, easily finding five caches on a three mile walk along the Linford Brook.  On previous walks to this spot we have seen pigs, cattle and ponies, but not today, we saw just two ponies and that was it!  However there were masses of small birds flitting around and singing loudly, we thought we might hear a cuckoo today but no, we are still waiting to hear the first one of the year.  There has been a fair bit of rain over the last few days so the ground that was beginning to dry out is once again wet and very muddy!

Linford Brook

Lots of lovely blossom about today

and plenty of (brown) water in the river!

Violets.

Gorse.

Here we go again more water and mud!

This water was running down the footpath and under the gate - nice.

Bursting buds.

It was back in wellies again for this walk and a very good job - as well as mud and puddles we had to get across this river, the Linford Brook at this point, achievable in the shallower water.