Pirates Ahoy!

Tuesday 28th April 2015

This has nothing to do with nature notes but it is an observation just not of nature!  ITV have been in Swanage for a few days filming for a new Peter Pan film to be shown we believe on Boxing Day and this was too good an opportunity to miss.  Pirates and the Jolly Roger moored off of the pier!

The Jolly Roger at a distance from the beach at Swanage.

We then walked on round to Peveril Point for a different view just as they changed the ship's position ready for the afternoon's filming.

We then walked to the end of the pier where the public were being allowed to watch the filming on the ship, it was quite close too.

We were amazed by the number of people involved.

Ahoy me hearties - pirates and Captain hook himself!

Another Captain Hook pic.

I am writing this on Wednesday although this happened on Tuesday.  This morning we were doing a bit of gardening to the sound of canon fire coming from the ship - weird, not something you hear everyday! 

Mousehole

Friday 24th April 2015

We took a trip to the picturesque fishing village of Mousehole (near Penzance) today for a look around.  The weather was cloudy with light drizzle on and off and I don't know if that had put other visitors off but it was very quiet everywhere.  Looking for geocaches took us up small lanes, somewhere we wouldn't perhaps have gone if we weren't caching, so it was well worth searching.  

The first cache we found was dedicated to the crew of the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster.

The harbour,

and from a different angle.

Another out of the way spot we visited to find a geocache, looking back at Mousehole,

and from further down the hill.

There were all sizes of alleyways, nooks and crannies.

We passed a plot of small allotments, this one contained lots of people and faces made up of all sorts of 'stuff', different!

At the old lifeboat station at Penlee there is a memorial garden dedicated to the crew of the Penlee Lifeboat who lost their lives on a rescue on December 19th 1981.  The new lifeboat station is in Newlyn.

For information on the disaster, see here

The rain had started to come down a bit harder so  we returned to the car to have a drive back through Penzance, somewhere else I hadn't been before.  

We certainly can't complain about the small amount of rain we've had today, we've been really really lucky with the weather all week and for April it's been amazing.  

The Lizard and Porthleven

Thursday 23rd April 2015

It was cloudy this morning, the first cloud I think we have seen all week, so I can't complain.  We went back to The Lizard to see if we could see the choughs that have been nesting there the last few years.  Unfortunately this year the choughs have changed their nesting site so the RSPB volunteers weren't on hand with their binoculars and advice to point them out.  We had a walk to roughly where the National Trust man was directing people but there was no sign of them, plus it was quite cold standing on the cliff watching in a very cold wind. 

The old lifeboat station.  (There is a posh new lifeboat station at Church Cove)

We may not have seen any choughs but we did see five grey seals in the bay, their little heads bobbing about quite comically in the sea.

Grey seals

Looking towards the most southerly point in England.

The Lizard lighthouse.

We had parked in a large car park, at the top of the field well away from anyone else, only to come back an hour or so later to have company, close company, how annoying!

What are people like with their herding instincts??!!

This afternoon we went to Porthleven, not somewhere we have been before but we would definitely return, it was lovely.

The beach at Porthleven.

Looking back at the harbour.

There was lots of activity going on in Porthleven today in preparation for their Music and Food Festival this weekend.  It certainly looks like it's going to be a big old 'do' and looks very well organised, it's a shame we'll be going home Saturday.

Finally we walked around the other side of the harbour and sat in the sunshine for a while watching the seagulls, a very pleasant place full of activity with plenty to look at.

A Circular Walk from The Lizard

Wednesday 22nd April 2015

We had a walk into Mullion first thing this morning and I took this photo of a road name that I'm sure you would get fed up with spelling if you lived there but how epic is the road name Bownder Laflouder?

No ordinary road names in Cornwall it would seem!

After a bit of lunch we drove the short distance to The Lizard village and parked in the centre for a circular walk through farmland and along a  section of the South West Coast Path that we haven't done yet, and as it turned out, we still haven't done it now!  We managed to find 7 geocaches successfully but the first one was a right pain.  The farmer had greased all over the five bar gate next to the cache, presumably to stop anyone attempting to climb over it - so in my attempt to locate the geocache whilst searching close to the gate I managed to get grease  on my fairly new coat, my camera case and even in my hair - to say I was unhappy was an understatement! 

Having had a clean up, we found the geocache hidden near the gate post strapped to the back of a lizard - very apt.

We walked across fairly boring fields and then came to a meeting of a few footpaths - what on earth this signpost is supposed to mean is anyone's guess!

Really?

We chose our route according to our GPS, as the signpost meant nothing!  We joined the South West Coast Path shortly after this and I have to say things got quite sinister for a while (for me anyway!). The easterly wind was very strong and fierce and things got quite hairy in the wind on a narrow footpath right on the edge of a cliff with a sheer drop down to the sea (funnily enough there are no photos of this bit of coast I was too busy trying to stay upright and alive!) This was not a good place to be on a windy day that's for sure.  Just when I had had enough of gale force winds, a sheer drop and heights we didn't really need to come across this sign to add to the mix! (we didn't see any).

The coast close to Cadgwith at the Devil's Frying Pan.

 We managed to keep going for a quarter of a mile then found a detour and turned off inland again back through the fields!

There were some special places on the route back cross country, this is where the footpath crossed a little stream - very picturesque and full of birdsong.

We crossed plenty of these stiles today too.

Eventually we ended up back at the coast at Church Cove, a very pretty small village on the coast.

Church Cove.

We saw basking sharks up on the cliffs here last year but with the sea being whipped up by the strong winds it wasn't going to happen again today.  We wandered back up to The Lizard village through Church Cove where there were all sorts of flowers in bloom from irises to fuchsias - it must have it's own climate.

We walked just over 7.5 miles today but the main story was the wind!

Poldhu Cove and Mullion Cove

Tuesday 21st April 2015

Today dawned bright and sunny yet again - too good to be true I can't help feeling!  We had a lazy walk round to Poldhu Cove again and sat at the beach cafe overlooking the beach drinking hot chocolate and eating cake, (a rocky road no less) perfect! The only down side was the raging gale that was blowing, still it was worth it for the view.

Delicious!

These last two photos were taken by my husband, I wish I had taken them but my camera zoom isn't as good as his so he gets good results, I would have had dots on the horizon!

We stood watching a herring gull fishing in the rock pools  - they are really clever, he was looking for stranded fish that were left in rock pools as the tide went out.  Then the lure of the sea got too strong and I had to have a little paddle, well ......

.....I have to say it was absolutely freezing, agony on the feet, but you have to do these things and I gave it a go!

The view climbing out of Poldhu Cove, overlooking the beach.  With the tide a long way out the beach looks massive. 

The locals didn't seem bothered by us walking on the footpath across their field, whereas on Saturday evening I think the wind must have got to them as they were very lively and less than predictable! (still no problem though)

The bluebells seem to have really started to come out over the last day or so.

After lunch we walked along the coastal path in the opposite direction to this morning and went to Mullion Cove via Polurrian Cove.  The wind seemed a bit warmer this afternoon and it was very pleasant out in the sunshine.

Mullion Cove from the harbour wall, look how clean and clear the sea is.

I love this photo looking towards Mullion Island, the sea was really sparkly and glittery this afternoon. Magic. 

One last photo of Mullion Cove, having climbed up high once more!

We had a short walk this morning,a longer one this afternoon, and walked just over 6 miles in total.

Kynanace Cove

Monday 20th April 2015

Walk two of the day was from Kynance Cove on a small circular route inland to start with as far as Kynance Farm then to Soapy Cove and back along the coast path. We had to laugh at this sign on the way down to Kynance Cove. 

I think if you sat 10 metres from the base of the cliff you would be in the sea!

Kynance Cove.

We found a few geocaches today, the clue to help us find this one made us laugh -  'under a rock' there were rocks everywhere - hardly the most helpful clue!!!  As luck would have it we virtually went straight to the right rock and found the cache no problem.

Last year we came across tadpoles in a puddle on a track, this year we did the same!  It was lucky there was still water in the puddles, it's been ages since we last had rain.

Violets are everywhere.

The cliffs of Vellan Head from Soapy Cove.

Looking towards The Lizard in the far distance.

The low tide route across the beach at Kynance Cove was just passable, these are our footprints on the sand, a couple of minutes later....

......they had gone and we carried on up the hill to the car!

We had two lovely walks today, found four geocaches and walked just over 6.5 epic miles!