walk

Cornwall Revisited (2)

~ 50themusical ~ Leave a comment

Newlyn and Mousehole

On Thursday morning, the sun was out and it was warm, so we spent the morning relaxing in the garden at the cottage. After lunch, we decided to drive to Newlyn and walk along the coastal path to Mousehole. The walk is around a mile and a half and is a shared footpath and cycle path. There are coastal views along most of it, and at various points along the way, St Michaels Mount can be seen from slightly different angles. There is also a memorial to the Penlee Lifeboat disaster, where the crew lost their lives whilst attempting a rescue in an horrendous storm. The garden is set on top of the cliff above the old lifeboat station.

The weather was just right for walking, warm with a gentle breeze, but not blazing sunshine.

Mousehole is a stunning picturesque village, with quaint cottages sitting around the harbour. It was late in the afternoon and quite busy. It was great to see children, having finished school for the day, playing on the beach and in the sea. After strolling through the village, and enjoying the scenery, we called for a coffee, before heading back on the path to Newlyn.

We were unable to find a restaurant which was open and had room for us to eat, so called for takeaway from Lewis Fish and Chips. We sat on the benches by the war memorial eating them out of the box. They were excellent and I would recommend them if you were calling at Newlyn at any point.

The Minack Theatre

Having featured recently on a documentary, the Minack open air theatre had been added to my list of things to do. We had tickets booked for Thursday evening, for a production of The 39 Steps. The drive to the theatre is an interesting one, on some very narrow and winding roads. Once we arrived, the staff were amazing, guiding us to a parking space and then into the seating area.

The view from the top of the theatre is breath taking, looking down on the theatre itself and in the distance, out to sea, where several fishing boats were bobbling around.

As the production began, the sun started to set. The play was amusing, and all the characters were played well by the small cast. As it became darker, the moon cast an eerie glow on the boats out at sea, creating a unique atmosphere as the play continued. It was a chilly evening, but we were well prepared with coats, hats and blankets. At the end of the production, we all had slightly numb bottoms and achy backs, but the experience was well worth it.

Marazion And St Michael’s Mount

On Monday, we had pre-booked tickets to visit the castle at St Michael’s Mount. We visited last year but could only get tickets to the garden and were unable to visit the castle. We were very lucky again with the weather. We drove to Marazion, a picturesque village, with a soft flat beach and crystal-clear waters.  We walked to the castle along the causeway, which is only visible during low tide. The causeway is cobbled and flanked on both sides with rock pools.

The grounds of the castle are beautiful, with well kept lawns and beds. The route to the castle is very steep, up lots of steps cut from the rocks. The view from the walls of the castle is astonishing, looking out over the bay and the coastline of Cornwall.

The castle is worth visiting, having developed over centuries from being a monastery in the 1100’s to now being owned jointly by The National Trust and the St Aubyn family. There is an online tour which gives information for each room as you walk around the castle. There are also guides on hand if you have any questions. There are the usual art works and artefacts, but it is the structure of the castle and the location that is most impressive.

After visiting the castle, we sat on the lawns in the sunshine, eating lunch, before heading back to the mainland. The causeway was now closed, due to the tide coming in, so we were taxied back by one of the little motorboats, which was only a short journey, but worth the experience.  We had a little wander around the village and then sat looking out across the bay, watching the kayakers, paddle boarders, swimmers and the unusual sight of a man riding a shire horse along the beach.

One Year On

~ 50themusical ~ 3 Comments

Well it’s now a year since I wrote my first blog. I’m happy to say that I’ve really enjoyed it for the most part. There have been some weeks when I’ve struggled to know what to write, but that was meant to be part of the challenge, so that each week I would do something interesting enough to write about. So I hope I haven’t bored you too much.

I’ve decided to carry on writing my blog again this year, but just once a month, except of course if I go off on any interesting travels and I will keep you up to date with those.

A year in review

In the year that I was 50, did I achieve all the things that I wanted to do? Probably not, but the things that I didn’t achieve are still achievable this year and it was actually a really great year.

There were lots of celebrations, including my 50th birthday, my eldest daughter’s graduation, my youngest daughter’s 18th birthday and the birth of my niece’s first baby.

I walked lots of miles, I di lots of park runs, but didn’t manage my first 10k as I had intended, due to being unwell. Maybe I gave in a bit too easily after that and have not really kept up with my fitness,

I lost over 2 stone…..and then put most of it back on again.

I saw lots of shows at the theatre,. Some that I have seen many times before that I really love and some that I have not seen before, but I really enjoyed all of them.

I got to go on some amazing holidays in America, Spain and also some beautiful parts of England too.

I also set up my own business from my hobby, which is still a work in progress, but who knows how that will go

So all in all I think it’s been a pretty good year.

A year just begun

So what about this year. Well I haven’t made any resolutions, but as usual I plan to get fitter and lose weight as I always do. Other than that I just want to keep my life interesting and worthwhile. I want to work more on my business, but still keeping it small at the minute as I still have a full time job.

I have some travel plans already. Certainly different to last year, but hopefully just as interesting.

I will also set myself some challenges, probably another long distance walk and I will keep up with the park runs and Tingley run fit

An unusual start

So just to get you up to date, as I have missed my blag for a week or so. We had a great New Year’s Eve with my brother and his family coming round for a meal. We played games and quizzes and laughed till our ribs hurt.

Unfortunately New Year did not begin so well with the news of the death of my mum’s cousin. She was 98 years old and had had a great life. When we were children we would spend a lot of time with her and her husband and they took us to lots of different places. So a sad day, but a life well lived and she will be remembered fondly.

On 2nd January my dad was taken into hospital and over the following days other people in the family were struck down with a sickness bug, including me. I also contracted a severe case of conjunctivitis, which is slowly clearing up now but has not been much fun. I have to say a big thank you to my husband, my brother and his wife for doing all the running around once I was ill, as I’m not sure how my mum and dad and my girls would have managed without them.

So hopefully we’ve put the sickness behind us and can crack on with the New Year.

I guess considering the last week it has to get better!?