Places to visit in Cornwall

When I tell people I live in Cornwall I usually end up talking about places people have visited, so today I am sharing some of my favourite places to visit in Cornwall.

Most people think of the beaches...


Or the rugged coastline...


And, of course, there are so many iconic images...


But there are so many fabulous places...

1. Eden project


2. Lanhydrock House
3. St.Ives- beach harbour and town



4. Falmouth- harbour town and Pendennis Castle
5. St Michael's Mount
6. The Minack Theatre


Others worth seeing
1. Truro- town and cathedral




2. Coast and Country crafts at Perranworthal ( for anyone who sews or quilts/patchworks)
3. Boscastle- now restored after disasterous flash flooding a few years ago- a gorgeous fishing village and harbour
4. Explore mine engine houses by the Bissoe cycle trail
5. The hermitage at Roche- to describe this as a small building on top of an isolated rock doesn't do it justice

These are just my favourites, every year we discover more..Cornwall really is a place of contrasts, moor and woods, rivers and parks, coast and beaches, gardens and country houses, towns and theatres. That's why we love to live here...

Until next time
Gillian

Favourite Photos

These were the best photos I've taken in a long time. I think photos with stormy skies stand out as super dramatic and we had very stormy skies! We were lucky it didn't rain...

(None of these photos have been edited)


Until next time
Gillian

More family photos from the Clay Trail

These are are family photos from our first Wherigo geocache, Treskilling Trek...


My boys...

A photo of me I like...

Me and Sean, complete with my windswept hair...

I love photos with the scene and my family admiring the scene...

























For more on this walk go to our family blog Adventures in Geoland (http://adventuresingeoland.blogspot.com/ )


Until next time
Gillian

Family time

Sean horse riding!

We went on a lovely walk today and took some sweet photos of each other that I wanted to share.

Father and son

Mother and son!

We don't always remember to photograph each other, I particularly usually forget to ask someone to take a photo of me, so today I wanted to make a point of getting some new pics.

Until next time

Gillian

Life is in the details part 2

Another walk along the Camel Trail and more 'details'.


















1. A common lizard that ran across the path, narrowly avoiding being run over by a cyclist.

2. More small fungi growing on a rotting tree.












3. A lovely spot for a picnic reached by taking a small path down from the Trail.














4. Reflections of trees in the river.













Keep noticing the details...

Until next time
Gillian

Life is in the details

We noticed yesterday that, while we were out walking the Camel Trail,  many people were whizzing along on their bikes missing so much of the beauty around them. So today's blog is to remind us of the small details that make the world so special...

These are the 'details' we noticed yesterday:-

1. The song of a chaffinch that flew to a branch just above out heads and sang for us.

2.The complexity of a dandelion head- a weed but so intricate.

3. Beautiful wild flowers scattered along the banks.

        4. The shape of this tree- unusually well rounded

















4. Little beaches along the river- seen from the path above.

5. Stretches of river you can only find if you explore the smallest paths and go off the main track.












 6. Incredible fungi on posts and rotting trees.

7. Ruined buildings hidden by ivy, trees growing in their midst.

 8. Old station platforms standing as a reminder this was once a railway line.

9. Cornish hedges- branches pulled into woven shapes from where they grow to make good natural boundaries.







10. A heron standing in the river before taking flight.

11. An otter seen from the distance running along the river bank before disappearing from view.



I'm glad we walked and looked. These little details are the most memorable little extras that are there for all to see, but which are not noticed by many.

Until next time
Gillian

Geocaching

We have had great fun the last two days exploring the countryside whilst looking for hidden geocaches (see my post Thursday 24th March 2011 for an explanation of what Geocaching is). Yesterday we walked along the Camel Trail towards Boscarne Junction seeking a cache- it was only when we got there that we noticed it had a quite high difficulty rating, meaning it was going to be hard to find. Not surprisingly we didn't find it this time but we will be back- hopefully when there are less people about as we had to stop looking everytime someone came in sight (one of the rules is you must not be seen searching by other people). If that sounds a little crazy, well maybe it is, but as my mum would say "it's all good, clean fun", and we had a lovely walk, a good laugh and (my personal highlight) we even saw a heron on the river bank. 


Today we tried a different geocache hunt on Bodmin Beacon nature reserve. This time we found the hidden box. Success!!! Well actually Kieran (aka middle son) found it and was promptly appointed Chief Scout and invited to join all future expeditions (we could have done with him there yesterday!)

Successful searchers!

Again we had a fantastic evening walk and discovered a place close to home we didn't even know existed. As we walked home we saw the most beautiful sunset over the misty hills. I felt privileged to see it and I couldn't help but wonder how many times I have missed this kind of natural beauty because I have sat at home, busy in my own little world,  only vaguely aware that it was getting dark.

Sunset over Bodmin

We've had a lot of fun this weekend and have got a fair bit of exercise. We're already planning where we are going next...


Until next time 
Gillian

Beautiful Cornwall

Here are some photos I took yesterday on my way to work. I walk along a short part of the Camel Trail just on the outskirts of Bodmin. I felt I wanted to capture the immediate beauty of the Trail on a sunny Spring day. I feel very lucky to be able to live here and scenery like this will show you why.
The photos are all taken at Scarlette's Well. 
(See .bodmin.gov.uk/Tourist_Information/VIC/Places.html for more historical information about the town Well Trail.)

Towards Bodmin

The old iron bridge at Scarlette's Well

Towards Wadebridge

We've had some beautiful sunny and warm spring days this week in Cornwall. Hopefully this is the start of a glorious summer...
Until next time
Gillian