Porthcothan

Yesterday, Friday, we piled into Brian's car to drive to North Cornwall. The destination was Old McDonald's Farm where the Cooper family was glamping on holiday. Glamping is glamorous camping, with all mod cons, but given the weather (wet, blustery, and cool) we might have amended that to Somping (soggy camping). Nonetheless, they were all having a good time and Lucie and Hollie were delighted to see us.

After a bit of banter and lunch, the weather seemed to improve a little in early afternoon and we decided to head for the beach at nearby Porthcothan. Like most Cornish beaches, it was a replica of the NSW coast with lots of sand tucked between rocky headlands, and lifeguards patrolling the goings on between red and yellow flags. Well, things weren't quite the same. Both the air and water temperatures were advertised at about 16-17C, rather below Aussie data. The sky was leaden; and the waves incredibly choppy because of the narrow entrance between the headlands and the strong winds coming in-shore.

The pictures below show basically me in the company of the kids as I was only adult present willing to chance the waves and chilly water. I took Hollie out a little way and I lifted her up as the often strong waves came in, much to her delight.

Lucie, meanwhile, donned her wetsuit (!) and practiced standing on her child-sized surf-board, watched by grandma Daphne.

A little later, I waded much further out with Lucie, who hovered close by as the strong waves pounded us both. The picture attached looks rather dramatic, but we were both safe where we were and Lucie, I was assured, could swim well. You can just make out her head to my right!

The surfing was rounded off with a round of beach cricket and an ice-cream, to the applause of all present, before heading back to the glamp-ground and a meal at a nearby pub.

A short postscript. Our outward trip was delayed by a vehicle fire on the highway. This was the second time in two days that we had seen burning or burnt-out vehicles, so beware. British cars and vans are prone to spontaneous combustion.

AS

Shaugh Prior, Burrator and Sheepstor

This is the fourth post of my current flurry! Included in the trip to Lee Moor and Meavy was a visit to the three places named here, also on the edge of Dartmoor. Shaugh Prior is a lovely little village where my niece, Joanna, works as an administrator at the village school and where both Lucie and Holly attend classes. I they're privileged to be in such a nice spot.

Close by we saw a beautiful little stream cascading off the moor in thickly wooded country, and spent a while walking alongside it.

Then came, nearby, our first view of Burrator, the dam holding back Plymouth's water supply, which you can see in the photo below. It has been in operation for over a century in a really attractive location. The dam wall can be seen in the middle left of the photo.

Nearby there is Sheepstor, nestled in a soft green valley. This photo shows the tiny village and the nearby lake ponded behind Burrator.

The lake itself appear in the next photo, which contrasts the wooded shores and the open moors above.

Finally, I show some of the many wild horses that room the moors and their surrounds, much as the New Forest ponies did in an earlier post.

So, all in all, it was a lovely day in pleasant weather.

AS

China Clay

The trip to Meavy just reported also took in the China Clay industry at Lee Moor on the outskirts of Dartmoor. I attach three photos of the site. The first shows a large mound of tailings; the second the plant that refines the clay, which is used in ceramics and pottery; and the third something that looks like a large settling pond.

AS

Meavy

One of the places we visited yesterday was Meavy on the edge of Dartmoor. It's a tiny, but attractive, village and we stopped for a pint at the Royal Oak. Emily, Greg and Dot might remember this is where we dined several years ago around Christmas-time. The pub yesterday was much quieter and some chickens wandered in off the street! It is the quintessential English pub as the pictures show.

I also attach photos of the village green and the entrance to the church, fronted by a curious tree.

AS

Sergeant Pepper

I had a remarkable meeting today, Friday 11 August, with my Aunt Hazel who is just short of her 90th birthday. It concerned, among other things, her service in the WAAF in the second world war and she bought out many treasured documents and photos. Among the most astonishing of these was a map of a route she flew in a Lancaster bomber shortly after the end of the war on, I think, 19 July 1945. I was a month old at the time.

She has a map of the route taken signed by the pilot, and the places she flew over included Antwerp, Aachen, Cologne, Arnhem, and Amsterdam. She saw first hand the destruction in many of these places and I attach one of the photograph she treasures showing the centre of Cologne. The cathedral is visible but almost nothing else. You are looking at a genuine photograph of the time taken by bomber command.

Aunt Hazel pointed out also that she's the original Sergeant Pepper of the Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album released by The Beatles on 1 June 1967 - their eighth album! Her maiden name was Pepper, and during the war she was a sergeant. She's very proud of that fact.

AS

Taking a Dip

I occasionally go for a swim when conditions permit, and yesterday was another opportunity, the third this summer. The first was near Emily and Greg's apartment in Santa Clara, which as a pool dedicated to residents and their guests. Both the outside and water temperatures there were warm - c. 30C. After a lovely splash at Madge Lake near Duck Mountain is Saskatchewan, where the outside temperature was a nice 30C, I tried the Plymouth Lido. Now, the weather was only 20C even though the sun was doing its best. But the water was about the same temperature as Madge Lake ... cold. Whereas the lake was freshwater, the Lido had salt water and was much more buoyant!

Brian did not come in, but acted as photographer for this important event. You have to say that I am discriminating in the spots I choose. Apart from the Armidale pool, where I accompany grand-son Max, the last three swimming events were at Broulee on the NSW South Coast, the Mediterranean and the Adriatic! I don't look like a cardiac patient do I?

AS

Hoe Up

Most people have heard of the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel on London's Southbank just downstream from the Palace of Westminster. Well, Plymouth now has a temporary equivalent - though a bit smaller - and we took a trip on it yesterday. The weather was perfect - a second day of summer in a row. An the views were good as the pictures show.

This is the wheel in question located on Plymouth Hoe, parts of which are also shown on the two pictures below. The first of these shows the famous Eddystone lighthouse (the first one, incidentally). The current lighthouse is way out to sea. The Tamar river estuary enters at the right and the coast in the backgroundis is in Cornwall. The second is a back view of Drake on his plynth. This is where he reputedly played bowls before heading off to defeat the Spanish Armada.

The next two photos show the city centre, which was reconstructed in modernist fashion after being destroyed in the second world war, and a view eastwards towards Dartmoor in the distance. Brian's house, where I am staying, lies to the right the photo near the edge of the moor.

If the photos are a little washed out it is because the windows our gondola car were tinted against the sun. The first photo reveals the true light settings.

AS

Overbeck

A couple of years ago I reported on Dartmoor's Becky falls, named after our daughter Rebecca. And, yesterday, I visited Overbeck - a national trust property near the beautiful village or Salcombe in Devon. So Beck is associated with two venues in this country! In fact, it was the first time in 43 years that I had been to the Salcombe area!!

We got to Overbeck via a long series of winding country lanes in brilliant sunshine for once. The road took us past inviting little coves close to the entrance to the harbour at Salcombe

The house itself was not in the league of stately homes, but that of an upper middle class inventor, Otto Overbeck, who bought in 1928. Originally called Sharpitor, the house was a convalescent home in the first world war. Overbeck's family came from Holland several generations back.

The house was built high up on Sharp Tor - hence the first name - and had lovely views back to Salcombe to the north and east along the coast of south Devon. The inside of the house had the usual collections of memorabilia - art works, stuffed birds and animals, domestic furniture, childrens' toys, and seafaring items. By far the most interesting items was the Polyphon, a grandiose music box playing large circular disks with raised surfaces like this shown here. The music we heard was Weber's Invitation to the Dance.

The really beautiful think about Overbeek was its gardens, some of which are shown in the attached pictures. They were a riot of colour and also included some strange items for Britain and even perhaps south Devon. Would you believe there was a banana garden? The plants weren't exactly bearing bananas, but they were certainly banana plants. There were also lots of palm trees, and groves of bamboo - enough perhaps for a giant Panda or two. There were masses of flowers, like those shown in the Statue Garden - top of the next three photos

As we navigated the gardens we kept a look out for wildlife - there was a central board where visitors could tick the items they'd seen during the day. Well, we saw quite a few bits of wildlife and I rather liked the two items following who consented to pose for me. The rabbit, I imagine, was used to visitors to the Statue Garden and was very tame. The traditional English robin lingered a long time in the tree looking at us.



All told, it was a lovely day out. Dot would have loved were she here!

AS

Clew Bay

The final destination on this trip was to Clew Bay where we looked at coastal management. Across the bay we saw Achill Island, the subject of a post several years ago. In front of us was a broad expanse of sand and the kinds of flags we use in Australia to distinguish safe areas to bathe. The sun was even shining in a milky fashion, at odds with the rest of the week when cloud and rain dotted the landscape. In fact, after two weeks since arriving from Winnipeg I'm still waiting for summer to appear - real summer with sunshine and warm 25+ C days.

Anyway the water look decidedly unexciting and uninviting, There was no swell and the water was grayish. My colleagues who dipped their toes in the water (including at least two land-locked Czechs for whom the ocean might have been a novelty) told me the water was a also freezing, though that did not prevent a few hardy souls from immersing themselves fully. So Louisberg might not be on your list of "must does".  By the way the colleague in the front is Indonesian, so the weather probably didn't impress him!

After leaving Louisberg, we motored east towards Westport past the impressive pile of Croagh Patrick. Croagh is pronounced 'crow' and the term means St Patrick's Stack ... or more colloquially the Reek. The mountain rises 764m (or 2500 feet) out of Clew Bay and is the site of an annual pilgrimage during the last weekend in July. So I was one week late to see something like 20,000 people perched on top. The climb is supposed to be fairly easy, so I'll try it the next time I'm that way. I've borrowed the attached photos from various spots since my camera wasn't working.

Sheep Dogs

On Friday we took to the bus again for a trip through the wilds of Connemara. Please go there, it's lovely. The journey took us north along the banks of Lough Corrib, Ireland's biggest lake to the improbably named village of Cong which has possibly Ireland's best hotel - formerly owned by the Guinness family (where have I heard that name before?). Anyway, it's now a resort. From there we headed into (James?) Joyce country. Close to the banks of the Joyce river we found an innovative farmer - also named Joyce - who had a line in breeding sheep-dogs and selling half-lambs to customers - I don't know whether it was the front or back half! The meat was mail order and run on Amazon.com lines. Customers who want half a lamb ordered in on the web and the meat was dispatched immediately in a large box.

I held one of the collie - border cross dogs which was only a few weeks old and watched the farmer give a great demonstration of dog handling - rounding up his sheep on a steep hillside - and training them to act on his various commands. It was a much more interesting display than watching the dogs on Dumaresq creek back home. He on-sells his trained dogs to farmers who want them.

AS