Tuesday, 13th May Padstow
Robyn writes: Another very busy day! Today we decided to explore further south down the coast of Cornwall, so we set off for St Michael's mount at about 10 o'clock (slept in again - our body clocks are apparently ignoring daylight saving). It took about an hour to get down there and we quite easily found the big parking spot (a couple of pounds). You can't park at the mount itself as it is effectively an island, cut off for half of each day! There is a causeway to walk over at low tide or when the tide is in, they have small boats running continuously as ferries for 2 pounds. We were lucky enough to arrive when the tide was out - we consulted the times and discovered that we had until 1.15 if we wanted to be able to walk off.
The island is quite stunning from the mainland - a rocky pile with a huge building perched on top! It's even more impressive as you come closer, walk up and through the tiny village, then climb the many, many steps to the top.... We walked past a Victorian dairy (which looked more like a gorgeous lodge or guest accommodation - those Victorians didn't bother with understatement!) and up through the beautiful gardens to the battery at the front of the house. Have noticed a LOT of Devon and Cornwall manor houses have these; Napoleon certainly put a fright into everyone.
There was originally a Saxon settlement and probably church on the island, then a Norman church was built in 1135. It had a chequered history during the 100 Years War and belonged for a long time to the Priory of Syon. It was where Perkin Warbeck (who some historians think was Richard, the younger of the princes in the Tower) left his Scottish princess wife when he went off to challenge Henry Tudor (unsuccessfully; he ended up being beheaded). Queen Elizabeth 1 sold it to her chief advisor, Robert Cecil, and during the Civil War it was a Royalist stronghold (unsuccessfully - the Parliamentarians won that war).
In 1659 Colonel John St Aubyn purchased it, and it has remained in the family ever since - they still live there (we didn't get to see their apartments, obviously). However, we had a wonderful time wandering through the many old chambers and rooms and roof terraces of the building. The St Aubyns and the National Trust co-own the building, so we didn't have to pay any admission to the island.
By 1 o'clock we realised we were running out of time, so headed back for the beach, stopping only to buy a fridge magnet for my collection. We headed back across the causeway just in the nick of time; the water was coming up and starting to cover some parts of the path as we went. My shoes got a bit wet but luckily that was all. The path effectively closed behind us with some people standing and staring disconsolately at the water flowing in front of them. About a quarter of an hour later the last one to cross was a man with a toddler on his shoulders who ploughed across through shin deep water. Amazingly, at quarter to 2, a big group of people tried to come back from the island, made it to nearly half way then gave up in the fast flowing current. By then we were happily ensconsed at a pub overlooking the bay for lunch - our waiter said that watching people try it on is a favourite hobby there - best effort so far has been a bloke chest high in water! Might I add that the water is cold, quite fast flowing and the temperature today was about 14 degrees with a cold wind howling. Not the sort of day you'd want to have wet shoes and legs!
We had a delicious lunch at the Godolphin Hotel, then had a bit of a walk around the streets of Marazian (as they all are - lovely little Cornish village perched on the side of a hill).
Next we decided to head for something a bit different - the Levant Tin mine near St Just, just around the coast a bit. This is also National Trust so again we didn't have to pay. (I think our English Heritage and National Trust memberships have already paid for themselves!) There has been tin mining in Cornwall for thousands of years and this was one of the biggest and most famous. It was also the scene of a dreadful accident in 1919 when an access shaft collapsed and over 30 miners were killed. The mine struggled on for a few more years but tin mining in Cornwall had become too expensive and it closed in 1930. We had a wonderful tour of the site with a great guide who explained it all really well. The site is in ruins now but we got to go down the access tunnel to the point where the fatal shaft begins (spooky) and were shown their restored and working steam engine they used to run the cables and lift the ore out of the mine. We were there for ages, right until they closed at 5 (we have a habit of this!) It was fascinating seeing it all, I first read about the Levant many, many years ago in Susan Howatch's book "Penmarric", which is set right in that area of Cornwall, so it certainly made the book come alive for me! The scenery is as she described it - really wild, rough and more like the moors than other areas we've seen here. In that part of Cornwall, there are brick chimneys poking up all over the countryside which are the remains of mining.
From St Just, we headed up the coast to St Ives, just to have a look ( as we were heading for St Ives, we saw no polygamists, though!) It's another beautiful little harbour village but there was no parking anywhere we could see (an eternal trouble in Cornwall) so we headed for home. After another huge day, it took us about an hour to get back to Padstow for tea (Tesco's pizza and salad), wine and beer (I am sadly disappointed in my French chardy but Lex loved his Hobgoblin beer!) and now we are once more flopped in a heap! Tired but happy vegemites.
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