Tag: Mevagissey

The day dawned on our 10th Wedding Anniversary and having exchanged cards and had breakfast we drove to Fowey.

We held our wedding reception onboard a boat on the Thames between Runneymede to Windsor and have celebrated with a boat trip every year since. Mind you, trying to find a scheduled public boat trip in October can be a challenge so I was disappointed that the daily Mevagissey to Fowey service only runs till the beginning of October. Reading more about Fowey, I realised it also ran river ferries, similar to the ones we had ridden on in Dartmouth a couple of years ago. The plan all came together when I saw The Hall Walk, billed as a spectacular circular coastal walk through woodland and creek, with striking views of Fowey Harbour linked with two ferry rides!

We parked in Fowey and faffed a bit with clothing as it had started to drizzle enough to realise going off without a coat would be foolhardy and it was also a bit chilly. This is the car ferry which crosses between Fowey and Bodinnick …

… and this the crossing and the blue and cream house on the opposite shore is Ferryside, another former home of Daphne du Maurier.

The walk was well marked as we climbed up on the other side then through a gate onto a path which ran round the creek of the Pont Pill, which is Cornish for the creek of seal cove.

It joins the River Fowey at Penleath Point where there is a memorial to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and great views of Fowey harbour.

So much for a waterproof and fleece as it was chilly … the sun soon came out and before long both were tied inelegantly round my waist for the rest of the walk!

We continued through the woods, particularly noticing the buzzing of insects in the air as they feasted on pollen from the English ivy which was flowering all around, then down to the hamlet of Pont.

The river quay remains, and would once have been busy with barges sailing up from Fowey to unload their cargo and to take on board produce from the farms.

We crossed the bridge and the path rose on the other side and continued along the creek until we reached Polruan where we followed the maze of narrow pathways down to the harbour. Shipbuilding and repair has always been an important trade here, and remains so today and we had a look round as we waited for the little ferry to return …

… which then took us over the river to the Town Quay in Fowey.

Having worked up a bit of an appetite, we stopped at the Lifebuoy Cafe for sandwiches, and I was delighted to find crab on the menu, then we wandered round the shops before completing the loop and returning to the car.

On the way back, we stopped at Charlestown in St Austell as we’d seen it signposted and found out it has a late Georgian working port. It was built around 1800 by Charles Rasleigh to export copper and import coal but was soon being used for the export of China Clay. A complete village grew up round it with sheds and warehouses for pilchard curing, shipbuilding, brick making and lime burning, elegant Georgian houses and small fisherman’s cottages. Much of its character has been retained and so it’s a popular filming location having featured in Poldark and Hornblower among others.

Having said all that, it just seemed to be a collection of buildings each selling something or other to eat with a few boats for decoration, and we only lingered briefly, somewhat disappointed.

Once back, one task remained, to purchase a souvenir of our trip. We had seen ceramic fish adorning the wall of the Sharksfin the other evening, and had glimpsed the same fish in a shop in town when we were walking one evening, so went fishing! Sarah Hunkin is a local lady who makes all her own ceramics in her pottery studio in town and we went and bought a small shoal that we will release to swim across the wall in our kitchen!

In the evening we cracked open a bottle of fizz to celebrate …

… then went for dinner at Salamander, a small restaurant owned by Mark and Hazel. All the food was delicious and it was a perfect place to have chosen. We had hot crab pot and breaded Cornish Camembert with spicy banana ketchup first, then pan fried hake with lemon and dill sauce and pumpkin & apple falafel with saffron and herb risotto and finally a cappuccino creme brûlée … and two spoons!

We saw signs earlier in the week that Meva Shanty Fest was on this weekend and while official events didn’t begin until tomorrow, there was singing in the pubs on our way home and we stopped at The Fountain and The Wheelhouse to listen, a perfect end to our Cornish celebration.

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Bit of a change in the weather today as we awoke to fog, and sitting drinking tea we noticed the fog horn from the lighthouse sounding every minute. Once we were up and out, we took photos round the harbour, amazed at how quickly the fog lifted once the sun came though.

We had been keeping an eye on any boat trips being offered, hoping we might be able to take one on our wedding anniversary tomorrow, and saw signs for 45 minute cruises from Seas the Day.

I spoke to the lady selling tickets and she said while the boat was running today, it wouldn’t be tomorrow, so I decided to seize the day and book for the next trip, especially as she pointed out the seats came with cushions and blankets and there was a lovely seat for two at the back of the boat!

We had a lovely time, getting a different perspective from the water and exploring a short way each side of Mevagissey.

We were even lucky enough to see dolphins and Chris got the best photo …

On the way back I was sure I spotted a seal in the water and the captain said it was quite possible as they live along this stretch of coast … and before we knew it, we were back in Mevagissey.

It was turning into an action packed day as we spent the afternoon at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, just up the road. The estate has been owned by the Tremayne family for over 400 years, but the death toll brought by WWI led the heir at that time to forsake it and the gardens became lost before being restored in the 1990’s. I can remember visiting maybe 20 years ago, thinking it needed more time for the garden to establish after all the restoration that had been done. Well it’s certainly established now! Walking round the jungle garden, you would be forgiven for thinking you were somewhere entirely more exotic, with huge gunnera and tree ferns and lots of other lush planting showing just the right amount of exuberance without looking unkempt.

There are some modern garden sculptures in the undergrowth like Giant’s Head and Mud Maid …

… and also formal gardens, a large kitchen garden and extensive areas of woodland for the energetic – all in all a great visit.

We ended our lovely day with dinner at Sharksfin, an excellent meal with starters of mackerel and mushroom arancini and mains of sea bass with mussels in a creamy harissa sauce and spicy roasted cauliflower tacos with Cajun fries while enjoying a view of the harbour as the sun set.

As we wandered round the harbour to aid digestion, I mused that we’d had such a lovely day, I hoped we hadn’t peaked a day early, but Chris said we were bound to have just as good a day tomorrow!

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Another sunny day in and another coastal walk! First we walked down to the harbour so get a few groceries and pasties for supper … and aren’t the little boats looking cute today!

We then drove south from Mevagissey to the National Trust car park just outside Gorran Haven, down a rather narrow lane, so we were pleased we didn’t meet another car! Our walk was a circular route round Dodman Point, the highest headland on the south cornish coast, beginning with a descent to the very pretty Hemmick Beach where we lingered and took photos.

A pretty steep ascent followed, before it flattened out, but it was well worth it for the views.

I got a bit sidetracked by thorny windswept trees after seeking them out in the Yorkshire Dales and snapped several along the way.

At the point, there are earthworks remaining from an Iron Age Promontory fort and also a granite cross erected in 1896 to help navigation. It is a convenient seat for picnickers who were definitely taking their time over lunch, but you can see the view across Veryan Bay, with Gull Rock offshore and the Lizard Peninsular on the horizon.

Looking down there was some movement in the water which others said was dolphins, but we couldn’t see anything definite.

We continued along the coastal path for a way until we saw the sweep of Vault beach …

… and a pony grazing …

… before turning inland and returning to the car park.

We drove done to Gorran Haven and where the village store made us some lovely filled rolls to take and eat in the sun.

In fact, it was so lovely, I walked back to the car for our little chairs and we sat on the beach in the sun for an hour or so, then we had ice cream before we left … mine was clotted cream and blackcurrant … yummy!

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Despite being open for 20 years now, it is the first time either of us has visited the Eden project and we were looking forward to our day out. It was a feat to create a botanical garden in a reclaimed china clay pit and it received a lot of publicity when it opened. I remember seeing photos of the biomes that would have looked just as at home on the moon, huge domes made of inflated plastic pillows on a steel frame.

I thought we were getting close when we spotted this growing bridge …

The road took us through a building site where a new housing estate is growing and will soon encompass Eden, then on to the parking areas which are named after fruits. Having left the car in Lime 2, we took the winding path down into the huge dip containing the gardens. When you are actually there, the size of the biomes is quite amazing, and they look as though they’ve weathered 20 years pretty well.

The surrounding gardens have given their best for this year and are looking a bit autumnal but there are still things to see, including this amazing bloom called Indian Poke, but since every part of the plant is poisonous, it’s maybe not the best choice for the garden!

The first biome contains the world’s largest indoor rainforest and the hexagonal roof provided a stunning backdrop to the tropical planting, which took us to different regions of the world.

There were stunning blooms …

… and also some more discrete ones …

… a rope bridge …

… and even a love heart!

The other has a Mediterranean environment, and includes plants not just from Europe, but also South Africa, California and Australia.

The bougainvillea was very striking …

… but my favourite of the day had to be the kangaroo paw. I’ve seen this in Australian gardens before but this display really highlighted the variety of colours … and while they look furry, they are actually quite rough!

The strong ethos of environmental awareness and education is obvious throughout the site, with lots of information about reducing our footprint, sustainability and climate change. Having said that, having finished a lunch comprising a delicious vegan salad box and pasty, the recycling system was so complicated we couldn’t identify where to dispose of our paper packaging!

The final building is the newest, an education centre which began with this introduction …

The next room contained a huge blue grooved ceramic object with smoke rings being emitted randomly from its orifices! It represents a cyanobacterium, the first organism which was able to use sunlight to split water, making oxygen and enabling life on Earth. Another area contained a gigantic granite seed and there was a display of sustainability projects round the world but it lacked any focus and felt like a missed opportunity.

So much for an easy day wandering round a garden … we still managed to walk almost 4 miles! In the evening we had tapas at Bistro No5 …

… and finished with a quick turn round the harbour before bed, where Chris took this fab shot.

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Another sunny day and we decided to go for a walk! Having made some sandwiches, the first challenge was to extract the car from the parking place in front of The Net Loft which required accurate reversing into a turning bay before negotiating a lane barely wider than the car. The sat nav then directed us out of Mevagissey on a different road to the one we arrived on and it seemed to take us for miles down a network of lanes before spitting us out on the B road and we resolved to be rather more wary of its directions in future. We drove back round the coast, through St Austell towards Fowey and parked in a National Trust car park at Coombe Farm so we could walk to Gribbin Head. The path took us down to a field and we had our first view of our destination.

We then took a detour towards Fowey where we could see into the harbour …

… and then to St Catherine’s Point which has had some sort of strategic fort since the Iron Age. Henry VIII built an artillery tower there and more recently, it was utilised in WWII as a firing point for the minefield set across the entrance to the harbour.

Our walk continued up to Allday’s Field, gifted to the people of Fowey in the 1950’s, and containing a number of benches to sit and admire the view. We took advantage of one for our picnic …

… before setting out in earnest for the red and white striped Daymark tower at Gribbin Head. Deceivingly, the coastal path dipped down to concealed coves twice on the way, first at Coombe Haven …

… and then at Polridmouth …

… which also had an ornamental lake and cute cottage …

… and even a small freezer with ice creams for sale, which alas was empty when we arrived!

Finally we reached the top …

… and learnt it has been a lookout since the Iron Age, the site of a beacon for the Spanish Armada, and a decoy in WWII so draw the enemy away from Fowey during D-Day. The daymark stands is 84ft high and was built in 1832 as a navigation aid to enable sailers to pinpoint Fowey harbour. William Rashleigh of Menabilly donated the land in the hope the edifice ‘would be an ornament to his grounds’ so Trinity House commissioned a ‘ handsome Greco Gothic Square Tower’ which is repainted every 7 years or so.

The other claim to fame of this spot is that Daphne du Maurier lived a short distance away at Menabilly for many years as a tenant of the Rashleighs and later at the dower house on the estate called Kilmarth where she died. She used the area as a setting for many of her books – the boathouse and shipwreck in Rebecca take place in Polridmouth, Menabilly was the inspiration for Manderley, and also features in My Cousin Rachel and The King’s General and the farmland round The Gribbin is the ovation for the avian attacks in The Birds. When she moved into Kilmarth, she found bottles containing animal embryos in the basement which led to the drug induced time travel storyline in The House on the Strand, one of her later books which I remember reading years ago.

It was time to retrace our steps to Polridmouth …

… and then take the path back through farmland to the car park. Despite being billed as a 4 mile walk, we clocked up 5.4 miles, and we felt we had done quite enough for the day so returned to The Net Loft, just venturing out later to collect our supper from the Fishermen’s Chippy!

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It was late afternoon when we arrived in Mevagissey. We had already glimpsed the sea, and then descended into the village which quickly became a network of narrow lanes. We fortunately located our rental easily and parked in the dedicated parking space right outside. The Net Loft is just perfect, compact but well fitted out and cosy.

We unpacked and had a cuppa then decided to have a quick walk down to the harbour as the sun set. Great idea … it was almost impossible to take a bad photo and having explored a little, we felt properly settled in as we heated up some bean stew we’d brought with us, and made ourselves quite at home over a bottle of Merlot.

Mevagissey is a working fishing port, with a tradition of boat building and was once the centre of Cornwall’s pilchard fishery. It is centred round the harbour, surrounded by a maze of narrow lanes filled with gift shops and galleries. The name comes from Meva and Issey, old Cornish for the two 6th century Irish missionaries who came to Cornwall to convert the natives to Christianity.

We woke to a lovely sunny morning and wandered down to the harbour, taking yet more photos, then walked round towards the lighthouse.

We took a path which climbed up above the village …

… and got a great view across the bay to the town of St Austell and further round to the Daymark at Gribben Head, which is our destination tomorrow.

We continued down to the cove at Portmellon where The Shack served fab coffee and we found a bench in the sun to drink it, before returning inland through West Bodrugan Wood and back over Polkirt Hill back to Megavissey.

By this time, the tide had gone out, so we had to take more pics of the harbour! We had sandwiches in a cafe, with a side of chips for Chris, before browsing the shops in the afternoon and sitting in the sun with an ice cream.

Back at the Net Loft, we made a cuppa and I returned to my holiday reading. I’d already finished The Cove by LJ Ross, the same author who wrote Scyamore Gap last trip, which was similarly a little far fetched, but still a good holiday read. Now I got stuck into Snapped in Cornwall by Jane Bolitho … which I’d noticed on a shelf yesterday and downloaded on my kindle. It is the first of a series featuring Rose Trevelyan a painter and photographer based in Cornwall who has a knack for solving murders, and she’d solved the first one by bedtime!

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Ten years ago, Chris proposed on the cliff at Tintagel and now we are returning to Cornwall for our tenth wedding anniversary. We have rented a cottage in Mevagissey, a charming fishing village on a stretch of the south coast often referred to as The Cornish Riviera, with its rolling green headlands, clear water and sandy coves. The destination was carefully chosen as our celebration always includes a boat trip and the local Fowey ferry will fit the bill perfectly.

There will be plenty to keep us busy for a week, with both the Lost Gardens of Heligan and The Eden Project on the doorstep as well as miles of coastal path to explore!

So we better get packed, ready for a change of scene, some bracing sea air and some Cornish ice cream!

Journal Entries

Mevagissey … pleased to meet you!

Gribbin Head

A Day in Eden

Dodman Point

Fog & Dolphins

Fowey’s Hall Walk

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