Poldark Country

Before breakfast I visited the swimming beach at St. Ives (as opposed to the surfing beach--the two divided by the harbour).

I SO wanted to go swimming, but didn't have much time--I had to be back for breakfast and ready to hike. St. Ives this morning.

Our coach took us to the tin mines near Cape Cornwall to begin a 9-mile hike along the coast.

The mines run for 3.5 miles along the coast and once produced tin, copper, and arsenic. Today's trip description:

"Follow the South West Coast Path from the famous Crown Mines at Botallack to Cape Cornwall. Then on past Ballowall Barrow, a Bronze Age burial chamber,  to Sennen Cove and Land’s End. Highlight: Discover Cornwall's rich history of tin mining, now recognised as a World Heritage Site. Look out for the abandoned engine houses perched just above the sea at Botallack."

The arsenic was cooked to remove impurities and then it solidified on the chimney walls. Workers were sent up the chimneys to scrape the cake off the chimney walls. I imagine short lifespans back then. The view below may or may not be the most photographed in Cornwall. You are probably meant to get closer to the workings, but I needed to stick with the group.

We saw the sign below a lot today:

And then onwards to Cape Cornwall, a dot on the left of the photo. Later in the day, it will be a dot on the right of the photo.

So lucky with the weather--yesterday's rain was dramatic and we had heavy rain this morning, but it cleared for the day.

Cape Cornwall was purchased by someone associated with HJ Heinz, and the land donated to Cornwall in recognition of the 100th anniversary of something--don't recall what!

I saw my second golf course today. They both looked very difficult.

A bit unlikely to find lavender fields in the middle of nowhere, but there you are.

I took lots and lots of photos of waves. At the end of the day, I realised really you want to take video. They are so dramatic--so colourful and loud and majestic. The photos don't at all capture the brilliant turquoise and the shine of the sun on each rising curve. Barrel after barrel rolling into the coast.

I watched a seal playing in the waves--I want to be a seal in my next life.

We got ice cream when we got close to Sennen cove--a well deserved mint chocolate chip.

On the farthest headland, or thereabouts, is Cape Cornwall, giving some idea of the distance traveled.

We finished the day at Land's End, the westernmost point of the UK.

I was rather taken with the lighthouse and rocks off the coast due to the colour at the end of the day.

In the evenings we have dinner, then a quiz. Tonight's quiz was the HF house quiz--whichever team has the highest score will be compared with the highest scorer in the 20 other HF houses. Another night we played skittles and a third we had a music quiz.

June 29