Birthdays and Bustards

One of the main reasons for the trip was to celebrate two significant birthdays in the family. Noreen’s mother turned 75 and all her children were there for the occasion
together with most of the spouses.
Then my brother reached 60.

We stayed most of the week with him and Gill in the ancient town of Bradford on Avon, long a centre of spinning, weaving and textiles using the abundant local sheep for wool and the power of the Avon.


Yesterday we went to the Great Bustard restoration project. These are large ground nesting birds, hunted to extinction in Britain during the 19th century. In the last ten years a group has set up a site for the release of hand reared orphan chicks from Russia.

This is a general view of the release area – it’s gently sloping ground on the edge of Salisbury Plain, very chalky soil and the terraces remnants of mediæval cultivation.
Although quite big the birds were a long way away so I didn’t get any great pictures. This is probably the best – there are two birds, one below the inverted Y fence post, and the other to the left of the next post left.

Luckily there was a stuffed specimen in the shop, plus a glimpse of the county flag of Wiltshire which features the bird.

Cornshire Part 3

Heligan Gardens is a restored country estate in the south of Cornwall. It was abandoned in the 1920s and rediscovered in the 90s by which time it was very overgrown and wild. A team of people explored, cleared and re-established the site as a multi-purpose garden – part productive, part decorative and part wilderness.

An area is called the New Zealand Garden – it contains indigenous plants and a whare that was originally part of a Kiwi entry at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Several of the historic buildings and equipment have been rebuilt or restored. These are old style bee boles which were used before modern bee hives were developed.

The grounds are extensive and you could easily spend a day there. It was difficult to select just a few images to portray the place. How about a colourful bed of antirrhinum?

Nearby is the fishing village of Mevagissey.

Moving on up to Devon we stayed with an old university friend in Teignmouth. Nearby is Dartmoor and we walked up to Haytor.

In the 18th and 19th century granite was mined here. To transport the rock down to the sea a granite tramway was built. There are some remnants to this day.

I climbed to the top of the tor. This is the view looking south

and a closeup of the tor itself.

That is the end of the Cornshire trilogy. Stay tuned for further adventures in Outer Pongolia later in the week.

Cornshire Part 2

We stayed in Lostwithiel, the ancient administrative centre of Cornwall.
The hotel was a converted farm and incorporated a golf course.
It is overlooked by Restormel Castle on the hill above.
The town is picturesque with a 12th century bridge across the Fowey river
and the 13th century Stannary Palace.

We travelled up the hill to Restormel which is a solid building
and well preserved for its age.
Next stop was Lanhydrock, reputedly the finest house in Cornwall with extensive gardens. It is administered by the National Trust and presented as it was rebuilt in Victorian times.
The oldest part is this Jacobean library with an impressive ceiling.
Passing through Bodmin on our way to the stop I was pleased to come across the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. This locomotive is similar to those I used to travel behind when going to school in the 1960s.

Cornshire Part 1

Bazza McKenzie called this part of the world Cornshire – either because he was an ill-informed Aussie or as a new portmanteau word conflating Cornwall and Devonshire.

The Eden Project is a conservation/ecological awareness initiative housed in a disused china clay pit. It’s an impressive achievement and certainly draws the punters in. Whether it is successful in its aims I’m not sure. It seemed to me to be a theme park for conservation and everything is done once over lightly. The sheer volume of information and exhibits was somewhat overwhelming. As one of our guide books notes – it’s difficult to decide if the Eden Project is part of the solution or the problem. Probably a bit of both.

You really have to go there to appreciate it’s size and scope. This is a general view from the entrance looking over the site. The large structures are called biomes.
There are two and they contain a controlled environment for the plants within. This is inside the rainforest biome. It is hot and steamy (as you would expect) – the perfect place to spend a cold, damp Cornish day.
There are crowds everywhere practising the great British pastime of queuing.
The outdoor area has plants from around the world. A botanist would have a field day here. The only New Zealand examples I saw were cabbage tree (of course), lancewood and flax. There were a number of Dicksonia ferns in the plant shop as well.
Charlestown is a Georgian port town near St. Austell. It has an outer harbour which opens onto the sea
and connects to the inner harbour
in which are a number of sailing boats often used for filming period pieces.
Above the harbour is a typical Cornish settlement with slate-roofed stone houses and neat gardens.
Coming soon – Part 2 in which we explore Lostwithiel, Lanhydrock, Heligan, Mevagissey and eating.

Fowey

We have travelled down to Cornwall, spending a night in Bath with our old friend Dave Cabbage.

It was a damp misty day so we didn’t see much of the countryside but very atmospheric in the narrow winding lanes plunging into the valleys that score the land here. We spent a couple of hours in the old fishing port of Fowey.

The streets are very narrow and they seem to love pink houses.

Paths lead up the hill from where you can see across the rooftops of Cornish slate.
It is strange to see cordyline everywhere.We have eaten well at all stops. Afternoon tea consisted of crab sandwiches (note the crisps/chippies served with the salad – just like my mum did) and Cornish cream tea.

Henley on Thames

We haven’t done much touristy stuff yet but have been relaxing and catching up with Noreen’s mother and sister. Here is Noreen sunning herself in the garden.
The weather has been hot and humid and it’s raining today. Earlier in the week we made a trip to the Thames side town of Henley.
It’s famous for the annual regatta which took place a few weeks ago. It must have been chaos then, but is bustling and full of tourists at most times of the year. They have held a market in the main street since the 12th century.

The Angel on the Bridge is a famous pub on one end of the bridge over the Thames.

We always like a cream tea and found a little café with a quiet back garden in which to take it.

The clotted cream was not Cornish, but it was pretty good for all that.

Half timbered buildings lead down to the river

where sea birds have travelled up from the coast.

I walked a couple of kilometres down to Marsh Lock

and saw a royal swan
and people rowing on the river.We are heading west tomorrow and will be back here next weekend.