Penzance

Our three weeks in London were at a close. I've skipped a few days that might be blogged later, because we are near the end of our trip and I wanted to share some of our impressions of Cornwall where we are right now. 

We left from Paddington Station, and Paddington himself, that bear from Peru, was honoured with his own statue on track 12. 

It was a long train journey to Penzance (almost 6 hours) which meant we passed through several cities on the way. I confess I don't know which places these were, perhaps Plymouth, or Truro, or both. 

In Penzance we stayed at a lovely B & B run by June and Stewart. Stewart is a history buff and has also written a book on the SOE, Special Operations Executive and his mother (or grandmother's) part as a resistance fighter. His grandmother was betrayed and died at the hands of the Nazis. 

This lion guards a park along the Strand in Penzance. 

And there is a huge Jubilee Lido, restored to splendour, which encloses a very large swimming pool with salt water from the Atlantic. I was told the water is quite cold. I didn't check for myself. 

It was in use though. 

And these great large flags were flapping in the wind and sun. 

In the harbour was this pirate ship. Of course Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance has left its mark on the town. 

We ate at the Dolphin Pub our first night. 

It has a few tales to tell. 

I loved the light on this copper kettle hanging above our heads. 

And the mussels in cream sauce (bread to sop up all the delicious creamy broth. 

Geordie had fish with a lovely presentation - crispy prosciutto and a branch of roasted cherry tomatoes made a delicious garnish. 

We went to church. It's St. Mary's, an Anglican Church celebrating the Virgin. There was a mini-festival and we ended up sitting through a youth concert, from an 11 year old pianist, to a couple of 18 year old flautists, and a couple of young men who performed contemporary and well sung pieces from the rock repertory. It was better than you might think; and there was wine! The stuff you drink - not that you sip for communion. 

There were also some flower displays including this charming sheep. 

Here's St. Mary's steeple in evening light. 

The view out our bedroom window with clothes hung out to dry. 

On our full day in Penzance we took a trip to St. Michael Mount. It's connected to the mainland by causeway, but it's only exposed during low tide, so we had to boat over. 

The castle on the hill was once a Benedictine Abbey (it had its roots in the 5th century) - before the dissolution of the monasteries. It's now under the care of the National Trust, but the family who owned it live there on a 999 year lease. Lord Ledam's family, the St. Aubyn's have owned it for over 600 years. 

There are people living on the island, staff of the St. Aubyn's. One can wander the village at the foot of the Mount before tackling the steps. 

The view back to the town of Marazion. 

The Mount has also been a site of pilgrimage. Here a pilgrim takes a rest before heading further up. 

Along the way one is pointed to a heart-shaped stone, said to be that of the giant killed by Jack the Gisnt Killer. The Giant's bones now lie under a sealed well, apparently. 

A view of the castle walls. 

Inside several of the rooms have been prepared for display. This is the library with its wall of books. 

And this dining room was once the refectory of the monks of the Abbey. 

The Union Jack flies over the castle of course. The right wall with rose window is the end of the chapel where services are held on Sundays. We rode over with the priest carrying his robes. 

There is a beautiful sub-tropical garden, closed to the public on weekends, so we didn't get to tour it. 

A stone parapet. 

And stained glass in the church, collected by one of the Baron St. Aubyns. 

Including this Garden of Eden scene. 

This chair and table are pictured in the room with Queen Elizabeth II seated here, signing the guest book, with Prince Philip looking on. 

And these two chairs bear the monograms of Elizabeth and George V. 

Here is the Lady of the castle wearing a cabled sweater, working on a hexagonal pieced quilt. It was probably quite cold in the winter after all. 

I apologize for the poor lighting , but this is the piéce de resistance - a model of the Mount carved in 1930 by the butler who served the family for 49 years. It's made entirely from Champagne corks! And it's quite accurate. 

We had taken a taxi out, but discovered a much cheaper method of return, the public bus, where we managed to snag the front seat of the upper level thus gaining a superlative view of the landscape. 

Since it was Sunday, we had Sunday roast - better than the previous Sunday when the place we chose had already run out by 2:00 pm. The Yorkshire pudding was great. The meat was served with roasted parsnips and potatoes. 

As well as mashed turnip, broccoli and carrots on the side. 

I liked this little model sailboat displayed in a local window. 

The Pirates were around during the evening. 

A lovely light on the street with St. Mary's lit. 

And my parting shot. Earlier in the you saw the gate to Wuthering Heights. Here we have the door to Middlemarch. It's nowhere near George Eliot's fiction, set in the British Midlands.