Saturday 27 June 2009

Beautfil Day

Last night finished as it started really... With my stomach giving me trouble... Then I made it worse by letting the dog out in the dark and managing to kick my toe on something. Unfortunately I managed to get the one toe with a bad nail so I added a fresh cut to it.

So F came home this morning to find a tired me. We had a chat and a laugh and then he left me to sleep. I wasn't overly fussed about going out but F made it clear he wanted to so I suggested going to get an aerosol to clean my laptop. I knew something was up when he got his flip flops and the camera.

He wouldn't admit to a plan but we ended up in Mevagissey. This is a lovely tourist town / fishing village with a beautiful harbour which is still in use by fishing boats (we saw one come in laden with fish and sea gulls following it in trying to steal them). We looked in a few touristy gift shops at pictures and crafty things before heading to the harbour.

The first thing we saw of interest was a dogfish lying at the edge of the water being attacked by a seagull. We walked on round. The sea was as flat as a mill pool. The waters in the harbour were clear and allowed you to see the seaweeds turn the harbour into a forest with so many different types... We climbed the outer harbour wall and looked out to sea. We spotted a jellyfish drifting along.

Mevagissey has a lovely view of St Austell Bay including Gribben Head where a day marker stands. This is a huge stripey tower that used to be a lighthouse. The Fowey estuary drains into the bay and ferries run between Fowey and Mevagissey.

As we left Mevagissey I spotted a sign to St Ewe. This rang a bell as I had never been there but Miss*R who lives in Australia recently told me that the earliest of her ancestors on her family tree came from St Ewe. So I got F to make a slight detour...

St Ewe turned out to be a lovely village. The heart of the village is a square with the remains of a celtic cross. We entered the square between the village pub and the lock up and parked there. I dragged F into the churchyard where there was a beautiful and very traditional church which seemd at odds with the palm trees in the graveyard!

We wandered and looked at the intricate grave stones and then I spotted an opening in the wall and some steps down. I followed them and discovered a board walk a board walk through a wooded boggy area. At the far end was a stream choked with plants that obviously only flowed properly some of the time. It felt a special area to me...

It was obviously attached to the church and obviously attention had been paid to it in order tomake it so accessible. Most old churches are built on sites that were already considered sacred. In Cornwall the ancient sites were venerated and became holy themselves. This had the feel of a holy site, an ancient holy site.

The only mention of this I have managed to find online is a reference on this website to a spring rising in the churchyard. But it is there and beautiful.

So Miss*R can be proud to come from an ancient and beautiful village with a holy (probably) spring and an ancient celtic cross. St Ewe herself has been lost in the mists of time pretty much....

So we left and returned home where we grabbed Little Dog and went to the chippie before driving on to Godrevy. We ate and then took her for a walk up onto the top of the headland and watched the sun set and reflect gloriously off the clouds in swirls of fuschia and violet.

We would have stayed longer but a large insect flew towards us closely followed by a bird. The bird narrowly missed catching it because it decided it didn't want to collide with F. The insect flew on and the bird had another go but the bug flew to me and took a liking to my hair. It repeatedly flew at me even when released form my hair. It was the size of a large bumble bee but slightly longer in the body and it buzzed very loud and I didn't want it in my hair... So we left and although it hitched a ride on my back, we eventually managed to leave it behind...

Photos to follow....

4 comments:

  1. Another wonderful adventure sounds blissful. I look forward to seeing your photos.

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  2. Lovely, meandering travels....Miss*R will be tickled that you stopped in at the 'homestead'..:)

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  3. oh thankyou, thankyou xo I am actually in tears.. I cannot wait to come over and see it next year.. I will sit by that holy place and breathe it in.
    You are a true Goddess - xoxo bless you
    I think I need to build a well of some kind here in my own garden.. maybe I could call it St.Ewe..

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