Lost at Sea

F and I often go to Godrevy with chips and the dog to to enjoy the scenery and a meander on the headland. The view across the bay to St Ives is fantastic. Surfers play in the waves and dolphins are often seen in the bay.

Many is the time that I have been there and wished I had some binoculars or a decent camera with a telescopic lens to take nice piccies of the lighthouse. Last week F found a pair of binoculars for me at a carboot and won a bid on ebay for a lovely new camera. So tonight seemed the perfect night to try them both out and eat some chips as well.

We got there and saw the helicopter over head as we turned in, not uncommon. As we got to the first car park we found a National Trust staff member stopping people from driving up to the car park on the headland because a rescue was in progress. We obviously hopped it was a practice and ate our chips in the first car park.

While eating two RNLI personnel in boiler suits walked past us and then a surf rescue van went past heading up the headland. We began to realise that it probably wasn't a practice. Then we saw a second helicopter, and later the first one (maybe) again.

We headed along the coast path onto the headland and with our new found distance viewing capabilities it was easy to see that a huge operation was in progress. Personnel were stationed along the cliffs. Loads of lifeguards were on the rocks towards the lighthouse. A large lifeboat and a smaller one were moving around, searching.

By this time cars were being allowed to the second car park, not a particularly good sign as lifeguards were continuing to arrive. F moved the car to the second car park.

I kept looking out to sea, keenly aware that someone was missing. Scanning the waves with my binoculars. And then I saw something. A bobbing object near a marker flag, strangely upright in the water. I approached a policeman and found it again. He used my binoculars to search for it, saying if it was anything, chances are he would be able to tell. As he spotted it, a van with three lifeguards came by and he stopped them and they looked as well.

No one was sure so they sent the lifeboat over. It turned out to be an unusually large lot of fishing gear. The policeman made sure to say that he was glad we had spotted it and said something, because it could have been something. It was just a shame that it wasn't.

I felt somewhat upset and down and we left shortly after because there was no reason to stay and Little Dog did need a run...

I am none the wiser as to what was actually going on. Nothing online, yet. Nothing on the local news, yet. I expect they don't want people flooding up there. The currents are fierce around that headland. Rip tides sweep out to sea from the sands of the bay. I shall find out through the grapevine. Both F and I know lifeguards and the call obviously went out to them.

I never expected to be using my new present for something like that.... Time for chamomile tea and winding down....

Wasson!

I am sure I had some great idea of what to write about while at work today... Maybe not... Anyway it has vanished now...

This month's herb / spice is to be tamarind paste and as yet I have no idea what to do with it. Asfotedia wasn't my most favourite and is alright used in small quantities with other flavourings. I love Black onion seed and it often finds it way into dishes. Fenugreek is fine, if you want things to taste like curry powder. So any ideas about tamarind would be gratefully received...

I failed to do anything for charity last month so I have a month to make up. Pirate FM, a Cornish radio station, is currently supporting the Precious Lives Appeal. In Cornwall we often suffer in terms of facilities. Specialist things often tend to be placed in Devon and this can mean a very long journey. One example of this is children's hospices and the Precious Lives Appeal is raising money for a hospice in Cornwall, especially for those children who can't travel so far.

The radio station has selected three contestants who are having a mad fund raising time in order to try and win a holiday and do the best they can for the charity. One person is having an appeal for pants (knickers or whatever you might call them) which will be hung on a giant washing line across the Tamar Bridge (big bridge between Cornwall and Devon). I might buy a cheap pair and decorate them and send them with my donation - maybe £10 because I know I am never, ever going to do the fruit thing on my list...

I might also do another parcel for a service person, maybe in Iraq this time. I enjoyed doing this last time and it will help me catch up!

Yesterday in my wanderings I missed out on a visit to a holy well (St Levan) and a hillfort (Maen Castle). Maybe I should take my map with me so that I can tell where things are when I end up in places.

I started drawing spirals yesterday. I did a single and a double spiral and they are both pretty simple once you know how. I need to start having a go at constructing more complicated spirals now in order to develop them into beautiful full on celtic lovelinesses.

I also discovered that using silk painting techniques on cotton isn't so good. I used gutta on one side but it doesn't soak through the fabric enough to make a barrier. I am going to try putting gutta on both sides of the cotton to see if that works.

I have also accepted that some of my ideas for blog candy are just not practical. I can draw abstract and geometrical things but trying to draw a tree spirit with willow leaves for hair is beyond my current skills. I can see what I want in my head but i can't get it onto paper.... So I am going to stick with what I can do, for now....

I have already started thinking of things for my next list of 101 things. I have a little word file and as I think of things they go on the list. So hopefully next time there will be no dramatic scrabbling for ideas... I like this whole list thing but I did give myself a lot of big projects and things to learn....

F has returned from his work weekend away, yay! So nice to have him back, it just doesn't seem natural not seeing him. I don't much like being on my own really. Just as well I have Little Dog for company....

I guess my only problem with my 101 things list, is my own ambitiousness. I am not getting to tick many things off. Lots of things won't be ticked off until near the end.... This is frustrating....

Porthgwarra

Down the steep slipway to the sandy cove. You can see the sun still isn't very high...
Carved tunnel. The tunnel to the rocky cove is in the rocks on the right...


Rocky cove


Explorer hound in rocky coveThe caves at the top

Land's End

The soul-less tourist attraction that is...


A new day is dawning from Land's End looking north to Cape Cornwall


Sunrise...


The sun has risen!


Where the Land's End signpost should be...


Offshore rocks - you can just see Longships lighthouse on the rocks to the right.
Old lichen covered menhir with deserted stone circle.


The tourist stones complete with model houses... *sigh*


The soul of those stones is still there though, if you catch them from the right angle...

Adventures at Dawn

Last night I went to bed saying to myself, if I wake up then I know I should go, if I don't then I wasn't... Where you may ask? Land's End of course! Will of Pedal Power Adventures was setting off on the a little jaunt from Land's End to John o'Groats. These are the two points the furthest apart in the British mainland.

So I woke up and tried to ignore the fact I had and went back to sleep. Probably only a few minutes later I woke up again with a little voice in my head saying that I was meant to go. So I got up (3.20!), showered and dressed and left the house at 4.00. It took 40 minutes for me to get to Land's End.

Now Land's End has long been given a very special place in the heart's of the public. With it's iconic signpost showing distances to places all over the world. Steeped in legend and history with archaeological sites and a dramatic coastline prone to wrecking ships it should be amazing.

Last time I went to Land's End I paid the exorbitant parking fee and wandered through the dire tourist mill buildings to the coast. Any connection to the place was lost in the crowds and the unsymmpathetic development. Tacky is a word many use....

I had been planning recently to go and treat as a tacky place with S and F and pay all the different fees to the different exhibitions so as not go get to sad about the way the place has been treated. I hadn't gotten round to it. They charge for parking but as there is a public footpath they can not close the gates and you just have to wander through the deserted money mill. They even charge for photographs at the signpost. They take away the top of the post to prevent theft over night and removed the second post that you could use for free.... So i got photos of the post but no signs...

So dawn. When exactly is dawn? According to this handy website, it was at 4.50 this morning. So I was there. Except it had been getting light for a while. It seems twilight began at 4.03. Apparently this is when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and is the limit for distinguishing objects. There is also nautical twilight with the sun at 12 degrees below the horizon when outlines can be distinguished and astronomical twilight with the sun at 18 degrees and at this point the illumination of the sun starts to affect the sky. Nautical twilight was at 2.52 and the sun never made it below 18 degrees, too close to Solstice.

So all in all, Will could have set off earlier and been able to find his way. He might not have known to make his way through the ghost town to the coast. He might have arrived when I was exploring the area around the most westerly point and not seen me with Little Dog in the distance.

I stayed for quite some time and it was magical. The ticket machine wasn't working either which was great. I could finally feel some attraction to the place, a connection. The sun slowly lit up more and more of the sky, until when I left it was relatively high and breaking through the clouds. It was lovely and clear and I managed to spot both lighthouses, Longships is easy to spot being only 1.25 miles from Land's End but Wolf Rock Lighthouse is 8 miles from the coast and harder to spot.

I didn't see anyone till about 6 and then I saw some hotel guests waiting for reception so they could book in and go to sleep. I saw a man with a dog and a couple wandering aimlessly. It was time to leave the point itself.

I wandered along the path to the attractions petting farm and discovered a standing stone, covered in lichen, with a small stone circle around it. Almost overgrown it was pretty much ignored... Thankfully. Returning to the car I realised I had missed another one earlier to the side of the buildings. It was all spruced up and used as the setting for some tasteful model houses. Personally I find that a bit wrong...

Giving up on meeting Will and deciding to leave before it got any busier I left, dragging Little Dog with me. I took the first tiny little lane I found to a lovely cove called Porthgwarra. Houses nestle at the bottom of a valley from which a steep slip way leads to a tiny sandy cove edged with blocky granite. Looking back up I suddenly realised that the headland actually had two tunnels one of which led to the next cove which was rocky. I decided to lose a page of my wreck this journal to the waves here....

Next was a stop at St Levan but I hadn't looked up how to find the well exactly or what the other interesting things might be there... So I missed the ancient pagan rock, split in two. I did spot a nice celtic cross or two and a lovely entranceay to the graveyard. Strips of granite had been spread to make a cattle grate with granite benches at each side of the grate facing across it. In between the two seats, dividing it in two, was a coffin shaped stone.

Next I drove down the valley of Penberth but didn't stop at the car park (mostly because I didn't find it, I don't think I drove far enough...) and then to the car park at Treen and then Lamorna Cove, both of which I stopped at briefly...