2<\/p>\n
Taff Up-Over part 2<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n And so the first week was over, a shame, but all good things must end. Our next venue was to be Sennen, the small village I\u2019d lived in for the ten years before I emigrated to OZ. It\u2019s right on the south western tip of the UK, near Lands End. It\u2019s a good four-hour drive from Llanelli, but some idiot had forgotten this, so was a bit lackadaisical in his getting up.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019d had a phone call from my mate Mark, who lives in Devon, the previous day; “Taff, seeing as you\u2019re planning to go to the Eden project tomorrow, it won\u2019t be too far out of your way to pop in and see us on the way through.”<\/i> More a command than a conversation then.<\/span><\/p>\n We had planned to visit the Eden Project on our way down, this is a fantastic creation, an old clay pit had been massively restored, huge “biomes” had been built, and it now housed exotic trees and plants from around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Go see for yourselves if you don\u2019t believe me.<\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.edenproject.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n So I phoned Mark to let him know we were on our way, there was no reply so I left a message on his answer-phone, we bid farewell to my Mam and Llanelli, and set off down the M4. God, what a nostalgia trip.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d made this journey so many times in the twenty odd years I\u2019d lived in Devon and Cornwall, and it was a great way of remembering past events. Like the time an ex-girlfriend and me had hitched back from Wales to college in Plymouth. The first three lifts we got, the two cars and the lorry that stopped all broke down. We ended up getting lifts in the AA breakdown service vans most of the way. We took a train back the next time.<\/span><\/p>\n Anyway, stopping only to buy vastly overpriced coffee and cakes at the Bristol services, we wended our merry way down. It didn\u2019t take me long to realise that my predicted time for the journey was miles out. We had a quick confab, and decided we couldn\u2019t leave Mark and Jenny down as they\u2019d seemed so desperate to see us. So on we journeyed, we passed this bit of motorway art, which I quite like.<\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/uk\/943715.stm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then after passing Exeter, the Moors rose up on our left….<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I tell you it is all as new to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I’m as keen as possible to see the moor.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Are you? Then your wish is easily granted, for there is your first sight of the moor,” said Dr. Mortimer, pointing out of the carriage window.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there rose in the distance a grey, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in a dream.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Well this day it was sunny and so the moors were looking quite pleasant, so stuff Conan Doyle.<\/span><\/p>\n So we tootled on down, now on the A38, a lovely road that skirts the eastern edge of the moors. I managed to find Mark and Jenny\u2019s place after only getting lost twice, and so we pulled in, now knackered and badly in need of a cuppa.<\/span><\/p>\n And the tossers were out!<\/span><\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t believe it, we\u2019d diverted all that way, taking a chunk of our precious time, and the great nincompoop wasn\u2019t in….<\/span><\/p>\n We hung about. Luckily for them their next-door neighbour was out mowing what laughably passes for a front lawn for those houses, otherwise I\u2019d have done something quite foul, like set fire to their cats.<\/span><\/p>\n So we tootled off..<\/span><\/p>\n (We later found out that Mark had gone paragliding for the day, just to add insult to…insult.. I\u2019d have loved to have gone out and borrowed his glider for an hour. I could have taken a knife to it.)<\/span><\/p>\n We didn\u2019t have enough time left to visit the Eden project, so we headed straight down to Sennen.<\/span><\/p>\n God there was memories aplenty on that last leg, funny how you have to go away to realise what you had.<\/span><\/p>\n We stopped off at the supermarket I used to shop at in Penzance, Safeways. It had been taken over, and driven way downmarket, by Morrisons. Such a shame. Anyway, we filed up on easy to cook goodies, more Mc Farty pies and Quorn bangers etc, and vowed never to return.<\/span><\/p>\n We arrived at Sennen in the early evening, and found the house. “Riviera” is a stone built cottage that fronts onto the seashore, that has been converted into two flats. We had rented the upper one.<\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.cornwallfarwest.co.uk\/rivout.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n The accommodation was wonderful, I arm-wrestled Bethy for the Bedroom with the sea views, and she won. Bugger. So we got ourselves sorted out, watched a bit of awful Sunday night TV, and I took a stroll along the seafront to blow out the cobwebs.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sunday:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n I woke, having had not the most comfortable of nights, and leapt to action. I\u2019m very much a morning person. LeeAnne isn\u2019t, she\u2019s Mrs Grumpy in the morning, I have to hide all the sharp objects until she\u2019s been awake for at least an hour, and refuelled on coffee and nicotine.<\/span><\/p>\n Bethy went down the shop for the Sunday Times, and the News of the World, LeeAnne was now demanding we got this every Sunday we were there. Then I went down the shop as we had no toilet paper. Then I went back and got some paper towels. <\/span>(I could have saved myself one trip by insisting we put the paper towels to dual use.)<\/span> We were out of milk, so I went down to the shop. Then I went down the shop for some washing powder. Then I went down the shop for a tin of beans to have with breakfast. In total, I went to the shop six times that morning; I think the owners were starting to get suspicious of me.<\/span><\/p>\n I stopped off at my friends Col and Joy\u2019s on the way, they\u2019re scousers, but we don\u2019t hold that against them, and there was no answer when I knocked in any case. Their cottage, a lovely, very old, thatched fisherman\u2019s cottage is one of the most beautiful in the cove. There\u2019s a window to their bedroom that, due to the cottage being made of large granite blocks, anyone of reasonable climbing ability can shin up to and peep in to. I didn\u2019t do this as both Col and Joy are nurses, and were possibly just asleep after a night shift.<\/span><\/p>\n While down at the cove I bumped into Terry George, the coxswain of the Sennen cove life boat, therefore a man to be held in high regard, who\u2019s also owner of the Sennen cove website. He seemed shocked to see me, either that or he\u2019d forgotten who I was. He didn\u2019t quite run away after I shook his hand, he just sort of edged away warily.<\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.sennen-cove.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n We cooked up a massive breakfast. The whole “English Breakfast”, the works; sausages, beans, toast, eggs, vege bacon, hash browns, boy does the sea air give you an appetite!<\/span><\/p>\n After a breakfast like that, and seeing as the weather outside was somewhat inclement, we decided to stay in and play card games. I still owe Bethy a small fortune, I\u2019m sure she palms the cards.<\/span><\/p>\n We then took a stroll up to visit our friends, Howard, who is totally bonkers, and his lovely wife Janet. Much hugs and kisses were exchanged, and they very kindly invited us over for a meal the next night. After catching up on the news and gossip, who was shagging who in the village mainly, we said our goodbyes. We strolled down cove hill, and picked wild garlic to throw into our cooking, this grows in abundance in the hedgerows there, but remember, think of the tallest dog you know, and pick it from just a bit higher than that.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As it happens we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in the pub that night instead.<\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.sennen-cove.com\/oldsuc.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was great to be back in my old haunt. The pub landlord, Martin, very kindly gave us the first round on the house, he\u2019s a wise investor that man. The food was every bit as good as I remembered, and as well as my favourite pint, Doom bar bitter, they had a new real ale in, Heligan Honey, which was so good I was torn between the two beers.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s some info on the beers…<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Doom Bar is named after an infamous sandbank at the mouth of the Camel Estuary in North Cornwall. The Doom Bar is at it\u2019s most dangerous between low and high tides when it is submerged just a few feet and unsuspecting mariners can easily become stranded or in extreme weather shipwrecked. Doom Bar embodies many characteristics, which makes it worthy to carry the name of this natural wonder. It\u2019s distinctive aroma and very fine balance sets it truly apart from other beers taking unsuspecting first time drinkers by surprise. Doom Bar has achieved cult status across the UK and beyond and it\u2019s delivery to a new or occasional outlet is often greeted by a flurry of text messages spreading word of its arrival. The aroma of Doom Bar is an accomplished balance of spicy resinous hop, inviting sweet malt and delicate roasted notes. The mouth feel is perfectly balanced with a complex blend of succulent dried fruit, light roasted malty notes and a subtle yet assertive bitterness. The bitterness remains into the finish with dry fruity notes that implore the drinker to go back for more<\/span><\/p>\n www.sharpsbrewery.sathosting.net<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Heligan Honey Ale is a light refreshing bitter, pale amber in colour with distinct hoppy overtones and the subtle addition of real Cornish honey. Bottled. Pale brown colour, a bit hazy. Huge beige frothy head. Honey, hops and malt in the aroma. Also some citric hints. Sweet citric flavour with honey peak in finish. A bit bitter aftertaste. Very refreshing beer.<\/span><\/p>\n www.skinnersbrewery<\/b>.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n I bumped into an old doctor mate of mine, Frank, in the pub, and he told me that Col and Joy had sold their cottage and moved into Penzance. Lucky I didn\u2019t shin up to what I thought was still their bedroom then, or some one would have got a shock. He also told me Joy was heavily pregnant, so congrats to them two then, or possibly congrats to them three then.<\/span><\/p>\n I also got to share a beer and a chat with a group of mates from the villages, which was just like coming home for me. So after a good feed, and a beer or three, we wended our way home and watched one of those bloody awful “50 Greatest Comedy Sketches,” programs, and burped and farted the night away.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Monday:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n We drove into Penzance, stopping at one of my favourite pasty shops, in Newlyn Coombe, to buy Bethy a pasty, <\/span>(lamb and mint,)<\/span> for breakfast. We called in to see our friends Kelvin and Claire, who run a book shop there. We did all the catching up things, and agreed to meet up on Friday at the Old Success to re-live our glory days as the pub quiz champions.<\/span><\/p>\n We bimbled around Penzance looking for my friend Sara\u2019s surfy shop but couldn\u2019t find it. <\/span>(We late found out she\u2019d moved to an unit out of town, thanks for letting us know Sara!)<\/span><\/p>\n So we bought more pastys, <\/span>(cheese and broccoli & cheese and mushroom,)<\/span> to fuel us up for the day, and drove down to Marazion to St. Michaels Mount.<\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.castlexplorer.co.uk\/england\/st-michaels-mount\/smm_photos.php#main<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t too cold when we set off so we didn\u2019t take our coats. We caught the ferry out to the Island, it was very smooth on the way out. After a few cups of tea, and watching a bloody awful visitors video, well worth a miss if you get the chance, we strolled around the castle. It\u2019s bloody lovely, well preserved and full of weird and wonderful features. I went wild with the camera, and we stopped on the highest battlement to take in the views of Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole and Marazion.<\/span><\/p>\n What we also took in the views of were the bloody huge black clouds heading our way.<\/span><\/p>\n Ah well, with a coffee to fortify us we took the now sea-sick inducing ferry back, and legged it like buggery through the rain back to the car.<\/span><\/p>\n By the time we drove back to Sennen it was sunny again. LeeAnne and Bethy having done enough walking for the day, I decided to take myself off to Sennen cliffs, to take more photographs, and to see my old climbing haunt.<\/span><\/p>\n I scrambled down the cliffs to get some sea level shots. On the way down I overtook a couple who were decked out in ropes and all the equipment needed for a climb.<\/span><\/p>\n I took a load of shots, and then walked over to where the couple were setting up to do a route. We chatted about the climbs there, discussed the classic lines of the cliff, and just shared a few minutes chat as strangers drawn together by a common interest do. The sun was getting low in the sky by now, the rocks glowing orange in the light. So he set off up the first pitch. After a very short while he shouted down that he was on belay.<\/span><\/p>\n Her to me:<\/span><\/p>\n “What do I do now?”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n “Don\u2019t you know?”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n “Well he did tell me but this is only my second day\u2019s climbing, so I\u2019m not sure.”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n “Ok, take him off the belay plate, tie yourself onto the ends of the rope, and when your ready shout up, and he\u2019ll take you up.”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n “How do I tie on?”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n This was brewing up to be fun!<\/span><\/p>\n So I tied her on, and shouted up that she was ready, he shouted ok, and started taking in.<\/span><\/p>\n “What do I do with the metal bits he\u2019s put in the rock?”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n “Just take them out, and take them up with you.”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n So she got up about twelve foot or so, and then got stuck due to her leaving the gear dangling from the rope. So I shouted up to her to take it off and clip it to her harness. She looked a bit irritated at me for this, but did it and moved up.<\/span><\/p>\n At about twenty foot up she got her foot stuck in a crack, and couldn\u2019t move it. He couldn\u2019t see her, and I couldn\u2019t see him, so we had a three-way shouting match. In the end I got fed up and soloed up the cliff. I gave her foot a good tug, which nearly ended up with hanging off her leg, and the pair of us hanging in space.<\/span><\/p>\n As I was already a quarter of the way up the bloody cliff I decided to solo an easy route to the right of where they were climbing, so I could take pictures of any more adventures they had, and take the piss under my breath. Half way up I took a photo looking down at my boot, to record the climb for posterity.<\/span><\/p>\n I got to the top just before he did, and got his e-mail addy off him to send him the photos. I didn\u2019t hang around for her to get up as I\u2019m sure she wasn\u2019t going to be keen to get the snaps, and I didn\u2019t want to be late for breakfast.<\/span><\/p>\n As it was I was late back for tea.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tuesday:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Off to Padstow, the place I proposed to LeeAnne, for some romantic memories. Ok, so I got us spectacularly lost on the way there, as I\u2019m sure LeeAnne would want you to know.<\/span><\/p>\n The plan was to go for a healthy cycle ride up the Camel trail, then eat at Rick Steins Seafood Restaurant, followed by taking some photos on the quay where I proposed.<\/span><\/p>\n Very fortunately we called in to the restaurant first, and got one of the last tables available for the lunchtime sitting. Then it started raining lightly. As we had our lunch sitting in an hour, and none of us fancied cycling in the rain, we abandoned the idea of cycling the Camel Trail.<\/span><\/p>\n