Reinterred: Cornwall Holiday

We have been away from home for over a week and had a lovely time in and around St. Austell, including, as you can see, visiting the Eden Project.

Tomorrow we are back in Cornwall, staying in Falmouth for a week. More of that anon. We drove to sister Sue's in Oakhill last Saturday. On the way we stopped at Stourhead, a National Trust property near Mere in Wiltshire.

We enjoyed the walled garden with its apples, pears, medlars and flowers

...before visiting the house....

...where someone was playing the piano, and the grounds.

You can see more photographs from our visit to Stourhead here. The rain started while we were there and continued until Sunday. After lunch on Sunday though, though, it started to clear up and we took a short trip to Glastonbury.

I enjoyed the quirky shops and posters for funky events. As the town's website says, "Welcome to Glastonbury, possibly the quirkiest town in England. Steeped in history, myth and the smell of incense."

We visited the impressive St.John's Church.

While Sue and Dawn browsed the shops I enjoyed some beer and cider at the George and Pilgrims Inn.

I liked this poster on the wall.

We were running out of time but did get to visit the attractive St. Patrick’s Chapel which dates from 1517.

You can see more of my photogrpahs from Glastonbury here. There is plenty more to see and do - we must go back some time.

On Monday we drove down to St Austell and checked in to our hotel and had lunch at the local Wetherspoons before heading to the railway station to meet David, husband of my old friend Beverley from Australia, who I last met up with in June 2022 (see here). He had been travelling for 30 hours from Melbourne in Australia, but after a nap he was able to join us for dinner in the hotel. Here are a few photos.

We were all staying at the White Hart Hotel right in the centre of St. Austell.

It is next to Holy Trinity Church.

Our first beers in Cornwall.

...at the Rann Wartha.

David's train was delayed by half an hour or so, but we could see when it was due to arrive and walked up the hill to the stgation to meet him.

And here he is!

On Tuesday we spent the day with David, first visiting Mevagissy and then the Lost Gardens of Helligan before walking up the hill past the station to the St. Austell brewery and visitor centre. Here we sampled several of the beers. Nice! In the evening Beverley and Kerrie joined us, arriving from their adventures in Italy.

Mevagissy is very pretty.

We got to the famous Lost Gardens of Heligan shortly after 11 am.

We went searching for something and it didn't take us long to find it. Beverley's great uncle Fred Paynter was a stone mason here in the early 20th century and around the gardens there are memorials to the workers here who went to serve in the first world - both those who didn't come back and those who did. This seat is dedicated to Fred.

There is a slo a display on the wall by the "thinderbox" room.

The gardens were lovely and extensive.

Well worth a visit. After we got back we walked up the hill from our hotel, over the railway and a short way up the next road to the St. Austell brewery The visitor centre is very impressive as is the selection of beers. Among the 3 of us, drinking 1/2 pints at a time we tried nearly all of the range.

The shop is an Aladdin's cave for beer drinkers.

You can see more of my photos of Mevagissey here, The Lost Gardens here and the St. Austell brewery visitor centre here.

On Wednesday we all went to the Eden Project. We had last been there 9 years ago for Laura's 21st birthday. It is a great day out.and it didn't matter when it rained as we were inside the domes.

We visited the Mediterranean Biome first.

Then the Rainforest biome after lunch.

You can see a lot more of my photos of the Eden Project here.

On Thursday we had a little tour around nearby places, starting with Charlestown Harbour, where we had coffee, then on to Fowey where we had some lunch and finally Loswithiel where we enjoyed the local museum.

Charlestown harbour is a couple of miles from the centre of St. Austell.

Fowey is a lovely place to explore.

Pasties for lunch!

I found a bottle shop called Johns so had to but some of their Crusty Juggler spiced rum.

I liked that there was a localised version of Monopoly for sale.

On to Lostwithiel. This is the museum.

This is the medieval bridge.

We set out to visit Restormel Castle, but it was a bit expensive and the rain was pouring down now so we retreated to the comfort of our hotel for some drinks and dinner. You can see more of my photos of Charlestown here, Fowey here and Lostwithiel here.

On Friday we returned to Sue's place in Oakhill, stopping off at Castle Drogo on the way. You have to go along a few miles of single track roads to get there, but it is worth the effort. It's the last castle to be built in England. I had last been here with the Ravenscroft Singers while doing the services in Exter cathedral for the week in, I think, 1985 or 1986. It has had scaffolding up for a long time as they repaired the leaking roof, but is now scaffolding free again.

Well worth a visit. You can see more of my photos of Castle Drogo here.

Yesterday we had a trip to Wells.

We visited the market to look for pies for our dinner but they had sold out.

We came across a wedding procession led by a group of drummers.

That was quite something. You can see more of my photos of Wells here.

Today was pretty wet first thing with thunder and lightning and torrential rain, but it cleared up by late morning. We joined Sue at Downside Abbey after mass and visited the amazing abbey church. Then Sue gave us a tour of Downside School, where she teaches.

It was pretty wet when we set out.