Category: Cornwall

We felt lazy in the Moors – the view from our remote cottage was lovely and we needed a travel break. However, we eventually managed to drag ourselves out to look at Jamaica Inn (made famous by Daphne du Morier), learn about the smuggling trade and walk the moors. The landscape is interesting, ancient and lovely. Goat and sheep roamed freely, leaving their fresh marks among the standing Stones. Three stone circles line-up perfectly amidst more recent history of disused mine shafts and the remains of a Roman road. I was fascinated with the contrast between the accessibility of this ancient site and Stonehenge, and asked Derek to take photos portraying this. Derek had reservations about taking photos of large mounds of cow dung, but I explained that without this evidence, I would have to paint a word picture, so he agreed. However, for this post I have selected a photo which more accurately portrays the standing stones and run-down mines.

Derek and I both have some ancestry in Cornwall (we managed to find the  Anglican church where Derek’s great-great-great grandparents were married in Penzance) and I felt more of a connection to the land than in other parts of England. Pondering this, I think there are many possible explanations including the mundane fact of my reading novels set in Cornwall, and of course, Poldark. However, I’m open to the possibility that it’s more elemental. Do we inherit memories of places in our genes which can be triggered at certain points with the appropriate stimulus, a source of the sensation of déjà vu?

There’s a fair bit of hype about St Ives and we were happily surprised to find the hype fully justified. Sheltered from the wind, with the sun glistening on the water and a blue sky in an otherwise cloudy day, St Ives is impossibly pretty. Despite the rain and wind elsewhere in Cornwall, at 7.30pm the sun was shining brightly in St Ives and we soaked in the warmth and beauty for the couple of hours we spent on the cobbled streets and harbor of this ancient town.

Cornwall was lovely and fully met my high expectations of beauty and atmosphere. Contrary to my weather expectations, it was wet and cold. In Dublin, Northern Ireland and the south-east of England, we were pleased we’d brought shorts. However, it was for our time in Cornwall that we’d included them in our luggage. Fortunately, we didn’t come to the U.K. to swim, and the sights of Cornwall were made even more beautiful by the rain.

My grasp of reality was obscured at times as I wondered about Ross, Demelza and Morwenna, and for this fixation I thank my cousin Allison without whom I would not have known the Poldark series existed. I regret that we left Perth when we had only finished series 3. Seeing many of the filming locations while watching the series made exploring Cornwall even more enjoyable.

St Michael’s Mount is a small island, just off the shore from Marazion. We walked across a pathway made visible by the low tide. The island has been inhabited for over 4000 years (iron age) but the current buildings date from the 12^th century and include a priory and church. The island and monastic buildings were used as a fortress during the English Civil War and in 1660 were purchased by Sir John St Aubyn. The same family have lived on the island since that time and have made their beautiful home and gardens (maintained by three full-time gardeners) open to the public, with the support of the National Trust.

We spent two nights north of Bodmin Moors in a lovely farmhouse Airbnb, reached by one of those lanes which require you to reverse about a kilometre if you see oncoming traffic. The desolate moors hold history, hope and stark beauty.

The 800-year-old Church of St Nonna is known as the Cathedral of the Moor. It is simple in form and beautiful. Our (fairly useless without the internet) guidebook had mentioned that John Wesley’s Cottage was close by, so we thought we’d inquire about it here. When we arrived at 3.00pm the church was locked but we were informed by some other tourists that the custodian was on the way from the next town. They had phoned the parish after making a special trip to see the church, and their interest in old churches was evident. After looking around the church we asked about the John Wesley Cottage. The custodian had a brochure but said we would probably be out of luck because it closed at 4 pm. As the cottage was indeed close, we thought we’d at least go and see the outside. Derek attended a Uniting Church with Methodist origin at the time we first met, and we have both enjoyed on occasion watching the Wesley Mission TV program with Rev Keith Garner. As we stood outside (well after 4pm), a gentleman came out and invited us in for a cup of tea, cake and conversation. Despite our concern for their staying late on the job, it was difficult to get away and we were given a full tour of the tiny cottage and an enthusiastic account of the history of Methodism in Cornwall. John Wesley and other itinerant preachers received free hospitality at Trewint Cottage (as it was then known) on many occasions, from 1743. At this time many poor people in Cornwall felt excluded from traditional churches.  Wesley spoke in the open air, often to thousands of miners, fishermen and farmers who lived in poverty. His message that all were acceptable to God regardless of wealth or status, simply by trusting in Jesus’ death on their behalf, was eagerly accepted. In Cornwall (along with North Wales), Methodism became the religion of the masses, with more attendees than at Anglican churches. If you’ve watched the Poldark series, you will know the hardships faced by the uneducated and poor adherents of Methodism to build their own church or even attend existing Anglican churches. I know (sort of) that Poldark is fiction but the events in the series are consistent with the history of Methodism as related during our fascinating cup of tea and cake. John Wesley also started health and literacy programs in Cornwall and at the end of our special tour, we were invited to watch a video about how these issues are being tackled by the Methodist church today. To our amusement, it was presented by Keith Garner and we said we would watch it on our return to Australia.