Photos of St Ives, Kynance Cove, Cape Cornwall and other beautiful beaches in Cornwall

St Ives Cornwall

We rented a fabulous little cottage right on Porthmeor Beach St Ives Cornwall.

 

 

 

The weather the whole week we were there was warm and sunny every day.  Every night there was a fabulous sunset.

We went out every day and found new and interesting beaches, coves and bays.  Quaint little fishing villages and shops to explore.  We went to Padstow one day.  It is nicknamed Padstein because Rick Stein has so many shops there, so I checked it out.  he has a fish and chip shop, a fresh fish shop, a delicatessan, a bakery, a cafe, a B&B and a gift store selling Rick Stein branded t'towels,  his cook books, his wifes soaps, lotions and potions.  It is amazing.

 

Colin went on a speedboat ride around the harbour with Janet, a friend of ours from Australia who was staying in Penzance.  They loved it.  Not my thing at all.

Another day we went to a lovely town called St Agnes and then to the beach which is called Church Porth.  Absolutely beautiful.  There are all these caves, natural caves worn into the rock that you can explore at low tide.  I would imagine they would have been used by smugglers.  Miles and miles of pristine beach to walk along.  

 

 

We went to Bedruthen steps which Colin used to holiday as a child.  It is very rugged and beautiful coastline accessed by very steep and quite treacherous steps because they are so old and worn and different heights.  The beach is only accessible at low tide so you have to know the tide times before you go down or you will be cut off.

 

 

The views from the headland are breathtaking.  You can see along the coast for miles.  We went to Lands End.  It is very commercial there.  They've built a small shopping complex and a huge carpark where they slug you £6 to park.   But there is a lovely path to walk along and admire the views.  We were told you could see the Scilly Isles the day we went, but we couldnt see them.

 

 

We went to The Lizard which is the most southerly point of the UK.  I like that better than Lands End.  The Lizard is much less touristy.  There is a cafe there, a quirky little shed with a shop attached where the owner fashions Serpentine rock into jewelry and ornaments.  I bought myself a lovely serpentine rock pendant.  One for Sarah as well.

 

 

We went to Mullion Cove which I love.  It is a tiny fishing village.  There's always some boats in the small harbour and lots of lobster pots.  There's a few houses and a couple of holiday cottages.  It is very quiet and a beautiful rugged coastline.  The last time we were there we met this guy Robert and he told us he had written a book about soaprock.  it is what was mined in the area for making fine bone china.  He pointed out the scarred landscape where the soaprock had been mined and told us all about the history of the area.   He wasnt there this time we visited.  

Every day we walked on our beach.  every night we watched the sunset of over the hill.  I am going to miss that.  I am missing waking up and see the sea first thing in the morning from our window. 

We left yesterday and headed off down the road only to be stuck in traffic so at the first opportunity we got off the main road onto a narrow winding lane and through the countryside and out onto Bodmin Moor where we saw Highland cows, the really pretty long haired caramel coloured cows.  They are beautiful.  We also saw some standing stones.  We got completely lost and had the best time.  It was a great adventure.

 

 

We then arrived in Weymouth which is a quite pretty seaside town with a lovely harbour.  We walked and walked all around Weymouth yesterday afternoon and evening.

 

 

Bath

we had a week in Bath.  we rented a beautiful apartment in a listed Georgian building.  It was about 10 mins walk from the centre of town, a pretty walk along Great Pultney Street past the elegant Georgian houses, over the Pultney Bridge and past the parade gardens with their beautiful floral displays.

 

The day after we arrived we watched the start of the 2 week long Jane Austen festival.  The first event was a parade through the streets of over 500 people dressed in Regency costume.  they beat the world record for number of people dressed in Regency costume.  It was great to see and the costumes were outstanding.

The parade finished in the parade gardens and they had elegant picnics with fine bone china as they would have done in Jane Austens time.

For the remainder of the week we continued to see people dressed in Regency costume.  You know what, it doesnt look at all out of place in this beautiful city full of creamy Bath stone Georgian townhouses and mansions.

 

 

We did some day trips from Bath to places such as Weston-Super-Mare for a walk on the beach and the pier and double decker bus ride to another beach which was more like a ride at Luna Park as the bus bounced, lurched and swayed along the narrow coastal road.  We went to Wells to see the magnificent Wells Cathedral and wandered around the pretty village.  We went to Glastonbury and climbed Glastonbury Tor and also went to the ruined Abbey.

 

 

We spent some time at the Thermae Spa pools.  It is an ultra modern establishment with two natural spring water fed pools and the water is 33 degrees.  It is the same water that is in the Roman Baths down the road that the  Romans bathed in 2000 years ago.  There is one rooftop pool with stunning views of the Bath skyline and one indoor pool with a bubbly spa in one section and whirlpool that goes around it, so you can hang on to a pool noodle and just float around with the current.  Very relaxing and fun.  There are also 4 steam rooms with different fragrances such as eucylyptus, ginger, lemon and so on.  In the middle of these 4 circular glass steam rooms is an intense shower.  The water comes out with tremendous force.  It is lukewarm so you go into a steam room for as long as can take and then cool off under the shower and then try another room and so on.  all very relaxing.  We spent two hours there.  You can either do 2 hours or 4 hours.

 

 

One evening we went along to a football match.  By football I mean soccer.  Our friend Janet is a supporter of the Bristol Rovers and a friend of hers got us all free tickets to the directors box so we went along.  Dont really know anything about soccer but it was interesting and the Rovers won 3-1 so that was good.  We had sandwiches and tea and coffee at half time.  there was a crowd of nearly 5000 there so the atmosphere was pretty good.

The week went very fast and we didnt do everything that was on our list.  We'll have to come back another time.