Day 44  - Hayle to Mousehole

 

Date: Thursday 17^th June 2010   Distance: 33.97 Miles

 

We visited St. Ives being overtaken by cyclists on their way to Land’s End from John o groats. Several tried to be encouraging, telling us that we were nearly there! Little did they know! As usual the road into town was very busy and the little narrow but quaint streets couldn’t cope with more than one sort of traveller whether on foot, cycle or car and heaven help the lorries! There were shops to suit all pockets and some very unusual ones. Craft work of all sorts and Pat bought some beautiful leather baby shoes for granddaughter, Lizzie.

 

The hills were steep every where. A fit population we would think. It was a demoralising climb out because of the traffic, which we had to continually stop for but we were cheered by the stunning views of the sea. Granite outcrops balanced large boulders on smaller ones, defying gravity. When the through traffic to Penzance left the route it was much less busy. We stopped at the Tinners Arms that looked like a lovely place for a B and B being near to Zennor. It was characterful with nice friendly people, but we had to press on after coffee and tea.

 

We have been told that the best Cornish pasty comes from McFaddens in St. Just but we still preferred our Warren’s version and they are made here too. The pub we chose of the two there, encouraged everyone to bring their own food, as the chef’s wife had just had a baby and he was on paternity leave. The landlord said he was so good he didn’t want to spoil his reputation by having a stand in.

 

Pat visited the medieval church which had some lovely 15^th Century secco wall paintings. Throughout our journey we have been struck by the natural beauty of the churches built in simple granite often in Cornish random rubble type of construction that doesn’t at all convey how elegantly they sit in their surroundings.

 

On we went to Lands End., which is so commercial we just stopped for some photos and the toilets,

 

Next we came to Lamorna’s Old Mill shop missing out the cove at a dead end. The vegetation is very lush here.  In the garden a peacock was being fed by an elderly lady, who said she had kept the shop for over 5O years. I must have seen her before as this was my 4^th time here. As she had no other customers and I had troubled her to come into the shop, I felt compelled to buy something, settling on a tea cloth as something light to carry on the bike. With a bike weighing 7 stone with all the luggage and bike essentials we are loth to buy many souvenirs.

We carried on to Mousehole where on a hill above was Raginnis Farm in an 18^th century thatched cottage- our next B and B. There were lovely views and a10 minute walk down to Mousehole. We ate at The Ship on the harbour front. We were served really quickly and it was the best value meal so far at just under £7.00.  Lovely fish and chips with bread and butter and a side plate of barbequed peppers and courgettes as an extra because Pat was tired of the statutory peas and salad- delicious.

It was a good night in the cottage, quaint with squeaky floors but peaceful none-the- less. It is part of a 120 acre tenant farm and the hosts had lived there 40 years. The lady was a few months younger than Pat,which made her feel ancient