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Been fun, time for a break from this :-)

Gara Rock lookout

Thatched roofed coastguard lookout at Gara Rock. Nearby is a beach that is popular with day trippers from nearby Salcombe, who can catch a ferry from the town. Even though Salcombe is 218 miles by road from London, it is very popular with the City folk who have money to spend. The average house price in certain roads in Salcombe exceeds £600,000. Not bad for a little town in Devon.

Yellow boat

It must be a hard life being a fisherman, dwindling fish stocks, Government quotas restricting the size and number of fish that can be caught, competition with fishing fleets from other countries, dangerously rough seas ... they don't even seem to make much money out of it, it must be a labour of love. At least this was one Spring day when things were calm at sea.

Cuttlefish graveyard

The Cuttlefish is an amazing animal, not as famous as the antics of the Octopus or Squid but this colour changing spaceship like creature is a wonder to see. I once saw three of them lined up like strangle little aliens just floating in front of me watching me watching them. I am not sure if someone had been collecting Cuttlefish bones on the beach or some freak of nature washed them here. Hopefully this is not the result of the Cuttlefish fishermen.

As a child we had a budgerigar as a pet, cuttlefish bone was a favourite dish for it..personally I thinkI would have preferred the Cuttlefish as the pet.

If you can spare the 1 minute take a look at the European Cuttlefish video on the North Carolina State University biomovies website, you will see what I mean about colour changing spaceship.

Old Harry

Not as famous as Dover's white cliffs these are the Old Harry Rocks, chalk cliffs in Dorset, at the eastern end of the Jurasic coast. Southampton University have their own online geology field trip with lots of information and some great photos.
The satellite photo is great but for something really special .... Google Earth

Window

This window seemed to hold a number of views within itself, a ready made multiple exposure.

Burgh palm

To continue the exotic theme, palm trees...not uncommon in this part of England. When you have walked across the causeway or taken the Sea Tractor stroll up the only and very short road to the few buildings that exist on the little Burgh island. The tide is out on this satellite photo but is still a great shot.

Devon today

For a moment today I forgot what country I was in. This is in fact Sunny Cove in Devon, England, but looks like it belongs somewhere nearer the Equator.

Pebble

For the girl in Nicola's book....is it a heart shape ?

Pebbles

No jokes about the Flintstones, they almost look like sweets. The pale sun of this time of year gives a muted colour to the stones constantly washed by the sea.

Spider crab

Sitting in a rock pool in Devon, a European Spider Crab. This one was about 30 cm/1 foot wide, apparently its Japanese cousin grows up to 4m and lives for 100 years. It really was this pink.

More gorse

The old zoom trick, just can't resist it.

Blue Church

Another touch of the Caribbean in the Cornish fishing village of Cadgwith. Strangely it did not seem too out of place amongst the thatched houses.

Sharrow Grotto

Came across this grotto by accident, if you have good eyesight you will see that it was dug out of the rock over 200 years ago by a Naval man called Lugger partly for a cure for his gout...it must certainly have kept him busy.
On the roof he inscribed verse (how did he have any energy left for that ?) but I think you have to sit inside to be abel to read all of it. A locked gate prevented entry so never got the chance to take a closer look.

In front of the grotto was (before 1784) a Pilchard Palace (fish processing plant) , you can just see the square holes in the rock where wooden beams used to be. Pilchards were big business in Cornwall but I think (like most of the fishing industry) they are having a hard time now. If you fancy easting some The Pilchard Works will mail them !
Historical photos of the area
Satellite photo

Mine hole

The cliff near the previous posting has a man made hole which was probably for the miners to receive air while working...either that or they like the coastal view ! Working conditions were harsh, perhaps holes like this made a small difference.

There are many Tin mine ruins in Cornwall, some views can be seen on the Hokum blog.
Historical film