Moved

Have moved to ----------------------->>>>> Memento

Decided to move to a wider set of subjects so no more posts here, see you there

Seaweed

When I was young I used to hate seaweed, it seemed almost like a creature out to get you when you were swimming...the texture, the colours and the smell .... really off-putting. There appears to be less of it around now and having seen it from the sea floor it's a lot more interesting. Useful for many things there is (of course) a website dedicated to it.

Sad

This horse seemed to have such a sad expression...must be the dark patches around the eyes.

Beer

Not the drink but a small fishing village in Devon. The spread of the Internet is such that even this small place has not only a .co.uk but also a .com.

I was going to start an argument about which country has the best beer in the world but thought better of it :-)

Google map

Mussels

Never tasted them and don't really fancy trying them, I prefer my sea food with a bit more to get the teeth into.

Beach

It just struck me that a beach scene is ever changing, the shapes and colours sometimes are not even noticed by the people enjoying the sun and the sea.

Claw

Balls

Actually they are bouys...... in a tree ...some way from the sea shore ..... in Cadgwith...a place with many surprises.

Parked

Post

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

Keep out

A Tin mine shaft near Porthleven is fenced off to prevent accidents but I think the sea has claimed some of the land since it was erected. Cornwall was the world's leading Tin mining area with over 2,000 mines in the 1870's, since that time the industry has been decimated to virtual extinction, with the last mine closing in 1998. There has been much talk of it re-opening but so far the only open mines are now tourist attractions.

Brunel Bridge

Was Isambard Kingdom Brunel the greatest engineer ever to have lived ? Voted the second greatest Britain of all time, this is his Royal Albert Bridge joining the counties of Devon and Cornwall from the Plymouth side. His other achievements include:

• the first tunnel under the river Thames (at Rotherhithe)
• the flattest, widest brick arch bridge in the world (at Maidenhead)
• the longest span of any bridge in the world at the time of conception (at Clifton)
• the longest railway tunnel in the world at that time (at Bath)
• the worlds first atmospheric railway (between Newton Abbot and Exeter)
• the largest steamship in the world (the Great Western)
• the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic (the Great Britain)
• laying the first trans-Atlantic cable (the Great Eastern)
  

Someone on the Cornish side was feeling a little patriotic when painting their house (or pub).

Telescope

Sea spay and metal just don't get on well together. A telescope at Mevagissey harbour, did not try it out but guess it does not work so well anymore.

Foam

Stepping back from the view from yesterday the sea had left foam on the shoreline rocks, I was hoping that this was some form of natural phenomenon but the doubter in me thinks that may have been optimistic.

Kynance Cove

For some reason these rocks remind me of coal. This was a stormy day at Kynance Cove, there has been a settlement here since 300BC but not too many people were there on this day. The waves (in the background) were fairly high but the rocks broke them before they reached the shore edge.

Green technology has reached this cove with photovoltaic solar slates, natural wool insulation, solar water heating and biobubble sewage waste system. On a sunny day this must be a very popular place as the superb 360^o view on this site shows.
A better Kynance storm photo by another photographer
Multimap

Sea Tractor

When the sea floods the causeway between Burgh Island and Bigbury-on-Sea this sea tractor takes passengers across the short stretch between mainland and island. This is the 3rd generation vehicle, apparently dating back to 1966....if your car drove through all that salt water as often as this tractor does would it still be running as well as this does ? £1.50 each way for the slowest thrill ride around.

Lobster pot

Life is interesting because people have such different perspectives on the same thing, to a fisherman this is a livelihood, to a vergetarian this is a house of death, but to a photographer it's a work of art.

Blonde

Came across some very friendly horses, obviously used to being fed by people walking past. This one really stood out as it's hair seem to be the sort of blonde that some women would kill for. I feel strangely attracted to it ! :-) (sorry).

To get the "model" effect on the Polperro picture ? ..... try this

Foghorn

A different shot of a different lighthouse. This is the foghorn is on the Lizard lightouse and blasts every 30 seconds when needed. These foghorns are probably about 2 metres tall so would not want to be standing underneath at the time.
Yes, the sky really was that blue...in March...in England....not always grey skies.

Start Point

Another sunny Winter's day. The lighthouse has been at Start Point for over 150 years and was manned until 1993. The coatsline is treacherous for shipping, there are wrecks all around, one lies just 200 metres from the rocks in front of here.
Google satellite image

Polperro harbour

Thanks to Louise for some great inspirational photos and Danielle for the help here is my attempt at the "model village" effect....got a little way to go in practising this technique.

Polperro is a truly picturesque fishing village in Cornwall, dating back to the 13th Century and including much smuggling along the way. In the holiday season cars have to park in the car park at the edge of the village and visitors have to walk or catch the "horse bus".
Bootsnall travel guide
Google Map

Cadgwith

It is still winter and although the sun shines the air is cold at the moment, here was a reminder of warmth with a touch of the Caribbean in the heart of Cornwall. This yellow house is near the harbour in the fishing village of Cadgwith. Even this small place has its own website and was the location for the 2004 film Ladies in Lavender. It is also the subject of a traditional Cornish ballad with an arrangement by Steeleye Span. Not bad for a little place on the edge of England.
Rough Guide to Cadgwith

Rubbish

The sea is our dustbin, and it is emptied out on our beaches. Actually, plastic bottles are the worst, they seem to be on every beach these days.

Gunwalloe Beach

This beach is probably heaving in the Summer but on a beautiful sunny March day it was deserted, not another soul on two miles of sand. Shame that the currents make it too dangerous to swim. Is it my imagination or are those footprints in the sand just single foot marks ?

Rock hole

View through upright rock near Stoke Point.

Not quite Key West

Polpeor Cafe, Great Britain's most southerly cafe, just a few metres from the most southerly point of the country, next stop is France. Anyone for a pot of tea ?
Google Map

Wireless

Walking along the Lizard path we came across this plaque on a wall by a wooden shed. The shed is the restored wireless station where in 1901 Guglielmo Marconi made the distance record by receiving signals from 186 miles away, transmitted from the Isle of Wight. The hut also received the world's first SOS signal from a ship, pre-dating the Titanic SOS by 2 years. This hut is the oldest surviving Marconi wireless station in the world. There is even a Victorian mystery novel based on the murky world of wireless in the early 1900's.

Rock pool

There is a world inside every rock pool, full of life and different colours, even in the winter. This is actually a rock but it seems alive in itself.

Bond's Beach

Holywell Beach, no filters or post processing it was just a murky day.

The beach was invaded by "North Koreans" for the James Bond film "Die Another Day" in 2002.
Holywell as North Korea
Wikipedia's volumes on 007
Bond's UK locations

Lizard Lifeboat station

Looking up and down the Lizard Lifeboat station lift. A 45m cliff descent for every launch. In the days of Hollywood heros always saving the day the people that man this lifeboat are real heros, volunteers risking their lives to save others, any time, night or day, stopping whatever they are doing to launch for a rescue. Many people owe their lives to the real heros of the RNLI. Pity they don't get the recognition that some of the fake heros do. So if you visit the coast give generously to the RNLI, they deserve it.
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Lizard Lifeboat
Lizard Lifeboat station

Mevagissey Fisherman

Someone trying to catch some fish on a clear sunny March day in Mevagissey harbour. Mevagissey hit the news headlines because of a controversy over "Hitler Walk", an example of where Political Correctness and people moving into the area affect local life as it has been for over 60 years.
People's views on Mevagissey
Google Map

Going walking

Going walkabout in Cornwall, won't be posting for a few days... unless I find a hotpsot.

Surfing at Bantham

Bantham Beach is a popular spot for surfers in Devon, who go out in all weathers and find the sea warmer than the air in the winter (its 0^oC/32^oF today, sea is probably about 9^oc/48^oF). The surf is not that big in the UK (compared with major surf locations) but 6+ metre waves have been known.

This one is for Annika, my youngest daughter, who has often surfed here and is now on her way to Australia to catch some bigger waves.
Webcam
Beachwizard
Magicseaweed

Parking

Advice from the Witchcraft Museum best not ignored.