EIS – Cornwall Excursion (Day 22)

EIS – Cornwall Excursion (Day 22)

(9/8/2010) Our drive today takes us on an excursion through Cornwall ending at the western point of England known as Lands End. As we drive by the country side, we pass sites where tin mines existed. On hills on both sides of the coach along the road, we see chimneys used for delivering air to the underground tunnels. Many of the tin mines closed down when prices for tin became very low.

As we get to the coast we are near the town of Penzance, (yes the same city as in “The Pirates of”). We stop to get a view of St. Michaels. Not a close view and not for very long. The Abby built on a small island, is accessible during low tide. It is low tide when we get there and we can see people walking to the island. You just need to make sure you return before the tide comes in or you’re swimming back.

As we leave the parking lot overlooking the beach and St. Michaels, we head to Lands End. The buildings at Lands End contain tourist traps like a couple of theaters for special movies, shops, restaurants, and other stores.  But, walking past it all you get to some great views, this one looking left, or south.

The views to the right (north) are just as good as the views on the other side.  The cliff here appears to have pinnacles similar to Hoodoos (found in Bryce Canyon in Utah, USA) or the rock cylinders at the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland.

Heading west from Lands End there is nothing but water until you reach New York which is 3147 miles away, well if you skip these islands and lighthouse.

Views up and down the coast are great. I walked north to the next piece of land jutting out into the sea and was able to get another view of the coast further to the north. You can clearly see a cave along the bottom of the cliff. Not sure if the tide was in or out or if water goes into the cave, but you can imagine a coast like this in the book Kidnapped.

Looking at the cliff at the end, you can see an old stone outpost now used as a place to view the coast without coming to the Lands End property.  I think there was a path from the Lands End property to that point but since I didn't walk it I cannot say for sure.

Leaving Lands End, we head to the coastal town of St. Ives. Again, we pass tin mines on the landscape. This one also has a building with the chimney.

Arriving in St. Ives, we have to park up on a hill overlooking the town because the streets cannot handle the coach size. Looking down on the town, you can see that the tide is out. The section of the town to the left of the beach is part of the old town.

You can see from streets, the coach would never have navigated these streets. As it is, you can see six people across makes it crowded. Some of the street are even narrower than this one barely wide enough for a car.

The protected harbor is a sandy beach when the tide is out, as you can see here. Many people come to the “beach” created by the low tide to lie out in the sun.

There are many boats in the sand and many ropes lying in the sand tied to row boats.

While I was out on the harbor wall, a tractor pulling a rescue boat came down from the street and across the sand to the water. After turning around the boat, the tractor drove backwards into the sea until it was almost totally under water. After unhooking the boat, the tractor returned to the sand and back to the street.

As I walked back up to the coach, I turned and looked out to the harbor. The tide is returning and you can see many of the boats back in the water. Although, you can see by the water line on the wall that there is still more tide to come in.

As we left, we encountered, and not for the first time and I’m sure not the last time, roads that were so narrow we were rubbing the foliage that grows right up to the side of the road. Several times, vehicles had to back up or stop in a wider section in order for us to pass by.



Until later, Bob and Carmen – EIS.