Cornwall touring

Friday 20th October

Sky clear and wind only light but quite cold. We needed to get going before Brian, the storm, arrived. First stop (Bruce well rugged up) - the Levant tin and copper mine. Just what you would expect if you are a Poldark fan. Buildings and chimneys made from grey rock on the side of a high cliff above the ocean, a remote and very barren landscape. Now owned by the National Trust, we had a very interesting guided tour (above ground). Opened in 1821  the mine operated until 1930 and made the original speculators very rich men. We were amazed to learn about the working conditions of the 350 men who dug the tunnels which went about a mile out under the sea, and the women and children who sorted and crushed the rock on the surface. Included in the tour was a demonstration of the steam driven beam engine which brought the trucks containing the ore to the surface. Normally visitors can climb down into a tunnel but we could not today because today was the 88th anniversary of an accident which killed 31 men. Their descendants are the only ones allowed to visit the tunnel

 on October 20th each year - most families in the district were affected by the disaster and it caused the mine to close in the following year.

Sky now cloudy and wind speed increasing. Lunch at Lands End - in the Hotel so we could get out of the wind. Short walk for photo - Merilyn wanted to go to Lands End because it seemed a nice thing to do but much of the tourism stuff is very tacky. Back in the car and some windy, narrow hedge lined lanes brought us to the much lauded Mirmak Theatre which is on a headland above the sea but having paid 2 pound for parking I refused to pay another 10 pound to have a look at the theatre - the head
cold is making me grumpy - even grumpier than usual.



Farm near Lands End

A short distance around the coast brought us to Mousehole - yet another picture postcard coastal village with narrow winding streets between the houses and a harbour protected by strong concrete walls - they expect waves to break over the walls at high tide in the morning when Brian should be at full strength. By now it was starting to rain so back to our cottage we went for a home cooked meal, not needing to go out into the wet and cold again.