Cornwall

The last two days we have been in Cornwall. It was an amazing experience! When we first got in we just walked around Penzance some to explore. We walked along the harbor to the next little town of Newlyn, Then we ate at a fancy restaurant.

Penzance

Driving in Cornwall was an experience. David had to quickly learn to drive on the left and do roundabout after roundabout. We’ve learned that the A roads consistently have 2 real lanes (like Church Ave). These are awesome! B roads sometimes have 2 real lanes, sometimes have 2 lanes that aren’t quite wide enough, have 2 lanes where parking is allowed on one side (usually randomly alternating sides), or sometimes go down to 1 lane around an old house, a narrow section in town, over a bridge, or around sharp corners. These are the okay roads that keep you on your toes but do generally allow you to pass people going the opposite direction as long as you are patient and take turns. The other lanes make our our driveway look wide and spacious. One lane, blind corners, and only a few sporadic places that you could pull over to let someone pass. Most of the time it involves one person backing up to the last lay to let someone pass. A bit harrowing! At least not many people drive those roads so you don’t come across many people. It’s just roads that go to centuries old farmhouses. But David did great and didn’t hit anything (other than lots of bushes that were sticking out). We drove 164 miles and it only cost us 25£ to fill up the gas tank (not quite 4 gallons of gas). Basically 4 gallons for $32 ($8/gal), but that’s about 40 mi/gal. So, not bad for a day’s adventure!

Legend of King Arthur at Tintagel Castle (Penawith Peninsula, Penzance, Arthur Pendragon, get it?) Site of his legendary birth

Ancient Sites

Next we headed off to see the ancient sites of Cornwall. They are littered with them all over farmer’s fields. The descriptions for finding them are things like, “The road goes past the turning to Lamora valley and then about a half mile further on, the stone circle can be found in a field on the south side of the road” (Merry Maidens). Or for Sancreed Well, “When you get to Sancreed Beacon there is a lay-by where cars can be parked. A few yards farther on, on the opposite side of the road, a permissive path leads to the well.” Or my favorite, “Lanyon Quoit is located on relatively low-lying land close to Lanyon Farm. A stile leads across a Cornish hedge and the Quoit is a few yards further on.” That one we drove by twice before we found it. These all date from 2500-1500 BC. They are super cool to see and explore. We saw 2 other people at Lanyon Quoit and 2 headed toward Carn Euny as we left, otherwise there was no one else! Of course this is good when you try to drive and the roads are barely wide enough for 1 car.

Cornish countryside from the train

We had a 4.5 hour train ride today, so lots of time to stare out the window! Next stop Bath!