Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

{A six part tale of my road trip through Cornwall.}

Sennen Cove

My next destination was Sennen Cove, almost at the end of the country, with its majestic sweep of beach and good surfing. I’d booked three nights there in a luxurious little cabin up on the cliff, which was well placed for exploring all around the tip of Cornwall. I arrived in a howling gale that afternoon, which thankfully only lasted a day and a night {I don’t do well with wind}, and the next morning was up and off to see the main reason I was down here – the Minack Theatre.

Boats at Sennen

Initially {and somewhat hilariously} I’d thought the Minack was centuries old; turns out it was built in 1930 by a clearly visionary and determined woman, Rowena Cade. I skipped the history video because I wanted to just immerse in the atmosphere and architecture of the theatre.

The Minack Theatre

Even on a grey day it was a marvel. The energy there felt very good to me; I sat for quite a while {after thoroughly inspecting the whole thing and taking all the photos} and just soaked it up. I shared a picture on Instagram which generated some fantastic tales of experiences of seeing plays there, with fireworks and stars and the magnificence of having the backdrop of the sea just behind the actors.

Steps down to the Minack Theatre

Minack stems from the Cornish for ‘rocky place’, and I love that the word sounds like something from the Roman myths; it feels fitting. Afterwards I had a hot chocolate in what must surely be the cafe with one of the best views in the world. My view as I sipped was this, which doesn’t really do justice to the scale and the feel of the place:

Porthcurno Beach

One of the waitresses told me that a few weeks ago a humpback whale had visited! I was sorry to have missed that. She said there were sometimes dolphins too, when the water was choppy.

My next stop was Land’s End, the most westerly point of the UK, and let me say up front that if you’re considering going, my suggestion is: don’t bother. When I got there I discovered a really tacky sort of themed village, and the views were frankly not spectacular. I’m not even going to include photos; weather aside it felt bleak and characterless.

I moved swiftly on to Cape Cornwall for a quick peep at the only cape in the UK, which at least had some boats. 😉

Cape Cornwall

Cape Cornwall

On the way home I stopped in St Just, which has some art galleries and a lovely old church. I like to wander through graveyards sometimes, especially the kind with drunken headstones and beautiful carving and a feeling of layered time.

***

The next day was Culture Day. It was raining, which worked out quite well if you’re going to have rain, and I managed to pack in several galleries in Penzance and Newlyn, as well as revisiting Marazion and Mousehole. {Yay!} Partly I wanted to see what they were like on a grey day, and whether the feelings I’d had when I first visited still stood. They did, albeit in a more sedate way. 🙂

Clockwise from top: Out of the Blue Gallery {Marazion}, Cornwall Contemporary {Penzance. David Mankin painting facing}, Out of the Blue Gallery

I had forgotten how much I love to see paintings in person. You can interact with them on a completely different level than seeing them on the screen {obviously}; it becomes a multi-sensory experience. I was particularly happy to be able to see a couple of David Mankin’s paintings. I follow him on Instagram and am crazy about his work.

Mousehole. With boats.

The Newlyn Art Gallery was a disappointment; I hadn’t managed to grasp that it was all modern installation art, which is not my area and although I occasionally enjoy it, it’s quite rare a rare occurrence and for me not worth a twenty minute trudge through the rain! That was when I decided to revisit the two Ms. 🙂

Sketching in Mousehole

I spent a happy while enjoying a cream tea in ‘Hole Foods’ in Mousehole {made me giggle when I first saw it}, and then doing some sketching on the harbour wall.

One more post to go! My last couple of days, which included Falmouth, Boscastle, Tintagel, Port Quin, Port Isaac and Trebarwith Strand. {Phew!} Get ready for me dorking out over Doc Martin’s house.