One day, while the mist was particularly thick, we decided to do something a bit different. We went to a Roman ruin, approximately 1st century. It is estimated to be that old because it was of the iron age (800 BC to 100 AD), the later years of which coincided with Roman settlements (or should I say occupation?). There are now around 100 Iron Age sites that have been discovered in Great Britain.
I'm somewhat interested in the growth of the Roman Empire and I've read about it off and on over the years. At a bookstore in London, I saw a tourist map of Great Britain organized by Roman name places with sites of interest noted. Had we not already planned our trip, I would have been tempted to do the Roman route.
The site that we visited is called Chysauster. It has a great view from near the crest of the hill for about 10 miles down to the sea. No one could get a jump on them, unless of course it was a pea-soup foggy day like the day that we were there. We couldn't see a football field away.
Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to take meaningful photos of ruins, because they basically just look like piles of rocks. But, here's an attempt to show the site.
These are rooms within a circular house. The houses were built with rooms or enclosures surrounding a central open area. There would be a center pole to hold up the roof which would extend across to the exterior wall.
At this site, there were eight houses, spread over the area, plus some other buildings which were probably enclosed areas for the animals and supplies.
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While in Cornwall we stayed in a small, but very crowded and very busy fishing village right next to Penzance. It was high up on a hill which directly abutted the waterfront. That made for an "interesting" climb up the narrow road with the buildings on one side and the cliff immediately on the other side. After a week of driving back and forth, I got very used to it and could zip around like a local, but my first time up that hill was tricky.
Here's a photo from the front step of our apartment. It gives a suggestion of the height of the road.
The town where we stayed, Newlyn, is home to the largest fishing fleet in the country and this port provides nearly all of the fish sold in England. There are other fishing ports, but this is by far the busiest.
Penzance is about half way around the large bay. It and the other towns and villages around cater to the tourist business. "Holiday lets" abound. In fact, just about the total southern shore of Cornwall and Devon is all a tourist destination. Being that we are here in the shoulder season, there are plenty of tourists around but the streets are not clogged with them.
Across the bay from our cottage rental is St. Michael's Mount. Sounds remarkably like Mont St Michel? There's a reason for that. The French brothers found a similar rock in the harbor here and started another monastery. The two monasteries were linked for a couple of centuries until the one here in the bay was sold for 800 pounds Sterling, which must have been pretty close to the whole of the treasury at the time.
The property is now under the care of the National Trust, although (like many of the NT properties) part of the family still lives there. The castle is open to any of the public that wants to pay the fee and can climb up the punishing rock access road. I use the term "road" very loosely. It is a steep ox-cart type road with rocks set in on an angle, making a very difficult climb.
To my astonishment, the family has no other access other than this same path. I can't imagine them leaving very often. Going for groceries must be a chore. They probably have help that do those chores for them, but you can't send someone else to get a haircut for you.
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We've been to quite a few of the National Trust properties by now, and by far, Lanhydrock is one of my favorites. It is a lovely house, in very good condition and fully furnished. It has this gorgeous gate house, not the least bit crumbling.
The rooms were all set up as they would have been when the family was still there. I believe that this is one house where the family is no longer in residence.
Although it is interesting to see houses that are in a state of repair or reconstruction, it is also very nice to see houses that have been kept in good condition by the successive families. This one is a gem.
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It's our last day in Cornwall and we are treated to lovely sunshine. We've had a lot of fog, mist, clouds and some outright rain this week, but this day is beautiful.
We decided to take a drive down to the southern most point in Great Britain, a section of the country called The Lizard. I have no idea why it has that name. I haven't seen any explanation. The drive turned out to be quite a bit longer than it appeared on the map, but it was a nice drive.
The National Trust owns approximately one tenth of the total coastline of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That's a lot of coastline under their protection from development. Part of their holdings is the coastline of The Lizard. At the point there is a rather nondescript lighthouse over the rock cliff:
It also has the remains of a defunct life saving station. The boat house and ramp are shown here.
The shoreline all around here is extremely treacherous and has claimed many ships over time with much loss of life.
We had our picnic on a bench overlooking the rocks. It reminded me of Pemaquid and I temporarily felt a bit homesick. The drive back to the main road was the usual one lane, banks high up on both sides, twisty/turny, can't see ahead kind of road. I'm getting used to them.
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