Lostwithiel, Cornwall

On our recent trip to Cornwall we stopped off at the nearest town to where we were staying to stock up on groceries

Lostwithiel - a small but interesting town nestling at the top of the Fowey Estuary in a sheltered valley, dating back to the 12th century

Adding on the following photograph as I was so impressed with it and forgot to include it in the cottage photos 

It is one of the bathrooms in our cottage and the owner had painted this lovely mural on the wall - a continuing of the birds on the branches of a tree depicted on the window blind 

The Sea of Poppies

The Sea of Poppies at The Tower of London

The sea of hand made ceramic poppies at the Tower received it's last Poppy today, on  the 100th anniversary of the first world war.

One Poppy for each person killed - almost

900,000 in all.

Hard to imagine that number of people never coming home.

During the four months that they have been building up it is estimated that 5 million people have visited.

Tomorrow they will start to be dismantled.

They have already been sold, the profits going to forces charities.

Lit up at night

21 gun salute

The last Poppy being laid today by a 13 year old cadet

Two minutes silence and the various dignitaries

Lest we forget!

The Jamaica Inn of Daphne Du Maurier, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall

Jamaica Inn was used by smugglers on their way to London from the Cornish coast

the modern side of the Inn where we enjoyed our coffee

and the original smugglers bar known as

Joss's bar

Mary Yellan and Joss Merlyn

Squire Bassett

Alan fooling around

The beginning of the bleak moorland

There is a very interesting and historical museum but we are wanting to be on our way as we are homeward bound today. We did not know at this point that it was going to take us 7 hours to travel 175 miles to our overnight stop. Motorway closures, congested traffic and accidents!!!

The book was made into a film and below is a brief outline of the story

Her Mother's dying request takes Mary Yellan on a sad journey across the bleak moorland of Cornwall to Reach Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt Patience. With the coachman's warning echoing in her memory, Mary arrives at a dismal place to find Patience a changed woman, cowering from her overbearing husband, Joss Merlyn.

Affected by the Inn's brooding power, Mary is thwarted in her attention to reform her aunt, and unwillingly drawn into the dark deeds of Joss and his accomplices. As she struggles with events beyond her control she is further thrown by her feelings for a man she dare not trust...

and how Daphne came to write the book

On a cold and eerie night in 1930, writer Daphne Du Maurier arrived at Jamaica Inn, high on the windswept Bodmin Moor.

The following day she went riding with a friend but the mist suddenly came down. They got lost and it started to get dark. In the end they saved themselves by dismounting and seeing if the horses would lead them back, which thankfully they did. Daphne stayed a few moor nights to recover from the ordeal and learned about the legendary history of Jamaica Inn including the smuggling that had gone on there. This, the atmosphere of the hostelry and the wild moor, inspired her to write her most famous and inspiring novel, Jamaica Inn.

It's many decades since I read the book so it's on my Christmas list to read again. 

Polkerris, Cornwall.

This was our last full day in Cornwall and I really felt I wanted a quiet, relaxing day close by

so

We drove to the top of the cliff via. a winding single track lane (lots if these in Cornwall) from where we were staying, passing Kilmarth, the last home of the writer Daphne De Maurier, for a view before driving down to the harbour

We are looking across St. Austell Bay from the East side this time.

We have parked the car

and arrive at this tiny Hamlet where there is little more than a few cottages, an Inn, restaurant, shop, cafe and a gallery.

the tide is on it's way out and as you can see the water comes up close

We wandered the sands 

and falling cliffs

Polkerris is a popular place for beginners of windsurfing and water sports because of it's sheltered position 

and rock pools

before walking back

to The Rashleigh Inn on the Beach for lunch

It was a hot and sunny day and most people preferred to sit outside - however we preferred  the coolness and tranquillity inside 

I also had this darling cat for company

The food was delicious and I wondered how I would ever get through this enormous freshly caught whole Plaice in a butter and Caper sauce

Alan being a man opted for the steak pie and mash

the cat was trained to not ask people for food but was very pleased when I asked him to help me out when I had finished all I could manage

(this is rural Cornwall remember and not a city restaurant!)

After eating  we continued to wander around this peaceful place

Most of the surrounding land here belongs to the Rashleigh family of Menabilly which was made famous by Daphne Du Maurier and her husband 

Sir Frederick Browning

 and visited a lovely gallery with very expensive pottery and paintings

The tide is out now and Mum's have brought their young children to enjoy the beach

 We sat on a wall for a while enjoying the warmth of the sun. I really did not want to leave this peaceful setting as we had been out visiting places all day, every day for a week but knew we needed to get back to our cottage and prepare for leaving the next day.

I still have 2 more postings on Cornwall so do come back and enjoy.