Billy Bray's Chapel

Billy Bray was a hard drinking Cornish tin miner who found Christianity and faith after a troubled early life. He then built three  chapels with his son. Most of the work was done after the end of a shift down the mine.

We visited one of those chapels on Sunday to find a geocache nearby. Built in 1836, it is a plain building, but the story of the man who built it makes it special. To me it is a story of hope that any person may change to live a better and more caring life...

... I'm glad we visited it.

Until next time
Gillian

Bissoe Revisited

We went walking and geocaching along the final stretch of the Bissoe Trail on Sunday. It was a flat walk on a very hot day- for England!  

We came across another viaduct. This one carries the modern rail line. The pillars beside it were part of the original viaduct dating from the 1830's. The rail line was built on wooden struts on top of the stone pillars that still remain. We saw a sketch of it on an information plaque, and have to say it looked pretty  fragile.

Despite the heat Sean roamed everywhere- I'm sure he does a much greater distance than us, going back and forwards. He also had fun taking his own photos.

Until next time

Gillian

Walking in the woods

 Today we went geocaching in Hustyn Woods. When we pulled up to the tiny carpark there were two other cars with people getting ready and holding GPS's so we all had a good old chat before setting off in opposite directions so we weren't getting in each others way. We bumped into them all again at the half way point and again at the end when we all wished someone had bought a barbeque... 






We had help from Kieran now caching under the name Eggbert25 and Sean aka Pirate Sean.


















Hustyn Woods really is a beautiful place, very quiet and serene.  You feel very alone with nature in these woods.


We thoroughly enjoyed our walk in the woods- another place we had never been to before and probably would never have found without geocaching. We also met some lovely people who I hope we meet again soon. Particularly Mr and Mrs "Badger Scout"- who told us they were 79 and 80 years old (they actually looked at least 20 years younger)- they clearly don't let age get in their way as they arrived back in the carpark at the same time as us!!! I mean this most sincerely, and hope it doesn't sound in any way rude, but what an inspiration!!!- I want to have their energy and enthusiasm for getting out and about when I'm their age.


So until next time
Gillian

Creative Serendipity: Favourite Photos

Creative Serendipity: Favourite Photos: "These were the best photos I've taken in a long time. I think photos with stormy skies stand out as super dramatic and we had very stormy sk..."

Charlestown

Today we visited Charlestown, a beautiful historic harbour village, recently used for filming an episode of Doctor Who.


We had a delightful walk around the village and along the stony beach under stormy grey skies.

















Sean loved the beach as he particularly enjoys skimming stones, a trick his grandad Dawson also likes.


For a while he had the whole beach to himself.












Looking back towards the harbour...

For a while the sun came out...

I would have loved to have included some photos of the tall ships usually moored here, but unfortunately there were not in the harbour today. 

 It was still a good day. We completed the Cornwall's Mining Heritage- Charlestown Harbour earthcache and one other. We would have liked to do another but hadn't prepared ahead so hadn't bought the necessary torch and wellies...I'm giving no more clues as we are looking forward to doing that one really soon and I'll tell more when we do.

We had a fabulous day, and I am especially delighted with the photos- there's nothing like a stormy sky to give an interesting photograph.


Until next time
Gillian

Bowl a maiden over

Like father, like son....

In the Bissoe area is a series of geocaches titled "Bowl a maiden over...". This is a seven stage cache around old mine workings. The track is supposed to be around 3 miles long but I think we did at least triple that covering the area. Admittedly we took a couple of wrong turns. Or rather, we took the right turns, went a little way along, convinced ourselves we were wrong and turned back. Only to go the wrong way, then realise we were right the first time, and then have to completely retrace our steps.... If that all sounds confusing then it accurately reflects our confusion over which paths to take on the day. Well actually it took a day and a half...

It is hard to get a grip on  how much mining was done in this small area, first for copper then for tin. It has had a massive effect on the landscape







This sign was part of our downful. We don't  go to places which say no public access- reasoning that it might be dangerous etc. However if you read down this sign the small print says except on certain paths. Trouble is we only read the large print from a distance and convinced ourselves this could not be the intended path... We then headed back looking for another path, and of course this was the one we were meant to be on all along!

We saw several mine shafts covered by safety metal grid cones. You couldn't see the bottom in most, they must have been quite deep.

There were others that looked like doors in the cliff face. We could look inside and till see all the wooden props. The miners must have had to stoop horribly to go in- even I would have to bend and I'm not that tall.

My favourites are the engine and wheel houses and stacks. They are so typically Cornish. You wouldn't see anything like it elsewhere in England.

















This series of caches took us to one after another, after another...














The engine houses vary widely in their condition, this one looking very fragile now.

John 

 Others were still standing tall, reflecting the strong and sturdy construction methods used to build them.

 Sean rushed to the walkway to get into this photo  as we wouldn't let him climb into the engine house like his dad

Sean was a little jealous of the offroad bikers using the huge pit as a playground.

Where the land is wet it is very lush looking, though the rivers run red due to the minerals in the water.

It feels like quite a privilege to have such wonderful heritage/history on our doorstep. We were really glad that geocaching took us here- we would never have found this place without it.

Until next time

Gillian

Down Bissoe Way

We spent two days exploring the area around Bissoe last week. There is an excellent cycle/walking trail from Portreath through Bissoe to Devoran along an old mineral tram line. It passes through a nature reserve at Bissoe and is a beautiful gentle walk.

We also found our 100th geocache along this route, so it will sit in our memory for a long time. It's hard to believe that we've done so many in such a short time..

Back to Bissoe...One of the most notable things here is the colour of the rivers. They run red with the traces of nearby copper mining evident.

That's only part of the mineral story here. At Bissoe is the site of an arsenic works. Arsenic was processed here until the second world war. It is a little alarming that there are many signs advising you to stay out of the water and away from the river banks 65 years after production ceased.

This is all that remains of the arsenic refinery.

It was a lovely walk, relaxing after the hard walking of recent days.

We are still amazing at Sean's stamina, walking 7.5 miles over some really rough terrain and then running along the track.

This is my favourite photo along this trail, looking back towards where we have walked over the previous couple of days.

In the foreground , behind the lake, is the arsenic works, just visible at the top on the far right is one of the many engine houses we explored whilst in the area.

We haven't walked much of the trail and will be back sometime in the summer.  This is a wonderful area with a very varied landscape. Another incentive to come back are the wonderful bacon rolls from Bissoe Bike Hire- the best we've ever had!

Until next time

Gillian

Boscastle

I'll start by saying we went geocaching last Sunday, but frankly it wasn't our most successful day.  


We went up to the north coast of Cornwall to Boscastle, which is about 3 miles from Tintagel. It has a beautiful little harbour which is the only natural break in the coast line for miles along the coast. The village was badly damaged by flooding in August 2004 after flood water surged through the village. It was our first visit since then and it was wonderful to see the village looking better then ever.







We spent some time strolling through the village taking lots of photos- Boscastle is one of those places that if you showed me a photo I would know it was in Cornwall just form the way it looks.






John with Sean:- looking inland from the harbour entrance.












Sean demanded we take his photo here- what a little poser!














The harbour is very picturesque...

Past the breakwater

The waves broke wildly on the inlet cliffs

We walked along a Panoramic Trail which gave us great views of the village...

This is Sean at the search location- examining rocks and rock formations














This sea gull wouldn't move even when we walked right past it.






This is Sean's first log under his own profile name, Pirate Sean.

















We continued walking on the cliffs by the upper village, curious about this amazing building which we later found out is a Coastwatch Lookout but was built by a local merchant called Thomas Avery in the 1820's. Avery was also rumoured to be a wrecker. Wreckers would cause ships to crash onto the rocks using false lights to lure them into danger and would then steal the cargo off the wrecked ship.

John is way more daring than me. I am terrified of heights and feel like the edge is going to pull me over if I get to close. Maybe I am not cut out for coastal walks!!! 

The view was amazing- even from a long way back from the edge.






 




The car park looks a long way down from where we were.

The good points of the day were that we had a lovely walk, burning up a fair few calories and exercising our glutteal muscles as we climbed some long steep hills. 

We also had the most amazing ice-creams- I should have taken a photo but I was to busy savouring it!!! 


So although the geocaching didn't go as well as we'd have liked, we had a good day out.


Until next time
Gillian