Our visit to Cornwall part 2 in The View from the Terrace

The British climate is unbelievable. After the period of scorching hot weather it got so cold last week that I dug out my thermal vest again and was needing to put the heating on at times. It also pelted down with rain for two days. These last few days, though, have been just right, warm and sunny but not too hot and I’ve spent some time in the garden planting things that have been waiting ages.

I was in town last Thursday and finally got my hair cut. They only do senior citizen rates Mondays to Wednesdays but I felt I couldn’t leave it any longer. In the end they charged me the senior rate anyway. That was a nice surprise, I am a regular customer but I only go for a cut about 4 times a year. I went into the square in the middle of the town to wait for Hubby and there were seagulls there. We are at least 50 miles from the sea but it is quite common nowadays to see them. It reminded me of an incident that happened in Cornwall.

On our fourth day day we visited Padstow, a charming little fishing town. I have heard about the antics that seagulls get up to nowadays and that day I witnessed it. We were walking from the car park to the town following a family eating chips when suddenly a large gull swooped down and took one from the teenage girl making her scream. It was quite scary but also very funny.

We walked around the harbour and found there were several buskers which really added to the holiday atmosphere. Hubby, as usual, got into conversation with one of them. Then, after a look around the shops, we went for another ice cream, two in one week, I really must watch the calories for a while! We sat on a seat by the harbour to eat it and a greedy looking seagull came prowling around. I told him that seagulls were not supposed to eat ice cream but he waited at my feet until I had finished. They really can be quite intimidating.

Padstow harbour

I could have wandered around the town for ages, it is such a pretty little place.

The following day was our last, we checked out at 10am and then drove up the north coast. This was the day that the temperatures started to rise and I was already feeling rather hot and a little faint. I told Hubby that I needed to get some fresh air so we called in at a little place called Trebarwith Strand. I remembered how my mum once told me that I took my first steps on the beach there during a holiday with her and my aunt. I was telling Hubby about that as we walked down the steep hill to the beach, still feeling a little breathless, and joked that I hoped I wouldn’t be taking my last steps there too. As it turned out the tide was in so we couldn’t go on the beach and I needed the loo but the toilets had been closed by the local council to save money, I know these are times of austerity but that is taking things a bit far!

We drove on to Tintagel where we had decided to have lunch. Afterwards we visited the Old Post Office there which is a 14th century stone farmhouse. I have seen it lots of times but never been inside before.

I love the picture of the Victorian family on the wall.

There was a pretty little garden at the back.

It was after this that the temperature really soared and while walking around the shops I started to feel really ill, so we went back to the car. Once we were driving again I began to feel better and really wanted to call in at Boscastle, a favourite place of ours. We intended only to stay a short while but I was feeling much better when we got there and enjoyed a walk through the village.

In 2004 Boscastle suffered a terrible flash flood caused by exceptionially high rainfall over the previous few hours. Cars were swept out of the car park at the top of the valley and down through the village. The river broke its banks and many buildings were destoyed. We visited there in 2006 and found the place apparently unchanged, everywhere had been rebuilt. This is the little innocent looking river that caused the damage.

Most of the houses in the picture sustained quite serious damage. I really admire the way they have put it all back together again.

Today is Chris’s 36th birthday. He came round this evening after work. We had a strawberry cream flan, it’s a favourite of his and we have been having it on his birthday for as long as I can remember. His birthday falls during Wimbledon so strawberries seem appropriate. and we did watch the tennis for a while as we ate it. Chris loves tennis. I remember when he was about 13 Andre Agassi was his hero, Chris grew his hair and wore a headband that he had cut from an old sheet and drew a tick at the front! He has now grown up into a very conventional young man but he still loves tennis.

Last updated July 05, 2017