Cornwall Trip - Day 12
Reasonably bright but breezy this morning, although the forecast is for rain and high winds later. Go for a walk around Pendennis Point and then a stroll around the town, but it started raining steadily so returned to the B&B to pick-up my bag.
Go down to the docks and visit the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Some reviewers have been quite sniffy about this museum, but I thought that it was pretty good. The Lookout Tower was quite impressive, despite the very poor visibility today. The Tidal Zone was less interesting, but that was mostly down to it being low tide, so there was only about 6 inches of water at the bottom of the 6 metre "underwater" windows. In addition to the usual exhibits of different types of sailing and other light craft, there were good displays on tides, navigation, communication etc. There was also an excellent exhibition on British lighthouses - 'Lighthouses: Life on the Rocks'. This included the massive 4-tonne optic from the Bishop Rock Lighthouse, the largest ever made. I really wanted to know, having looked at the optic, why are lighthouse lenses like that, and what do they look like in cross-section? It is a sign of a good exhibition that my question was answered further on, with an excellent explanation of Fresnel lenses, including a hands-on exhibit using lasers.
After spending two hours in the museum, I walked on into town to get the St Mawes Ferry from Prince of Wales Pier. It was not raining so much now, but the wind was quite strong, and it was quite rough in the middle of the 2-mile, 20 minute passage. Despite it being wet and low tide I managed to negotiate the steps with my bag at both ends without too much trouble (I had been worrying about this as the bag had become quite full and heavy with provisions). It was a good job that I did the crossing today, as the following day the high winds and stormy sea caused them to cancel the service completely. This would have meant a 2-hour, 40 mile detour by train and bus via Truro.
View Cornwall 2011 in a larger map
Settle in to Brackley Cottage and go and get more provisions from the Co-op, which is only a couple of doors down along the harbour front.
Go for a little explore of the village, and a pint of Tribute at the Rising Sun. Then a pint of Betty Stogs at the Victory Inn, which is only about 20 metres from the cottage.
Reasonably bright but breezy this morning, although the forecast is for rain and high winds later. Go for a walk around Pendennis Point and then a stroll around the town, but it started raining steadily so returned to the B&B to pick-up my bag.
Go down to the docks and visit the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Some reviewers have been quite sniffy about this museum, but I thought that it was pretty good. The Lookout Tower was quite impressive, despite the very poor visibility today. The Tidal Zone was less interesting, but that was mostly down to it being low tide, so there was only about 6 inches of water at the bottom of the 6 metre "underwater" windows. In addition to the usual exhibits of different types of sailing and other light craft, there were good displays on tides, navigation, communication etc. There was also an excellent exhibition on British lighthouses - 'Lighthouses: Life on the Rocks'. This included the massive 4-tonne optic from the Bishop Rock Lighthouse, the largest ever made. I really wanted to know, having looked at the optic, why are lighthouse lenses like that, and what do they look like in cross-section? It is a sign of a good exhibition that my question was answered further on, with an excellent explanation of Fresnel lenses, including a hands-on exhibit using lasers.After spending two hours in the museum, I walked on into town to get the St Mawes Ferry from Prince of Wales Pier. It was not raining so much now, but the wind was quite strong, and it was quite rough in the middle of the 2-mile, 20 minute passage. Despite it being wet and low tide I managed to negotiate the steps with my bag at both ends without too much trouble (I had been worrying about this as the bag had become quite full and heavy with provisions). It was a good job that I did the crossing today, as the following day the high winds and stormy sea caused them to cancel the service completely. This would have meant a 2-hour, 40 mile detour by train and bus via Truro.
View Cornwall 2011 in a larger map
Settle in to Brackley Cottage and go and get more provisions from the Co-op, which is only a couple of doors down along the harbour front.
Go for a little explore of the village, and a pint of Tribute at the Rising Sun. Then a pint of Betty Stogs at the Victory Inn, which is only about 20 metres from the cottage.
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