Today I went North

Although I nearly didn't get anywhere at all as I came across the first proper traffic-jam on Lighthouse Road. It's a very narrow, typically Cornish lane. However it has plenty of passing places and we all have a reverse gear on our car. Except the one car causing the problems apparently. I'm not quite sure what went wrong with the universally acknowledged hand-signal of "no, you're all right mate, I'll reverse, there's a passing place just back here" followed by a thank you hand-signal followed by a you're welcome hand signal. But it didn't happen this time. This time there was a small white car with foreign number plates practically carved into the dry stone wall cunningly hidden with vegetation and we all had squeeze past him. I digress.

And then I picked up a hitch-hiker on the outskirts of Porthtowan. Well, not a proper one as it turns out. Just a lady about my age who stuck her thumb out and I stopped. Turned out her car had broken down and she was hoping one of her friends would pass by, but she got me. It's amazing how much ground you can cover in three minutes flat. We wished each other well and I carried on to St Agnes. Another digression.

I remembered my lettings agent mentioning St Agnes as a possible area to live but I'd already fallen in love so it fell on deaf ears. Three months to the day after I arrived in Cornwall I made it there. It is indeed a beautiful village surrounded by equally beautiful places so I will have to go back and visit some of them.

After pottering around a couple of rather lovely shops and NOT BUYING ANYTHING I had a lovely lunch at Taste. An amazing mushroom and asparagus stroganoff (spell check just offered me "strongman" instead of stroganoff) with risotto, absolutely beautifully presented. In case you're wondering at all this extravagance, I don't usually go out for lunch, especially not twice in a week, but I didn't do a proper shop so I'm eating up the fridge and freezer and store cupboard for the rest of my meals. Ok?

Then off to Chapel Porth. My first impression was that the beach was a little scruffy.

But the longer I was there the more I realised how lovely it was. As the tide went out and the expanse of rock pools and sandy beach fully emerged I discovered what a perfect Enid Blyton type beach it was. I read for a while, well quite a long while as Lucy Diamond has just brought out a new book; Summer At Shell Cottage and I love her books, and then wandered off in search of ice-cream. Result. I had forgotten that this beach cafe sells the unique Hedgehog Ice-cream. Vanilla ice-cream topped with clotted cream then rolled in toasted hazelnuts. So good!

Then it was off for a wander around the beach. Lots of lovely rock pools with little streams to dam.

Then I got chatting to a lovely man from Derby who was waxing lyrical about Chapel Porth and what an amazing time they'd had and why does his brother always go to Skeggie and then he mentioned that when the tide goes right out you can access lots of little coves and caves. Like this one:

They're my footprints. The very first footprints on the newly exposed sand that afternoon. By this time I had completely changed my mind about Chapel Porth. It's delightful and definitely on my list to return to, hopefully with family and/or friends (it's about an hours drive but definitely worth it).

And how often do you go for a paddle, look up and see a two hundred year old tin mine? This is Wheal Coates. The countryside round here is littered with derelict engine houses just like this one. I think they're beautiful but sad too.

And that, my friends, is the end of my adventures for now. The weather forecast was correct and the weather has been blooming awful for the last couple of days. I'm heading back up country tomorrow for a couple of weeks and then, all being well, will be back at the end of June.

Love from The Lizard Girl