Aidan Turner comes to Kynance Cove

It has always been a bit of a standing joke amongst my friends that I'm looking for my very own Poldark here in Cornwall. I knew a new series of Poldark was due to be shot in the Autumn but word went round last week that Aidan Turner would be filming at Kynance Cove on Wednesday and Thursday. Cue great excitement amongst my Lizard girl-friends. On Monday I saw on someone's Facebook page that they'd been filming at Mullion Cove. Not Poldark at all but an Agatha Christie mini-series; And Then There Were None.

On Tuesday I was starting to suffer from cabin fever as the fog horn had been going off since Sunday so rather than heading for a beach, the weather was too bad for that, I decided to explore Penryn and try out Miss Peapod's Kitchen cafe at Jubilee Wharf. As I hadn't been out for a couple of days I pulled into the Kynance Cove turning, as you can pick up a mobile signal there, just in case I had any messages. Once I'd checked I went to turn around but there was a minibus coming along the track towards me. As I followed it back to the main road I noticed it was empty which I thought was a bit odd. I was about to pull out when I caught sight of a little neon pink sign I'd seen earlier with the initials ATTWN on it - AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. Ker-ching; maybe they were filming today?!

So, I turned round once again and headed to the Kynance Cove car-park. As I approached I saw lots of heavy duty vehicles and there was an air of excitement about the place. This was the first thing I saw:

Then this:

I grilled the lad at the National Trust car-park kiosk but he was having none of it. They'd been there since 5am long before he arrived and he knew nothing he said, with a big grin on his face.

I had to walk the really long way down to the Cove as both the low-tide path and the high-tide path had security men blocking the way so everyone had to use the track. Oooh, excitement mounting. Got to the cafe and ordered a pot of tea and a flapjack and cross-examined the guys behind the till. Was Aidan here? Yes, he'd been in, shaken Victoria's hand, now filming on the beach right below the cafe. And he'd used their loo. Cheers for that guys.

The weather was misty and drizzly but who cares? The place was practically deserted which I was rather surprised at. Surely word must have got out but apparently not. I got chatting to a couple of girls at the end of the veranda as I hugged my mug of tea and... bloody hell, that bloke in the grey shirt and burgundy trews; that's the lovely Aidan himself.

This is my picture:

And this is one that someone, somewhere with an amazing telephoto lens, took and posted on a fan page (he's acting not having a go at someone, it's all about to get nasty with a gun involved):

Anyways, my new buddies and I are chatting and the man himself comes strolling up the steps and into the cafe. Oh my god. What to do? What to do? So being the brave person I am, I take a photo of his back:

Then blow me down he comes out and just kinda stands there so I am even braver and ask can I take his photograph? He very politely says no as the BBC won't allow pics in costume. Then I noticed a couple of other people coming forward to ask for an autograph. Whizzed into the cafe, grabbed an order slip and a pen and shot back out:

And then he just stood there and chatted. There was me and the two girls I'd been talking to, a lovely couple who were staying in the cottage and one lady who'd come down from Camborne. A real, proper fan who had been given mis-information and told he was at Kennack Sands before tracking him down to Kynance. So we stood there and chatted and he was just the nicest, most polite fellow and so, so gorgeous looking and an Irish accent to die for. Naturally I jibbered like a good 'un and managed to spout absolute bollocks but he was so normal that we were all at ease very soon. 

We talked about how cold the water is in Cornwall (and you think you'll mention *that* scene in Poldark but you just can't when it comes to it) and how it turned out, in Aidan's words "a nice little series". One of the girls was talking about how she was on book 8 of the Poldark saga and it transpired that Aidan is reading them too but he can't get too far ahead in case it influences how he acts his character. Interesting. 

Man, I could have just stood and adored all day but all too soon his break was up and away he went while we giggled like schoolgirls not quite being able to believe our good fortune as we went our separate ways in a bit of a daze.

POST SCRIPT:
Popped back down again today, Thursday, just as they were finishing up. Aidan had left the set by now but I bumped into one of the ladies from Tuesday (the real, proper fan). She had been there all three days and said we struck gold with our lovely chat. That didn't happen again, and I got the feeling she was there most of the time! Although the odd person did get their photo taken when he had a coat over the top of his costume. On the way out I saw Sam Neill striding across the car-park and apparently Charles Dance had been very lovely the evening before. We decided Aidan's parents had done an excellent job of bringing him up!

Roll on September and the return of Captain Ross Poldark to these parts.

Love from The Lizard Girl