(Yet) Another walk from Minions - circumnavigation of Caradon Hill

The weather was set fair and our chosen walk was around Caradon Hill. We've done this one many times but it's yet another that repetition does not reduce the pleasure.

We started at the Hurlers' car park in Minions, headed down through the Gonamena Valley and then around Caradon Hill back to Minions. Just over 5 miles of quite easy walking, with views all the way around.

The abandoned cottages at the top of the Gonamena Incline are known as Ponton's Piece, and are thought to predate the railway that runs beside them. I took this shot ignoring the rule of not pointing the camera into the sun. I like the result as I think it captures the atmosphere of the moment. Long shadows and low clouds in the distance.

This stone marks the top of the Gonamena Incline - LCR = Liskeard and Caradon Railway. At the end of each working day, the heavy, loaded carts would begin their steep descent, with a brakeman on each to keep their speed below the limited 12mph.  In 1859, it is documented that there were 27 brakesmen working on the incline.

Spoil heaps and stacks associated with the various mines of the South Caradon complex.

Jope's Shaft engine house to the right and Holman's Shaft engine house in the middle of these three.

I never visit these old mines without thinking of Mrs P's great, great uncle, John Henry Cook. He started working in the mines in Menheniot when he was seven and then moved to those on Caaradon Hill. In his early 20's, he emigrated to Australia and ended up running a gold mine in Charters Towers in Queensland. His photograph shows him in his Salvation Army uniform.

Looking southwards towards the sea in the general direction of Looe. And in case you are wondering, I've not done anything in the way of post-editing on this one.

A collage from three buzzards. I do like these birds and am so glad that their numbers are on the increase. These three might have been a family group.

What can I say? A tree with Sharptor in the background.

IR shot of mine buildings associated with Jope's and Holman's shafts.

An infra-red tree.

Midweek Walk at Minions

 The weather recently has been pretty rubbish but today seemed to have a break in the rain so off to Minions we went to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. All socially distanced and following all of Lockdown V2 rules, of course.

We've done this route a few times and it's always worth repeating - different weather, different season, different time of day etc. We made a slight diversion to the back of the quarry and the distance we clocked was just over 4 miles. No rain but the wind it did blow and it certainly wasn't warm.

A partial rainbow over the Cheesewring and Stowe's Hill. An interesting layering affect in the sky.

Not a lot of birds around but we did see several flocks of Golden Plovers wheeling around. By my estimate, there must have been between 50 and 100 birds in each flock.

Gold Digging's Quarry is an abandoned flooded granite quarry on Craddock Moor on the South Eastern edge of Bodmin Moor. It used to be a quiet peaceful location and it still is for most of the year. But the quarry is very popular with wild swimmers and rock climbers and can get very busy.

Guess which way the prevailing wind blows?

Wrong! It blows this way.

The granite sleepers of the old mineral railway in the foreground and Sharptor in the distance.   

Looking eastwards towards Kit Hill and home.

Looking over what used to be the Phoenix United mine which ceased working in the late 1800s. At its prime, there were around 900 people employed here. Hard to imagine......

.......but made easier with this old photograph. A mixture of headgear for shafts, engine houses, water wheels, railway lines - mostly all gone now.

A lock-down trip over the border into Devon

It's been ages since Mrs P and myself had an international adventure and, as yesterday's weather was predicted to be good, we decided to use our permitted 'travel a reasonable distance for exercise' allowance to venture over the border into Devon. Travelling ten miles was, we thought, well within the spirit of Lockdown V2. It turned out to be a delightful and allowed us to see some familiar sights from a different angle - looking at them rather than looking from them. And, for the first time for ages, I took my infra-red adapted DSLR with me.

Our route started and ended in the car park at Bere Alston station (is it really almost 50 years since we used to occasionally catch a train from here into Plymouth?). We dropped down to the banks of the Tamar and then headed upstream to near Tuckermarsh Quay, to climb back up to the station. The elevation profile for the walk shows it quite nicely. Distance? I clocked it at 5.2 miles. As I said above, it was a delightful walk and took us through some quiet nooks and crannies' that we've never come across before.

The Tamar Valley service railway lines at Bere Alston station. As there's only about 6 trains a day, it wasn't too hazardous to get onto the track. The line to the left goes to Plymouth and that to the right heads for Calstock and Gunnislake. At Bere Alston, the driver gets out, gets into what was the rear of the train and then drives the train onwards.

The leaf-strewn path by the side of the river. Very autumnal and very pleasant to walk on, with much rustling underfoot.

Looking downstream towards the Pentillie loop in the river. Not a view that we see very often as the 'other side' does not have any footpaths or roads.

It's a good year for holly berries. And fruit and nuts generally.

A leafy pattern - looking down.

Ditto - looking up.

Looking down the river from were we stopped for refreshments. It was so quite, just the lapping of the water and the call of a couple of buzzards circling above.

Looking across the river to the hamlet of Bohetherick. It's always had a lot of market gardens and, look carefully, you can see rows of Pittosporum bushes that are used as foliage plants for floral arrangements.

How many times have we been to the quay at Cotehele and looked across to where we are now? Too many to mention. At one time, I would imagine that there would have been a ferry acorss the river at this point.

Ahead of us is Danesombe Valley House. Originally built in the 1850s as a fishing lodge, it was a hotel for many years. Nowadays it's a family home, with spectacular views up and down the river. This photograph was taken whilst we were walking along the bund bordering the broad curve that takes the river into Calstock. Most of the leaves are off the trees on the Cornwall side.

Looking through the reeds across to Cornwall.

The river is to the left and we are walking towards the Calstock viaduct.

We rarely get to see the viaduct from this angle.

Although they may look like granite blocks, the viaduct is actually constructed of concrete blocks made on site on the Devon side.

The viaduct again with the old chapel to the right. It's now an arts' centre and has an amazing view from the main auditorium.

I think both versions of this shot bring something different.

The 3.30 train to Plymouth crossing the viaduct.

A metalled road is a road surface with small stones, possibly bound together with bitumen, tar, or whatever.. The word itself from the Latin 'metallum', meaning 'quarry'.  

A tapestry of colours in the woods opposite Calstock.

The sunken lane leading steeply down, and up, to Tuckermarsh quay, giving access to the Tamar for local produce from the Devon side. In parts, this trackway was carved out of the bedrock and the effort of doing this must indicate that it was important in its time. The coming of the railway probably saw the end of the use of  it.

Early Xmas lights at Bere Alston station.

When it's all over...........

The coronavirus outbreak is an appalling human catastrophe but its political ramifications will, sooner or later, have to be confronted. During the crisis, of course, our focus needs to be on ensuring that people are safe and well, that medical staff have the protection and resources that they need, that people who are ill receive the care and treatment they depend on, and those who cannot work and/or are adversely affected receive the financial and emotional support they require. However those of us who have been stuck at home, away from any obvious firing line, now have had plenty of time to think about the kind of country we want to live in once this pandemic has run its course. We've had plenty of time to consider how we want our society and politics to change. We've also had plenty of time to make note of the selfish and entitled behaviour of those at the top of the social and political food chains.

There have certainly been many, many instances of coronavillains, and this crisis still has a long way to run. We’ve seen the grasping entitlement of some super wealthy businesspeople, who have been laying off staff without pay while insisting that they personally will take no financial hit to their obscenely large fortunes. We’re looking at you Richard Branson, Gordon Ramsay, and Tim Martin. We’re looking at the call centres that have insisted that their staff come into work, crammed into offices next to one another to deal with phone calls that they could be dealing with at home. We’re looking at Next. We’re looking at Sports Direct. It seems that we live in a British state which, when it calls upon the citizens to make sacrifices, some of the rich think that ordinary people should sacrifice their health and their lives for their bank balances.

We've seen the incompetents in government from the top down get it wrong time and time again. We've seen them dissemble and shift blame on others. We've seen them overpromise and underdeliver. But why would we expect anything different? They were elected on a single premise - to deliver Brexit - and not to govern in the wider sense. We are looking at you, Boris Johnson. We are looking at you, Michael Gove, Dominic Cummings, Matt Hancock and the rest of the sorry crew.

It's an oft quoted view that 'things will never be the same'. That may be the case and we should start talking about ways to ensure and nourish equality of opportunity. What steps can be taken to ensure that the likes of Tim Martin, for example, don’t treat their staff so poorly? How can we reform our tax laws to ensure that the rich pay their fair share?  Are we still comfortable with such extensive and intra-linked globalisation? Do we finally recognise the importance of our public services and realise that, if you want the level of service we all seem to desire, we've got to pay more? And lots, lots more.  Step forward, Keir Starmer, and start articulating what needs to be done. The crisis may have brought out the best of the majority but it has also revealed, on occasion, the undercurrents of hatred, racism, sectarianism, homophobia, sexism, greed and elitism that are still there. That is not the society we want to be.

We may be stuck indoors, but that means we’ve got plenty of time to think and dream of the better country that we can build on the other side of this crisis. If not now, when?

Evening walk at Cotehele

Day 2 of Lockdown V2 and off we went to Cotehele Quay for a late afternoon constitutional. This route is one of our favourites.

Our route, around 2 miles, started and ended at Cotehele Quay, and took us up past Cotehele Mill, on to Cotehele House and then back to the Quay on the riverside walk. A mix of woodland, river, stream and a mediaeval manor house. What's not to like?

The ebbing tide of the Tamar, looking downstream.

Looking across to Cotehele Mill, with its overshot water wheel. It's not known exactly when the first mill was established at Cotehele, but there was almost certainly a mill here in the medieval period. The current mill dates to the 19th century and has changed very little since the 1930s. Around 2010 a small-scale hydroelectric scheme was introduced, harnessing the power of the Morden stream used  to drive the mill wheel. A leat runs from a weir and brings water to a turbine house where generators produce electricity. Any unused electricity is fed back into the National Grid.

 

The Morden stream in full spate after the recent rains. I can't remember ever seeing it as full as this.

The weir on Morden stream. At the back, to the left is the beginning of the leat that feeds the mill water wheel. Hard to believe that just a few months ago, we were here with three grandchildren and they were playing underneath the overflow.

Cotehele House. The first manor here was begun by Sir Richard Edgecumbe in 1490, though it was left to one of his sons to complete the house in 1520. It is reputed to be one of the least changed Tudor manor houses in the country. It may very well be but it's a special place to visit, whatever the time of year.

Interesting Sign #26. What has caused the mystery hole? Tudor moles?

Looking down into the Himalayan Glade, out-of-bounds at the moment and has been for a long time. A combination of storm damage and Covid.

An almost cliched view of Calstock Viaduct. We like Calstock. We wouldn't want to live there but we like it. A two counties view: Devon to the right and Cornwall to the left, separated by the Tamar.

The very rare Cotehele Wood Lion. The disguise is superb. So superb that many people jsut take it for a few logs of wood. But we know better, don't we?

The 'Chapel in the Woods', or, more properly, the Chapel of SS George and Thomas Becket, was erected by Sir Richard Edgecumbe, the builder of Cotehele House. The story behind these bald facts is as exciting as any modern thriller. In 1483 Sir Richard joined a rebellion against King Richard III. The rebellion was quashed, and the king's men under Sir Henry Trenowth of Bodrugan pursued Edgecumbe through the woods. He must have thought the end was near, but, thinking quickly, Sir Richard threw his hat upon the waters of the river that runs through the woods, and hid in the trees. His enemies saw the floating hat and assumed that Sir Richard had been drowned while trying to cross the water. They left, and Sir Richard was able to complete his escape and make his way to safety in Brittany. A few years later, Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and took the throne as Henry VII. Sir Richard was able to return from exile and reclaim his estate at Cotehele.Sir Richard wanted to give thanks for his escape so, sometime between 1485 and 1490 he built this small single-cell chapel at the spot where he had cast his hat into the river.