Another year older....

Today was Martin's birthday. As he is two years younger than me he is still a spring chicken! I had to work this afternoon but this evening we decided to buy a pizza and go and eat it on Pendennis Point which overlooks the bay. There are views from the Manacles (below) to St Anthony's lighthouse. The manacles are of note because of the basking sharks that can be seen there.

Pendennis is a castle that was built in the reign of Henry VIII to protect the mouth of the river from primarily the Spanish. On the opposite side of the estuary he built a castle at St Mawes. The small turreted building in the bottom of the picture is the block house at the water's edge. This is just a basic watch tower. St Mawes castle is the smaller of the two and more delicate if one can use a word like that about a castle. Pendennis is more basic and down to earth. It would have housed the garrison and the commander of the garrison. Accommodation was very sparton though the commander's rooms were lined with wood panelling and had more amenities than were available for the men. Now they are both tourist attractions.

This is the birthday boy himself inside the block tower. It is still possible to climb to the top of it but it is not for the feint hearted and so I didn't attempt it.

It was getting late in the evening and the fishing boats were coming back into harbour, with a trailing of seagulls. The buoy in the centre of the estuary is called Black Rock Buoy, and the rocks can be seen at low tide.

This is the view as we drove home along the sea front. Swanpool is the furthest inlet.

The setting sun going down in the west. The sea was calm and very inviting for a swim but only for the brave or fool hardy as it is near to freezing! Or so it seems!

So a pleasant evening out. I spent the morning cutting out fabric for printing photos on. The freezer paper is all attached and tomorrow morning I will actually do the printing. Fingers crossed!