Penzance

Today we went to Penzance and it was much sunnier there than it was at home. It is no wonder that they are ahead of us where plants are concerned as the weather is at least a couple of degrees warmer all the time.

As we drove into the town there was a Tall Ship coming into the bay. It was far out on the horizon but was moving at quite a pace. By the time we sat on some rocks to eat bananas and Kit Kats it was close enough to see properly and take some pictures. The tide was out so it wouldn't be coming into the harbour but would anchor in the bay. St Michael's Mount at Marazion, which is reached by a causeway, was looking good and I tried to take pictures from every aspect.



We parked in a side street just down from The Admiral Benbow which is a lovely pub and restaurant. It is about half way down Chapel Street which is one of the older streets in Penzance. It is decorated with cannon and figure heads and the main restaurant is in the form of a ship captain's cabin; most of these things including the woodwork of the cabin, having been brought up by divers from some of the wrecks found off the Cornish coast. There is a figure of a smuggler on the roof!




This fascinating cottage was right by our parking spot. I love the name. It was most probably a cafe in days gone by but is now just a cottage. As we have coffee houses now, in the 17th and 18th centuries drinking chocolate was all the rage.





I found this old pillar box quite fascinating and what is so unusual about it is that dates from the reign of George VI. As Elizabeth has been Queen now for over 50 years this makes this quite old as pillar boxes go. When I was a child it was still possible to see the insignia of Victoria but now it is quite rare to see anything but Elizabeth II.




This is the small inner harbour with some of the fishing boats.

Penzance is one of only a handful of seaside towns to still have a Lido. They were very much a feature in the 30's. This one has been renovated and done up.



All in all it was a good afternoon out. It was such a change not to have Martin working on one or other of his cars! And I also managed to dye a piece of cotton to use as a backing so that tomorrow I will be able to finish off my second Double Drunkard quilt. This time I dyed it a really bright raspberry red. And I read a book by Sally Spencer which was quite riveting so my day hasn't been at all idle!