Not surprisingly my new camera had quite a work-out in Cornwall. Beautiful skies, seas, thatched cottages, oh my it was difficult to put it down long enough to eat a cream tea. Still, somehow I managed it rather more times than my waistline will thank me for.
The Lizard peninsular was just as I remembered - beautiful, peaceful and unspoilt. This little harbour at Coverack is typical of the area - no wonder we only left the Lizard once - an abortive trip to Lands End, now blocked off from public access unless you're prepared to pay a fee and walk through an arcade of shops. Gone are the days when you could just park up and wander around the rocks at your leisure. Gosh I feel old - I still remember being able to walk around the stones at Stonehenge!
Is this not the loveliest view from a cafe? Those rocks are Lizard Point (the most southerly in mainland Britain) and the view is from the Polpeor Cafe - very conveniently situated on top of the cliffs. We're always on the look out for dog-friendly cafes and this one was a real gem. That's not us outside by the way, we're tucked up inside out of the wind.
Under the table is a great place to be! You never know what little tid bits will come your way if you're very patient.
Our holiday turned into a bit of a festival of food (as usual) and here we did very well indeed - the homemade doughnuts were a triumph but best of all was the Jubilee - homemade meringue with apple and blackberry compote, Cornish clotted cream and vanilla ice cream - oh boy. Sorry there's no pic - I only thought about photographing it after it was gone - I just couldn't help myself - I did consider getting another but even I was unable to confont that possibility without feeling a little nauseous!
A walk out to the Loe Bar from Helston takes you through piney Degibna wood and past Loe pool - a large freshwater lake situated behind the Loe Bar - formed long ago the sand bar acts like a huge dam shielding the pool from the sea.
The sea, the sea - just beyond that distant sand bar. I remember taking this walk when I was a child and it fixed in my mind as a most extraordinary and unexpected place - a lake nestled amoungst woodland but just behind the beach. I wanted to see if I could find it again and I'm happy to say the place has lost none of its magic.
This was quite a walk for our little fella (he's 15 now) so we were more than glad to see this sign halfway back to the car. It had nothing to do with our cream tea addiction, honest!
I think this is the best cream tea I've ever had. Maybe the unexpected cream tea is always the best? Especially when you're on your way back from a long hot walk. Sitting in the garden at Degibna Farm we were treated to homemade elderflower and ginger cordial followed by the most delicious warm scones with homemade strawberry jam, Cornish clotted cream and tea served in a beautiful assortment of vintage china - well it just felt like heaven! As you can see my hubby's looking pretty pleased too.
And which, I wonder, is the best cream tea? Cornish or Devonshire?
This was an earlier stop in Devon at the little fishing village of Beer - The Captain's Cottage tea room (also doggy friendly) serves enormous cups of tea with their scones in a pretty little cottage setting.
After extensive research (which I'm sure is not yet over) - it seems to me that it doesn't matter what county you're in - a good cream tea is a good cream tea!
