Michael and Pam's Travels Our European Motorhome Adventures and other Travels
Michael and Pam's Travels

West Cornwall, England 2016 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

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Travelled : 99 kilometre from Tregrehan to Marazion, Wesyern Cornwall

Visited : St Mawes Castle (free with English Heritage Pass) and St Michael’s Mount (ยฃ16 double)

Stayed : Waterfront carpark, near Marazion. (A Wild Camping spot), ยฃ1 for 24 hours, just a bin. Fabulous views. N50.12798 W05.50430

The Britannia Inn proved to be a great spot.  We had such a big day yesterday, we decide to eat out as we were too tired to cook.  Enjoyed the fish’n’chips and the free wifi as well.  We serviced the Hymer before leaving just to make the most of their hospitality.

Continuing our journey into Western Cornwall, the GPS turns us onto the B3287.  The road is narrow and the hedgerows high as we make our way toward St Mawes Castle at the far end of the peninsula.  This road must be a shortcut to somewhere as it’s very busy this morning.  It’s slow going as we need to keep the left hand mirror in the Hedgrow for traffic to pass.  It doesn’t take long till we can see the ocean on our left as we drop down to St Mawes.

Guarding the entrance to the Fal Estuary, Mawes Castle which to my thinking is more a fortress, was built by King Henry VIII in 1540. It was not built to live in but as a defensive position.
Another view of Mawes Castle, built in a series of curves the idea being cannon fire was more likely to ricochet away.
Lots of cannons at Mawes, this brass gun the only one of the original cannon still here, the rest are iron cannon from the 18th century.
The audio tour provided a very interesting historic perspective on its construction and history.

You can tell from the photos the English summer has returned with a vengeance this morning, it’s cool and the wind has the jackets out again.  After a carpark coffee we re-trace our morning drive for a couple of miles before turning down to Trelissick to catch the ferry across the Eastury.  Did I mention that every second village in West Cornwall starts with the letters Tre…

ยฃ6 to cross the Fall Estuary, bit rich for a 200 metre crossing. Saves about a 40 minute drive and that narrow road again.
It’s lunch time as we drive into Helston. It’s a fairly ordinary town with a large Navy Air Support Base on one side. What is special is it’s Cornich pasties. I went the steak, Pam the chicken. It’s a Cornish superfood !

Still full of pasty as we drive down toward Penzance we can see St Michael’s Mount just off the coast and we turn toward the village of Marazion to find a carpark for our visit.

On the very low tide you can walk across to the Island, but not today and we take the ยฃ2 ferry.
The original church was built by the Benedictine Monks in 1135. The main abbey on top of the Island during the 14th century.  Still used as a family home by Lord St Levan, it is managed by the National Trust.
The sun has come out ! Following the reformation and its return to the crown some lower areas were used as a fortress.
Mistaken for Lord and Lady St Levan we were asked to pose by a group of Chinese tourist. One chap with a particularly long selfie stick seemed particularly keen on buying the place.
Stained glass from within the Church
An ancient stone lantern from the original church.
The tiered gardens from the upper terrace.
Just a final comment on St Michael’s Mount. While it is not as visually spectacular from a distance as Mont St Michel in France it doesn’t have any tatty souvenir shops or dirty corners either. It is beautifully maintained inside and out, even the pilgrim walk to the front door as it was since the 14th century

We have parked up about a kilometre along the beach from St Michael’s, it’s pay parking but only ยฃ1 per 24 hours.  Surprisingly we find ourselves parked up next to another Australian couple, Johannes and Joy from Esperence in WA.  Like ourselves on there 4th year of motorhoming adventure.  Johannes still has family in Germany and his bases his camper there whilst back in Australia.

Parked up on the beach at Marazion.

Michael and Pam

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