Day Nine – Monday, 21 May 2012

Fowey – Marazion, Cornwall

Temperature – maximum 24 degrees!

Weather – sunny and warm.

We had to make a detour to Truro on our way to Marazion as the boot attachments on the car had broken.  As it is a brand new car it is obviously a design fault.  It resulted in my being banged on the head a couple of days ago and David sustaining a head gash yesterday afternoon…..because we are too stupid to remember.  A quick trip to the Minor Injuries Hospital in Fowey (yes, that is the name) and the lovely sister on duty, Angela, the injury was cleaned up with no after effects.  We thought it may have needed a couple of stitches with all the blood but fortunately that was not the case.

After being brained by our lovely Peugeot we set off to find the AVIS outlet.  This was not an easy task as there was no number on the main road and we must have passed it three times even with the assistance of the fellow on their national line!  With a new car, same style and colour however petrol this time we set off to our new destination.

Driving into Marazion was a real treat as the sun was blazing, the tide was out and we could see St Michael’s Mount.  We quickly found a lovely B&B, unfortunately only for one night, and set off with only long sleeved t-shirt and a hat! 

Beautiful day....ready for a visit.

The boats inside the little harbour of the castle.

The tide was out a long way and the cobbled causeway lead the way to the castle over the sand to the castle.  A monastery has existed here since at least the 5^th century however the present abbey largely dates from the 12^th century.  The Church of St Michael and All Angels was built in 1135, destroyed by an earthquake in 1275 and rebuilt in the 14^th century.  The St Aubyn Family have lived in the castle since the 17^th century however they relinquished ownership in 1954 in a deal to retain a  perpetual lease for 999 years with the National Trust.  Consequently, the gardens and castle are kept in immaculate order, the public are able to view this iconic Cornwall landmark and the St Aubyn family have all round access to a wonderful home.

The magnificent banquet room.

The St Aubyn’s daughter, Clemency, is being married in August and it is causing quite a stir of interest in the community.  She is marrying one of the guides at the castle…..a bit of a Cinderella story in reverse!

We wandered the lovely gardens and then made our way back over the causeway where we could see the water encroaching the wide beach.  While we shared an antipasto platter we had a good view of the causeway slowing being covered by the sea and also the many people daring to cross and making a dash to avoid catching a ferry on the way back.  As it was quite a distance away they looked like little ants huddling together, one would make a dash, another run back and so forth until the water was too deep.

A very short distance away is Penzance and Mousehall which we drove through to Lands End.  We  will see these little towns tomorrow.  Lands End was reasonably busy and David and I remarked it was a much better day than the one my sister Dianne and her husband had when they set off on their Lands End to John O’Groats walk.  We walked for a couple of kilometres and soaked up the views of the steep Cornwall coastline on a very sunny day.

Lands End

The Fish Pie I enjoyed at the Kings Arms Hotel

Dinner time and we were off to another recommended pub.  The fish pie was very rich and creamy with prawns, haddock and salmon topped mashed potato and melted cheese.  David enjoyed his lamb shank.

After we emerged from the pub we could hear a lovely male choir from the building next door.  The sign said it welcomed visitors so we took the plunge and walked up the stairs.  There was a male choir (The Marazion Male Apollo Choir) of about thirty men ranging in age from thirtyish to about ninety!  The voices were amazing and the volume completely enveloped us as we sat for an hour during their rehearsal.  Elderly Maureen was plonking away on the upright piano and she certainly knew the routine….a slight hand shake, a one-two from the choirmaster and she was away.  The choirmaster was so talented having a particularly good voice himself.  He pom pommed, da, da, dahed and hummed the tune as well as leading the articulation and tone of the songs very particularly.  The choir was formed in 1904 and many old photos of the evolving choirs adorn the walls in the hall. 

It was then home to bed….all in all a very satisfying day.