St Michael’s Mount
Friday brought another solo day trip by train and also the achievement of another item ticked off on my personal ‘bucket list’. I visited Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy in 2009 and thought even then how odd it was that I had never seen its Cornish lookalike, St Michael’s Mount. Today saw that omission put right. Once again, I travelled by train from Truro, this time to the end of the line at Penzance. A local bus then took me to nearby Marazion, from where I walked the causeway to the tidal island. It is managed by the National Trust, while the castle continues to be the home of the St Aubyn family.
Levant Mine & Gurnard’s Head
Saturday morning’s dog exercise venue was another National Trust site: Levant Mine, on Cornwall’s northwest coast. I’d known for many years that Cornwall had once been well known for its tin mines, but that was about the extent of my knowledge on the subject. It was interesting to learn that Levant was also part of a wider UNESCO World Heritage Site titled Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, and that it had produced both copper and tin during its operational period of 1820-1930. A further notable fact was that the underground tunnels extend under the seabed for 2.5km.
Exercising complete, today’s lunch venue was around 15mins away in the car. Named after a nearby headland and self-styled “a dining pub with rooms”, The Gurnard’s Head proved to be a delight – and as ever in this part of Britain, the dogs were welcome.
Watergate Bay
On my second Sunday and last full day in Cornwall, the dog-walking location was the beautiful Watergate Bay beach, near Newquay.
St Mawgan & Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre
When we were finished at the beach, we drove the short distance to St Mawgan village, where we enjoyed a pub lunch at the Falcon Inn. Afterwards, we spent a couple of hours at the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre, adjacent to both Newquay Airport and RAF St Mawgan.
Homeward bound
Monday morning came around all too soon, and it was time for me to head for home after a hugely enjoyable first visit to Cornwall. In contrast to my arrival, the homeward journey was on British Airways via London Heathrow. I had a nice surprise while boarding the second leg: my downloaded boarding pass was rejected at the automatic gate and it turned out that I had been given an “op-up” (operational upgrade) to Business Class – yay!
Footnote
Sadly, Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre has closed since last summer and at the time of writing, its future appears to be uncertain.