To the end of the earth-twice!

Wed 22nd June

        Cornwall has a unique claim to fame in that both the most easterly and southerly parts of mainland Britain are situated within a few miles of each other as well as being in the same county so therefore we decided to visit both in one day with a stop off to see Cornwall's own naval base( albeit without any ships).

Plenty of tourists-most of them Chinese

            We headed(with a few hundred more) to Lands End to see what was on offer and I had been warned that it is a bit tacky.A bit like John o' Groats with warmer weather.We drove through the meandering country lanes,crossing myself at every corner and arrived at Lands End with my expectations proved correct.

Longships lighthouse complete with atmospheric mist.

Land's End is a disturbing mixture of beautiful views,landscape and very tacky commercial outlets with  theme parks thrown in.

                                            The theme parks consist of a Shaun the sheep theme park and a very  dodgy Arthur's Quest.I always thought that Shaun the Sheep was from northern England and history is definitely shot to pieces with Arthur's Quest.No wonder an awful lot of people grow up to be unemployable.

Hopefully come to rescue us from the sheep.

                             On arrival I decided to walk round the scenic paths before tackling the tourist hang outs.As I said earlier Land's End is like chalk and cheese with beautiful scenic paths which run for miles along the cliffs contrasted with the clothes outlets and theme parks.I was passed by hikers going at a rapid rate of knots along the cliff path heading for the Minack theatre further round the coast and I met up with them when we headed  there after our land's End visit.

Well even Daleks have to go on holiday.

               We had a tour around the souvenir shops and decided to have lunch of the obligatory Cornish pasty which for being bought in a 'franchise'type cafe was actually very nice and set us up for our afternoon shenanigans which would culminate at the Lizard point which is the most southerly part of mainland Britain.

We definitely didn't go in here.

And this was only yards away.

                                 After we made our departure from probably my one and only trip to Land's End we headed a few miles to the Minack theatre which is unusual in that it is open air.The place is astounding in that there are always plays being shown and it is always full.As we arrived late we had to watch the production from a vantage point high up on the cliff.The production on offer was a version of Roald Dahl's Bfg.Obviously getting in their version before the film comes out.

BFG-al fresco!

And again.

                              Once back in the car we toddled of towards the Lizard stopping of at RNAS Culdrose as I had noticed on the map that there was a viewing point around the back.

With what?

So off we headed for HMS Seahawk, near the town of Helston .Culdrose is the biggest helicopter base in Europe but I have been reliably informed that it is also one of the foggiest areas around.That sounds like normal Royal Navy planning.We arrived at the viewing area and took a few photos and watched the boys in training.I noticed that there were a few Harriers around but have been since informed that the area is the 'dummy deck ' and these Harriers would be shells for practising  with before the trainees head out to sea

Just hanging around.

..As we were just about to leave we were overflown by a Merlin approaching the airfield which was a good end to our visit

Sibling rivalry

                            Back in the car again we continued south before finally arriving at the Lizard and it was good to see that there was no tackiness around.The Lizard lighthouse which is still in operation albeit automated and  complemented by two enormous foghorns.Plenty of history around including the fact that this is where the 1588 Spanish armada was first sighted.Once again there are plenty of good walking paths around the area.

Pardon?

You can't get in!

We arrived just in time for the doors of the lighthouse being closed for the day so we just had to content ourselves with walking around visiting the old lifeboat station and caves before finishing of our visit with a nice Cornish cream tea complete with some still warm scones-ah bliss!

Still the quickest way to launch a boat.

No'it's not a Weatherspoons.

An awfully lot of Cornish cream tea for not a lot of money.

                                      After what turned out to be a very busy day we headed back to Moushole to plan the following day's trip which actually involves a samurai.Watch this space.

It was probably Angus.

                                          See you when I see you.

Getting nearer..