Sunday 17 October 2010

Steve and I drove to the King Harry Ferry and crossed over onto the always beautiful Roseland, it was a perfect balmy Autumn day and we took our breafast with us!
 We sat and ate smoked salmon on my home made bread with the last of the home grown tomatoes.It was perfectly peaceful and we saw a heron fishing from the bank .It made me think of Dylan Thomas 's "Heron  priested shore".

 Legend says that Henry the 8th brought Anne Boleyn to Place Manor ,you can imagine her strolling to the waters edge to look at the view.
There were Celtic Monks living at Place and Roman artifacts have been found in the area. The whole of the Roseland has been inhabited from ancient times and there are numerous earthworks in the area.

The view from the quayside.

After breakfast and a coffee we went on through the lanes to St. Anthony Head were we saw the last flowers of Autumn and some red admiral butterflies that really loved the flowering ivy.

Steve watching the ships and other boats in the Carrick Roads from the headland.

I can never tell a shag from a cormerant!!These birds were on a rock just below the St Anthony Light.

Some delicate Bladder Campion growing in the protection of a dry stone wall.
Little Pennywort hiding in the wall.When I was a child I would imagine fairies and elves living in places like this!
 We left St Anthony and drove over to St Just Church, a place I love, it is the most beautiful church yard in the world. Trees ,shrubs and ferns interspersed by running water and ponds. A feeling of utter peace and tranquility pervades.
 I worked for many years on the mobile library that served the Roseland and I saw the graves of many of my older borrowers and  it seemed wonderful that they were resting in such a delightful place.

I wandered around the outside of the church and came upon this doorway decorated with a garland of blue ,white and green. I was enchanted! Inside the church the stained glass windows stood out against the simplicity of the white washed walls

There has been a place of worship here since 550 A.D when it was a celtic  Christian church.
There are many legends about this area and  one is that Joseph of Arimathia brought his nephew the  young Jesus with him when he came to do business on the Fal. He landed according to legend at St Just which was then a sacred place of the old religion. Jesus is supposed to have talked with the Holy Men while his uncle bartered for tin. If you walk down a path by the waters edge you come to the Holy Well of St Just were the sound of water dropping into the darkness of the moss covered grotto is mystical.

We went on to St Mawes were we walked along the front in the sunshine and finished a perfectly lovely day with a Cornish Cream Tea and then home via the ferry. Phew,  what a long post ! I hope you enjoy it as  much as we did.


May the road rise with you, may the wind be always at your back,may the sun shine warm upon your face,and the rain fall soft upon your fields,and until we meet again may your God keep you in the hollow of his hand.
Quote from the guide book to the Church of St Just in Roseland.

8 comments:

  1. sounds like a beautiful day! lovely pictures, thanks for sharing :) xx

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  2. IT WAS ONE OF THOSE PERFECT OFF THE CUFF DAYS OUT!!!THANKS JO.

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  3. Having just come back from Cornwall, it was nice to imagine I was still there, reading your post ! Glad you had such a good day.

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  4. The weather was glorious ,thanks Sandie.

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  5. Angela, what a wonderful visit you had. The quote is one of my favorites too, thank you for sharing. x

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  6. Oh my, what a wonderful place you've shown us!

    I love places with long long histories, too, although we don't really have too many places like that here in Wisconsin USA. That is, unless you're in an area where the Native Americans lived long ago. Here in Wisconsin, Native people from long ago left behind mysterious burial mounds, but sadly only a few of those haven't been destroyed by development.

    Thank you for sharing this beautiful day with us!

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  7. Your travels are filled with beauty! I particularly love the stone archway embellished with flowers.

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