1 I took the bus into Truro this morning and was delighted to find it was a double decker so I was able to get some pleasing shots of the countryside we went through.
The sea from the bus
I love the green of Spring leaves, from the bus
Truro Cathedral from the bus
2 I spent most of the day volunteering at the Royal Cornwall Museum helping with the Wildworks project, The Museum of Us. The fabulous Cabinet of Curiosities is filled with treasures from Cornwall, most collected by Jane Darke, from Porthcothan and other beaches in North Cornwall. If you are reading this and live anywhere near Truro, do come and marvel at the stuff inside the cupboards and drawers and bring in an object that means Cornwall to you. The project aims to collect objects that will be displayed in the cabinet and become The Museum of Us. Do click on the photos to see the detail and to read the labels.
The Cabinet
Drawer in the Cabinet, all items found on Cornish beaches
Driftwood from all over the world washed up onto North Cornish beaches
Mum and the two girls at the Cabinet with Jane Darke
3 Two lovely little girls, aged about 6 and 4, came in with their Mum and their shoebox of treasures collected on Treyarno Beach and showed them to me explaining why they loved them. I loved the piece of Cornish stone that Poppy had embellished so prettily and she was happy for me to take photos of her special beach-found treasures.
Poppy’s treasure box
Poppy’s beautifully decorated stone
Corn husk, found by Poppy, possibly come over on the seas from America
Storm Trooper’s hat, found by Poppy on Treyarno Beach
Favourite little treasures
Tags: Cabinet of Curiosities, cornish beaches, double-decker bus, driftwood from around the world, Jane Darke, Porthcothan Beach, The Museum of Us, washed up
I’ve shown you some of the countryside in my neighbourhood here (the countryside) and here (the sea).
Now I’d like to show you some of the pleasing features of our small town. I love the street signs and the hounds make me smile every day! There are many more beautiful Tregellas tapestries.If you would like to see more; I posted about some of the others here. These are the ones in the market area.
The Old Court House
The Plaque
Butcher’s Opeway
Cross Street
Delightful design around the base of each tree
Fairmeadow Opeway
Tinners’ Hounds by David Kemp
Lemins Court
The Tin Miner
Lidgey’s Passage
One of the Tregellas Tapestries, showing Cornwall’s export of daffodils, cauliflowers and potatoes
Symons Terrace and self-portrait
These two got away
Tregellas tapestry showing emigration. Thousands left Cornwall taking their mining skills all over the world
The viaduct that takes the line to Penzance and to London
Bench
Sign over the gateway leading out of the market
Tags: My Neighbourhood, Phoneography Challenge - My Neighbourhood 2, Postaday, Weekly Photo Challenge)
1 The Lemon Butter Cake (recipe to come later) that I was making this afternoon called for a very large bowl so I brought out the Family Super Bowl! It has a brilliant design that allows it to be tipped up and remain stable when the mixture is being beaten and it holds 10 1/2 pints! It has been used for making Christmas puddings for years and years!
The flat area to help stabilise the bowl
The Gripstand bowl
2 At The Maritime Museum in Falmouth a replica Bronze Age boat was launched today after months of work. It’s 16 metres long, made from green oak and has been built using replica Bronze Age tools. It’s a sewn plank boat, a kind of boat unique to England and Wales. The hull of the boat was made by stitching wooden planks together as nails had yet to be invented. You can find out more here.
The Bronze Age sewn plank boat
Inside the boat
Detail of sewn planks, holes plugged with grease
3 This panel caught my eye and reminded me of Monet’s paintings.
Decorated panel
Tags: Bronze Age boat, Falmouth Maritime Museum, Gripstand bowl, Lemon Butter Cake, photography, Postaday, postaday2013, sewn plank boat
1 In our main street, Fore Street, is the Town Clock which has been there since the 1700’s. In 1828 the former wooden tower was demolished and replaced by a stone tower. In 1904 Clock Tower was extended by a section because new buildings had grown up which prevented the miners up the hill from seeing the clock face. Few people had clocks in their homes at this time so it was important that the clock was visible all over town. As the plaque says, in 1841 the open arches at ground level were closed in for use as Police cells!
Plaque about our Town Clock
Door in the Clock Tower, to the prison cells perhaps……..
- Redruth Town Clock
2 I love primroses, so delicate and coming into flower in all our hedges now as a herald of Spring.
Primroses in the Cornish hedge
3 Today I’ve been introduced to The Piano Guys by Alex Autin. Check out her blog – it’s fascinating and do listen to this lovely rendition of Twinkle Lullaby and marvel at the Utah desert skies. I promise you, it will be a beautiful moment of tranquility in your busy day.
Tags: Alex Autin, Clock Tower, nature, photography, Postaday, postaday2013, primrose in Cornish hedges, The Piano Guys, Town Clock, tranquility, twinkle lullaby
1 After some bitterly cold shopping in the town, I called into Murdoch House for a warming coffee. William Murdock,whose house this was, made the first locomotive and tested it here in 1784. He also invented gas lighting and used it first in this house. According to The Encyclopaedia Britannica , ‘he was sent to Cornwall to superintend the fitting of Watt’s steam engines. At his home in Redruth, Cornwall, he experimented in distilling coal and in 1792 lighted his cottage and offices with coal gas.’
- Murdoch House
William Murdoch, inventor of gas lighting
2 There is a beautiful cherry tree on the walk back up the hill.
Cherry tree
Cherry blossom
3 The delicate pastel patterns on this piece of bark which had fallen onto the pavement caught my attention as the pink echoed the pink of the cherry blossom.
Beautiful pastel bark
Tags: cherry blossom, gas lighting, invention, inventor, Murdoch House, Postaday, postaday2013, William Murdock
Such a beautiful bright but bitterly cold day – perfect for a walk around Mylor. I love the Graveyard and the water and the lovely Mr S takes great delight in wandering around the boatyard. The propellers on the boats caught my eye – I had never realised how many kinds there are! Do read Joseph Crapp’s gravestone carefully! There is a marina here with some very expensive yachts (many of which are up in the boatyard for the winter) and also many working boats.
Click on any photograph for an enlargement. You may need to for the wording on the gravestone. If you’d like to see more of the fascinating old gravestones in Mylor Churchyard, have a look at this post from last year.
Two blade propeller
Brass propeller
Blue propeller
Three blade propeller
Another blue propeller
Sunlight and shadows
To Joseph Crapp ‘help, help’ he cries
In Mylor Graveyard
From Mylor Graveyard
Cornish Lass, a working boat
A working boat
Another working boat
In
Memory of Mt
Joseph Crapp : ship
Wright who die by 26th of
Novbr 1770 Aged 43 years
~ Alas Frend Joseph ~
His End was All most Sudden
As thou the Mandela came
Expres from heaven
His foot it Slyp And he did fall
Help help he cries & that was all
Tags: boat propellers, boatyard, gravestone, graveyard, humorous epitaph, Joseph Crapp, marina, Mylor, Postaday, postaday2013
1 I love the way hydrangea flowers fade so prettily.
Hydrangea flowers from last season
2 The Redruth Drapery Stores was the place to be in the past! People from all around came to get their suits, their best outfits and their hats. The beautiful frontage is still here but the store no longer.
The Redruth Drapery Stores
3 Walking past the coal store this afternoon on my way back from buying tickets to see ‘The Old Tyre Swingers’, this brand- new JCB caught my eye. The contrast of its pristine newness contrasted so much with the grime of where it was working.
Beautifully clean and new JCB working in the coal yard
Tags: flowers, JCB, Postaday, postaday2013, The Old Tyre Swingers, the place to be, The Redruth Drapery Stores
1 The Cornish Studies Library in Redruth houses the The Tregellas Tapestries which show the story of Cornwall from prehistory to modern day, in many beautiful tapestries. These are just two of them. There are 56 more of them and I love going to see them as we did this morning. I wish I could have been part of the project!
Tregellas tapestry
Another of the tapestries
“Known as Redruth’s hidden treasure, the Tregellas Tapestries are a collection of panels of artwork depicting the story of Cornwall in a unique modern tapestry. The word tapestry perhaps doesn’t quite convey how extensive the piece of art is: in short it is a breathtaking work of embroidery, created with appliqué, collage, paint, wool, silks, metal, cork and wood under the direction of Cornish Bard Rita Tregellas Pope, and two designers Joanne Tucker and Anne Corey. The tapestry was created to advance knowledge of Cornwall’s cultural heritage and showcase Cornish history, pre-history, legends industries and activities. The work took three years to complete and has been on display since 2001.”
2 There is still colour in the garden, lots of Kashmir Lilies and just a few nasturtiums and a couple of dahlias.
Kashmir Lilies
Nasturtium
Dahlia
3 A very good friend dropped in this afternoon and we spent a happy hour catching up on each other’s news – lovely!
Tags: colour, Cornish Bard, cornish history, dahlia, Kashmir Lily, nasturtium, photography, Postaday, postaday2012, rita tregellas pope, tapestry, Tregellas tapestries
1 There was sun and rain this morning and I hoped for a rainbow. No luck but this beautiful dramatic sky instead.
Dramatic sky
2 Looking in the yellow pages for a chimney sweep, I found this delightful advert with the chimney sweep offering to attend weddings. Tradition has it that 200 years ago, a Chimney Sweep saved the life of King George II by stopping his runaway horse and carriage. The King issued a Royal Decree that Chimney Sweeps are bringers of luck and should be treated with the greatest of respect. So started the tradition and because sweeps are lucky, couples sometimes arrange to meet the sweep at their Wedding!
Chimney-sweep advert
3 I love the colours on our town clock face. You might like this bit of history about our lovely clock: “Clock Tower Situated midway along Fore Street is the Town Clock which has stood on or very near this site for a long time, certainly since the 1700’s. In 1828 the former wood built tower was demolished and replaced by a stone tower. In 1841 the open arches at ground level were closed in for use as Police cells. With the increasing height of the surrounding commercial properties the Clock Tower was extended in 1904 so that the miners living at the top of the town could see the time, and also chimes were added.”
Redruth Clock Tower
The date is 10.11.12 That just pleases me!
Tags: chimney sweep, Clock Tower, good luck, Postaday, postaday2012, wedding
1 There were lichens galore on our walk around Botallack Mine and the cliff tops today. They are so varied and so beautiful.
Feathery lichen
Mixed lichen
Glorious lichen
2 Tin and copper have been mined here for hundreds of years The historian John Norden wrote of the fact that the hamlet of ‘Botallock‘ was ‘a little hamlet on the coaste of Irishe sea most visited with tinners, where they lodge and feede, being nere theyre mynes’ in 1590 and there is evidence all around of rocks and minerals, layers of red, green, black, brown. I found this beautiful shiny purple bit in a wall. Does anyone know what it is?
Purple mineral in the rock
Botallack Crowns
- Beautiful rock
Red rock
3 The only humans around, we sat high up on the cliffs and watched and listened to the waves, the sea birds, and a kestrel hunting.
Waves crashing onto the rocks below
Perched atop the cliffs
Blowing in the wind
A Ginger Fairing ice-cream finished off the beautiful day rather well!
Ginger Fairing ice-cream
This last is just for a laugh and was found in a treasure of a shop in St Just. We followed this very good advice!
Tags: Botallack Mines, lichens, minerals, Postaday, postaday2012, rocks, rocks and minerals, sea birds, tin mining, tinners
