Adventures in Cornwall

On Saturday we awoke, scoffed down a full English breakfast (sorry, but no beer pairing here!) and headed into St Ives for a coffee before venturing off on one of the many interesting coastal walks around the area. We managed to walk about two miles south before the mud got a little bit too hardcore for the missus and we bush based through the shrubs to higher ground. We may have been defeated by the state of the walking trails, but this did not stop our adventurous spirit and we fired up the trusty car and explored the country side. First stop was Lands End for the token amusement park complete with Doctor Who ride and naff sign stating 'Land's End'. This is fine except that apparently you can't take a photo of it without paying for the honour. Needless to say I was rather rude to the 'owner' of said sign, basically 'cause there was nobody else around and I could be! After the excitement of Lands End the SatNav directed us along some trails that could loosely be interpreted as roads towards Penzance. The 'scenic' route was interesting but the increased journey time started to impact renal function and a pit stop was sorely needed once we got there. In the absence of any public dunnys we snuck into the local JDW house and made generous use of Tim Martin's facilities before beating a hasty retreat. The 'spoons basically smelt like a nursing home and there were three stereotypical CAMRA freaks sitting near the front door. They all had impressive 'Gandolf' or 'Taliban' style beards and the latest in sandal style footwear to accompany their beer festival T-shirts. Actually one had a live action roleplay T-shirt, but it still fit the stereotype! Anyhow at this point a pasty was in order, but a quick stroll down the high street revealed nothing but the same fast food party chains you get in London train stations. We admitted defeat and headed back to the car managing to find a little bakehouse on a lane en route. Two pastys and a Coke Zero later and we were on our way back to St Ives for a nap before dinner.

Dinner consisted of going to the St Ives posh noshery "Seafood Cafe". The food was ok and I had a bottle of St Austells Clouded Yellow to accompany my meal. This is supposed to be a Bavarian inspired wheat beer but its basically a Belgian Witbier spiced with cloves, coriander and vanilla. It was OK, but I didn't order a second bottle and chose to smash down the remaining two thirds of a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. By the time we left the restaurant it was getting late so we headed back to the B&B, satisfied that we had made the most of our day. I should also note that it was the first Saturday night in a long time that I only had one beer - maybe my horizons are broadening? Maybe not!

St Ives

On Friday the wife and I headed off to St Ives down in the far south of Cornwall. I have always wanted to go to Cornwall. When I was young my Nan gave me a cartoon map/poster of Cornwall and told me loads of stories about how pirates used to bury treasure all along the coastline and hide stuff in caves. It was pretty exciting when I was ten. Actually compared to the spreadsheets I have been working on this morning, it's still pretty exciting. Anyhow as I don't own a car we hired a little convertible (207cc I think?) and hit the M4, M5 and A30 keeping a lookout for pirates and buried treasure. OK the pirate jokes were funny until we past the Reading turnoff where my wife was starting to be offended by the latest nickname I had given her ('Seaman Stains'). We finally pulled into the driveway of the B&B in St Ives at about 4.30pm, dumped our bags in the bed and went exploring through the old town. St Ives is a bit of a beer desert. There are a few pubs, but they are pretty ordinary. The Sloop came highly recommended by our hosts, however as we walked into the bar we were issued a reception that would normally be reserved for a black at a KKK meeting. There was no violence, but everyone stopped, stared and generally made us feel like out of towners. I think this is another case of a pub that people think is good just because it is old (circa 1316 or something). The Dove in Hammersmith is another such pub that falls into this category. They are old and have a lot of history, but the beer is usually just on standard and they are not particularly inviting. Rant over!

Anyhow, we retreated to a St Austells tied house 'The Lifeboat' which was marginally more friendly. I had a couple of pints of St Austells Tribute and a pint of HSD (the breweries strong ale). Neither was overly impressive. By default they had a sparkler on their swan necks and both beers had a subtle sulfur note on the aroma which I don't really like. Brakspears Bitter has this as well and it's off putting. Anyhow after getting a mixed grill down my neck for dinner we retreated back to the B&B for an early evening. I should also add that the surf was not very good. The banks were rubbish and the swell was just mush. I miss the beach back home, as well as the smell of sunscreen. It was nice to not be at work on a Friday though. The picture below is of Porthmouth beach in St Ives. It was taken from the top of the outcrop on the point called 'The Island'. As you can see surfing in the UK is pretty much a waste of time!

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