Clements Expedition to Cornwall
Aug 7th, 2009, 08:44 AM
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Clements Expedition to Cornwall
Part2
I forgot to mark Part 1 as a trip report, sorry.
St. Ives is a lovely little town, but we had to move on because the conference started Friday evening. DH is a historian and along with mining, has interests in maritime and industrial history so we headed to the maritime museum in Falmouth. We took the train and found that the fog followed us. We first visited Pendennis Castle. The ticket office let us leave our bags there and we were in time for a guided tour of the WWI and WWII gun emplacements. It was interesting and by the time it was over, the fog began to lift so we had some views from the top of the keep. There was also a nice exhibit about the history of the castle and its defenses. It has a very nice tea shop. DH had leek and potato soup and bread for lunch and I had my first Cornish cream tea! I get strange looks ordering cream teas for lunch, but I don't have time to have a lunch and then stop for a cream tea later in the afternoon. Cream tea consists of: a pot of tea, two scones, Cornish or Devonshire cream (something between whipped cream and butter), and jam. Yummy, yummy!
We then went to the maritime museum. They didn't have any place to store our bags except in an open coat rack. We moved the cameras and a couple other things we really didn't want to loose to my bag and locked DH's bag and left it there. He carried my bag around the museum. I kept an eye on his bag through the three hours were in the museum and it didn't move. DH didn't get to see everything he wanted due to poor planning. We learned to always get the museum map and plan out what we wanted to see first, instead of just wondering around.
We then took a water taxi up the Fal toward Truro. The Fal is a tidal river and the tide was out so the boat could only make it to Masas. The company has a bus that runs between Masas and Truro when they can't go all the way. The fog was totally gone and we had a wonderful view of Castle Pendennis as we went up the river. We passed several fish/shell fish farms set up in the river and most amazing, about half way up, six auto carrier ships were tied up in storage. If you like gardens, the taxi makes a stop at Trelissick. No one was waiting for the boat, so we continued up river.
The water taxi ties up near the bus station in Truro and while DH prefers trains, I talked him into taking the bus because we had been to Truro in 1997, and I knew the train station was about a mile away uphill. We took the bus to the train station in Redruth, where the conference was being held. I didn't have directions with me on how to get to the hotel, so I called to get directions. We tried to follow the directions for about a half hour, gave up, went back to the train station and took a taxi. This was our first clue that when a hotel or B&B website says they are within easy walking distance of the train station, they mean, if you are really cheap, you can possibly walk, but its going to be a lot longer than we say it is. Two days later, I found that the bus we had taken from Truro passes right in front of the hotel, but they don't mention that in their website.
The conference was held at Penventon Hall. It is an old country house turned into an hotel. It was by far the most expensive place we stayed. The conference rate was ￡100 per night and included breakfast. When I made the reservation, the confirmation said we had one of the newer garden rooms, which looked very nice on the website. When we finally arrived, half hour before the conference opening session, we had been upgraded to the Poldark Suite. Why, I don't know. When we got to the room, I looked around and went down again to make sure they had given us the right key. This was the suite the owners who turned their house into a hotel had lived in during their lifetimes. It had a large lounge that was bigger than most of the rooms we stayed in during our trip. The bedroom was equally as big. The bathroom was large and there was even a small bedroom/dressing room. Everything but Robin Ellis (star of 1970s TV show "Poldark").
The conference went well. We saw several people from the US mining history association there including several of our international members who hadn't attended the US conference the week before. The main meeting room was very large, although it smelled of chlorine, due to the indoor pool next door and could use a little updating in its decoration. The food, both for breakfast and the conference lunches was very good. Sunday morning, there was a wonderful display of expensive cars in the parking lot. Penventon Hall is THE PLACE for Sunday brunch in that part of Cornwall.
There were a couple conference trips to Cornish mine museums. The King Edward Mine is nice for people interested in mining mill machinery but not impressive for those who only have a tourist interest in mines. The Geevor Mine is worth a visit for tourists. The #300 bus stops right next to the visitor center. It was closed in 1980s, I believe, and handed over to the nonprofit that runs it now, so it has most of the buildings and equipment. Miners who worked in the mine give tours, and there is an underground tour. Next to the Geevor is the Levant Mine and they have a walking-beam steam engine that they fire up from time to time. About two miles down the coastal walk is the famous Botallack mine, also a stop on the #300 bus. This is just ruins, but it has the most famous, or at least most photographed, Cornish engine houses. You probably have seen the two engine house shells close together right in the cliffs above the ocean.
The conference wound up on Monday with a “surprise” lunch. I guess the conference organizers ended up with extra money and the hotel has a Monday lunch special for ￡10, so they announced that anyone who wanted to stay could have a free lunch. After that, we took the train to our next stop, Totnes, in Devon.
I forgot to mark Part 1 as a trip report, sorry.
St. Ives is a lovely little town, but we had to move on because the conference started Friday evening. DH is a historian and along with mining, has interests in maritime and industrial history so we headed to the maritime museum in Falmouth. We took the train and found that the fog followed us. We first visited Pendennis Castle. The ticket office let us leave our bags there and we were in time for a guided tour of the WWI and WWII gun emplacements. It was interesting and by the time it was over, the fog began to lift so we had some views from the top of the keep. There was also a nice exhibit about the history of the castle and its defenses. It has a very nice tea shop. DH had leek and potato soup and bread for lunch and I had my first Cornish cream tea! I get strange looks ordering cream teas for lunch, but I don't have time to have a lunch and then stop for a cream tea later in the afternoon. Cream tea consists of: a pot of tea, two scones, Cornish or Devonshire cream (something between whipped cream and butter), and jam. Yummy, yummy!
We then went to the maritime museum. They didn't have any place to store our bags except in an open coat rack. We moved the cameras and a couple other things we really didn't want to loose to my bag and locked DH's bag and left it there. He carried my bag around the museum. I kept an eye on his bag through the three hours were in the museum and it didn't move. DH didn't get to see everything he wanted due to poor planning. We learned to always get the museum map and plan out what we wanted to see first, instead of just wondering around.
We then took a water taxi up the Fal toward Truro. The Fal is a tidal river and the tide was out so the boat could only make it to Masas. The company has a bus that runs between Masas and Truro when they can't go all the way. The fog was totally gone and we had a wonderful view of Castle Pendennis as we went up the river. We passed several fish/shell fish farms set up in the river and most amazing, about half way up, six auto carrier ships were tied up in storage. If you like gardens, the taxi makes a stop at Trelissick. No one was waiting for the boat, so we continued up river.
The water taxi ties up near the bus station in Truro and while DH prefers trains, I talked him into taking the bus because we had been to Truro in 1997, and I knew the train station was about a mile away uphill. We took the bus to the train station in Redruth, where the conference was being held. I didn't have directions with me on how to get to the hotel, so I called to get directions. We tried to follow the directions for about a half hour, gave up, went back to the train station and took a taxi. This was our first clue that when a hotel or B&B website says they are within easy walking distance of the train station, they mean, if you are really cheap, you can possibly walk, but its going to be a lot longer than we say it is. Two days later, I found that the bus we had taken from Truro passes right in front of the hotel, but they don't mention that in their website.
The conference was held at Penventon Hall. It is an old country house turned into an hotel. It was by far the most expensive place we stayed. The conference rate was ￡100 per night and included breakfast. When I made the reservation, the confirmation said we had one of the newer garden rooms, which looked very nice on the website. When we finally arrived, half hour before the conference opening session, we had been upgraded to the Poldark Suite. Why, I don't know. When we got to the room, I looked around and went down again to make sure they had given us the right key. This was the suite the owners who turned their house into a hotel had lived in during their lifetimes. It had a large lounge that was bigger than most of the rooms we stayed in during our trip. The bedroom was equally as big. The bathroom was large and there was even a small bedroom/dressing room. Everything but Robin Ellis (star of 1970s TV show "Poldark").
The conference went well. We saw several people from the US mining history association there including several of our international members who hadn't attended the US conference the week before. The main meeting room was very large, although it smelled of chlorine, due to the indoor pool next door and could use a little updating in its decoration. The food, both for breakfast and the conference lunches was very good. Sunday morning, there was a wonderful display of expensive cars in the parking lot. Penventon Hall is THE PLACE for Sunday brunch in that part of Cornwall.
There were a couple conference trips to Cornish mine museums. The King Edward Mine is nice for people interested in mining mill machinery but not impressive for those who only have a tourist interest in mines. The Geevor Mine is worth a visit for tourists. The #300 bus stops right next to the visitor center. It was closed in 1980s, I believe, and handed over to the nonprofit that runs it now, so it has most of the buildings and equipment. Miners who worked in the mine give tours, and there is an underground tour. Next to the Geevor is the Levant Mine and they have a walking-beam steam engine that they fire up from time to time. About two miles down the coastal walk is the famous Botallack mine, also a stop on the #300 bus. This is just ruins, but it has the most famous, or at least most photographed, Cornish engine houses. You probably have seen the two engine house shells close together right in the cliffs above the ocean.
The conference wound up on Monday with a “surprise” lunch. I guess the conference organizers ended up with extra money and the hotel has a Monday lunch special for ￡10, so they announced that anyone who wanted to stay could have a free lunch. After that, we took the train to our next stop, Totnes, in Devon.
Aug 7th, 2009, 09:10 AM
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Sounds like a wonderful and interesting few days. I loved your comment about walking distances.
(I remember once in a B&B in Cambridge, England, the hostess recommended a pub a "ten minute walk down the road". We had been in the car for quite a stretch so decided to hoof it. My 80+ year old father who is in decent shape except for occasional knee problems, my stepmother who prefers fashion to comfort in shoes, and I set out for supper. After 20 minutes, Dad said his knees were killing him and stepmom said her shoes were hurting. There was a bench nearby so I suggested they sit a bit and I would walk back and get the car. I checked the distance on the odometer. It was 1.2 miles to the banch and another 1.5 miles to the pub!)
Anyway, keep it coming!
(I remember once in a B&B in Cambridge, England, the hostess recommended a pub a "ten minute walk down the road". We had been in the car for quite a stretch so decided to hoof it. My 80+ year old father who is in decent shape except for occasional knee problems, my stepmother who prefers fashion to comfort in shoes, and I set out for supper. After 20 minutes, Dad said his knees were killing him and stepmom said her shoes were hurting. There was a bench nearby so I suggested they sit a bit and I would walk back and get the car. I checked the distance on the odometer. It was 1.2 miles to the banch and another 1.5 miles to the pub!)
Anyway, keep it coming!
Aug 7th, 2009, 03:02 PM
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In case anyone is wondering where Part 1 is, here's the link:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-cornwall.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-cornwall.cfm
Aug 7th, 2009, 03:18 PM
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GBabe: As yk suggested on your other thread, it is much easier if the report is posted on a single thread. Otherwise you end up w/ multiple threads running parallel and separate and they never hook up. And you can also ask katie to add a trip report tag.
Aug 7th, 2009, 11:06 PM
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>>Cream tea consists of: a pot of tea, two scones, Cornish or Devonshire cream (something between whipped cream and butter), and jam<<
More precisely, this is called Clotted Cream. From Wikipedia: "Clotted cream is a thick yellow cream made by heating unpasteurized cow's milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms clots."
More precisely, this is called Clotted Cream. From Wikipedia: "Clotted cream is a thick yellow cream made by heating unpasteurized cow's milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms clots."
Aug 10th, 2009, 01:59 AM
#6
Hi, GBbabe,
<<International Mining History conference in Redruth, Cornwall>>
who knew?
well, not me, and I live only 2 miles away. and your description of trying to find the Penventon is killing - it is a very good demonstration of how locals tend to think that things are obvious which to a stranger are anything but. I can't quarrel with your assessment of it as a place to stay [I've never stayed there as it's so close] but the restaurant seems to us to be stuck in a bit of a time-warp. perhaps they made some changes for the conference; I didn't know they did Brunch either.
you are far from being the only person to have a cream tea for lunch, but they are very varied in quality and quantity. the best we've come across was at a cafe at Polrun [across the estuary from Fowey] - no portion control there with heaps of cream and jam. the places I do NOT like are the ones which give out the little pots, which are never enough. [hence my prescence of the weightwatchers' thread, I suppose].
a little quibble - the place at the top of Carrick roads [the river that goes up to Truro] is "Malpas" - there is a very good if slightly pricey pub there called "The Heron" which is a lovely place for a sunny lunch-time, but with terrible parking, so arriving by boat is ideal.
the big ships that you saw were probably waiting to be broken up, or to be repaired, or may even have been arrested for failure to pay customs duties...Falmouth harbour is the 2nd deepest natural harbour in the world so it can take some pretty big boats.
glad I found your thread - wonder how I missed it first time round?
regards, ann
<<International Mining History conference in Redruth, Cornwall>>
who knew?
well, not me, and I live only 2 miles away. and your description of trying to find the Penventon is killing - it is a very good demonstration of how locals tend to think that things are obvious which to a stranger are anything but. I can't quarrel with your assessment of it as a place to stay [I've never stayed there as it's so close] but the restaurant seems to us to be stuck in a bit of a time-warp. perhaps they made some changes for the conference; I didn't know they did Brunch either.
you are far from being the only person to have a cream tea for lunch, but they are very varied in quality and quantity. the best we've come across was at a cafe at Polrun [across the estuary from Fowey] - no portion control there with heaps of cream and jam. the places I do NOT like are the ones which give out the little pots, which are never enough. [hence my prescence of the weightwatchers' thread, I suppose].
a little quibble - the place at the top of Carrick roads [the river that goes up to Truro] is "Malpas" - there is a very good if slightly pricey pub there called "The Heron" which is a lovely place for a sunny lunch-time, but with terrible parking, so arriving by boat is ideal.
the big ships that you saw were probably waiting to be broken up, or to be repaired, or may even have been arrested for failure to pay customs duties...Falmouth harbour is the 2nd deepest natural harbour in the world so it can take some pretty big boats.
glad I found your thread - wonder how I missed it first time round?
regards, ann
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