The spare day
Wednesday, 31 October 2018
If I’d thought things through, I would have compressed the St Ive’s stay into one day, not because I dislike the town, but because I realised that I could have done everything I did today yesterday afternoon. A big issue? Maybe: it’s going to depend on the weather, with Sunday looking rather on the nose – but maybe by then I’ll be past the Lizard and on to an easier part of the path.
Distances are quite confusing, because the peninsular is much longer going west than it is wide going south. It’s a bit of an irony that I could walk to Penzance in one day using the path across Cornwall; but it will take me four days walking around the coast.
Most of today is best told in pictures: I walked back to St Erth on the path, which passes above Carbis Bay (very pretty), then on to Lelant. St Uni is 11th Century and the cemetery is quite overgrown as it is now a nature reserve. One major feature was the use of the Cornish cross on markers and particularly on the boundary stones. The cross is white diagonal on a black field (as on the Cornish flag) and its carved on some of the headstones, interspersed with Celtic crosses, to emphasise the links with the rest of the Celtic world.
There is much in the church that’s worth investigating had I the time: an ancient copy of the 17th Remonstrance after the Restoration; an ancient (Tudor?) memorial; the anachronistic Norman arch amidst the Early English gothic. It felt old and in need of some care and attention from the Lotteries fund!
Then on along the estuary into St Erth, to catch the train back to St Ives. The afternoon turned a bit wet, so I hied me to the Tait Regional and had a surprisingly pleasant afternoon with the pre- and post-war St Ives school. It was a very active if eclectic little colony, but there were some real gems. Worth a visit if you are in Cornwall.
I treated myself to Thai for my birthday, the first authentic Thai restaurant I’ve seen in the UK, and excellent it was too. I’m about ten minutes walk from the Harbour and on the way down, got drenched in a downpour. My jacket kept the top dry but shoes and pants were soaking, so I’m now madly trying to dry them off so I can pack in the morning, ready to head off.
The guide book is not encouraging and I would trade dramatic coasts for an easier day, but them’s the breaks.
