The South-Western Tip

Today we set out bright and early because we wanted to walk out to St Michael's Mount via the causeway, which is not possible at high tide.  And it was bright because the sun was shining at last.  St Michael's Mount is an English version of Mont Saint Michel in France, just across the channel from here.  The French version has quite a lot more going on as it is an abbey and a village; also you can now drive out to the French one in almost any tide, and the surrounding bay is slowly silting up.  The English one has a castle on top with a small settlement below, and is still a private residence.  They open it to the public six days a week.

The causeway to St Michael's Mount.

Almost there...

There we found top class coffee and pain-au-raisin!  Highly recommended if you are passing.

The commodore was directing the yachting from this hut on the island.  Note the blue sky!

After St Michael's we headed for Land's End.  On the way we sought out the Stone Circle, but ended up getting stuck up tiny mud tracks instead.  We can see it on Google (link here) but never got to see it in person!  Our car was now nice and dirty.

The "road" to the stone circle.

We have heard from certain family members that Land's End is not worth the trouble, so I came up with the brilliant plan of driving to Sennen Cove a couple of km away and walking to Land's End along the coastal walkway.  This way we avoided the crowds, got to walk some of the great coastal walkway, and still got the photo at Land's End.  Paid NT parking fee.  This plan worked well, with the walk along the cliffs providing spectacular (windy) views.  They were right; Land's End itself is no more notable than any other headland along the coast.

The coastal walkway between Sennen Cove and Land's End.

The cafe at LE was below par, so we walked back to Sennen Cove for our refreshments.

Land's End - the headland in the background.

The rugged coastline.

Old lookout post near Sennen Cove.

Our final mission while we were in the extreme south-west of Cornwall was to visit some of the old tin mines.  We headed for first the Botallack area, then the Levant mine, guided partly by that gripping Cornwellian soap opera, "Poldark" which we have been known to follow.  The landscape is dotted with these old mine buildings and chimneys, and the Botallack mine area is now a protected tourist attraction.  Here the engine houses are on the edge of the sea, and the underground mine passages extend about 400 metres out under the ocean as well as a long way inland, and to depths of 500 metres.  This mine amounted to about 100 km of shafts and tunnels. These engine houses contained large steam engines to pump water out of the mines, and to help lift men and materials in and out of the mine.  A guide told us it would take the men hours to get to and from work at the mine face underground, and they were only paid for the time they were actually mining!  The Botallack mine produced tin, copper, and arsenic.

Old Botallack engine houses, and Sue.

Another Botallack pump house - as seen in "Poldark"!

Sue auditioning for a part as a Poldark extra.

We also visited the Levant mine, which was less scenic but does include a working beam engine of the type used in these mines.

It was after five when we turned for home - about the same time as a red light came on to let us know we were running out of petrol!  We learned how few petrol stations there are in this little corner of Cornwall, but managed to reach one in Penzance without having to get out and walk.  Today we were also amazed to find that all the big supermarkets close about 4 pm on Sundays!  This caused us to re-think our dinner plans.  We were eventually rescued by the discovery of one small supermarket still open in Newquay (which was doing a roaring trade).