Despite my best intentions when enquiring at the very helpful Tourist information in Penzance, I ended up at what was almost a parody of the English seaside guest house- floral curtains, lots of trinkets on the landings, and a strict instruction that breakfast would only be served between 8.30 and 9am; and despite a full dining room at that time, hardly a word was spoken, other than by the serving landlady. Hmm, so much for requesting somewhere nice...
I wasn't far from St Michael's Mount, and, it being low tide, I walked across the bay, only to find the castle was closed, it being Saturday! I don't know of many other NT properties where the only closing day is Sat!
Following my investigation of Cables and Wireless at Portcurno yesterday, I was keen to visit Goonhilly on the Lizard Peninsula, home to a family of Satellite dishes, some of the first in the UK but now mainly decommissioned by BT who have shifted most of their satellite operations to Herefordshire. It now has the compulsory visitor centre, interactive hands-on exhibits, film show, coach tour of the site, gift shop, café etc, and it was clear it was the Saturday of the great return East for most people, as it was pleasantly quiet; I opted for a tour of Arthur, the oldest of the dishes, and turned out to be the only person on it! This has advantages, but also means I have to appear extra-interested and think of intelligent questions to ask, even if I'm not really interested in the answer. Having said that, though some of the technical details went over my head (science was never my strong point!), it was quite interesting and the young guide knowledgeable.
Goonhilly has plenty of BT marketing in the exhibits and the shop, not surprisingly, but also what they claim is the fastest cybercafe in the country with its own 1 gigabit pipe and 100mbps to each iMac- it seemed fast, but not that fast!
In the afternoon up to Truro, and a look round the wonderful John Loughborough Pearson designed Cathedral- I'd been before, but my last visit to Cornwall was about 15 years ago, so it was good to remind myself of the features and of this pleasantly compact city. Tourist Information were somewhat more helpful in my request to find somewhere nice to stay- on this occasion on a farm a couple of miles out of the city, being tastefully restored to offer B&B in a wonderfully peaceful setting at the end of a very bumpy and pothole-ridden track.
The Dish
Alpha and Omega- from the beginning to the end.
Despite my Sat-Nav leading me via the 'scenic' route, I reached a quiet Eden Project to visit the giant biomes. Though the Mediterranean biome was cooler than I expected, the tropical biome was much like the real thing, as my lens kept steaming up! Down to Penzance for a late lunch before the Porthcurno telegraph museum- the HQ and arrival point for many transatlantic and undersea communication cables. A quick visit to the tourist trap that is Land's End before a return to Marazion, ready for St Michael's Mount in the morning.
Cornwall
It's a fair time since I last visited Cornwall and somehow what stuck in my mind were childhood memories of crawling through Okehampton. Well it now has a bypass, indeed the A30 was fast and quiet and I was soon well into the county at the end of England. First destination was Padstow, small village made well known by TV chef Rick Stein, whose presence is just about everywhere- a seafood restaurant with celebrity prices to match, a hotel and bistro, a seafood cookery school, a deli, a patisserie and a fish and chip shop. I joined the queue for cod, avoiding the more exotic fish available- though I'd like to try sometime. First a queue to pay, then a ten minute queue for the fish to fry to order. It was just a little dry for my taste.
Hampton Court to Honiton
A busy day at the wheel, though it had a slightly iffy start when I had to get some of the fluid levels checked on my car, as I was a bit suspicious of one of the gauges. All was well, and I set off towards the SouthWest with a rather wide detour via Hampton Court. It had only recently occurred to me to visit whilst planning the Tudor topic, and whilst I hadn't left myself much time, I did make the most of the chance to get some video footage of those Tudor parts of the Palace where such activities are allowed. This will be very useful for interspersing with footage of the children and providing an authentic backdrop. I then had the decision to make to stay in London and hear John Scott play Duruflé and Messiaen at Westminster Cathedral, or to head west. Heading westward won, and I made remarkably good time down the M3 and along the A303, through Hampshire, then Wiltshire, then into Somerset- still going strong, and eventually over the Devon border and Honiton- time to stop.
Another century for the Don...
Olympics 2008
As the Beijing olympics ends, the baton (and hype) passes to London. Since 2000, it has been something of a tradition for me to make an Olympics collage of images, and Beijing 2008 is no different, though this time I could do it with Final Cut Express rather than Powerpoint! Same music each time, a song that has become almost an alternative Team GB anthem, so especially suitable this year with all the British medals. Apologies if I missed any!
Olympics 2008 Slide Show from rogbi200 on Vimeo.
Sydney Olympic Games Slideshow from rogbi200 on Vimeo.
Under reconstruction...
I've taken the decision to turn this into my main blogging platform, moving away from the iWeb based blog. This is because I was restricted to one machine when it came to updating it, and this was becoming rather irritating. iWeb creates a good-looking website, and doubtless the next version will improve matters, but who knows when that will appear. I've also been setting up other blogs using the blogspot engine and have found it more and more flexible, so another good reason to move.
I'm in the process of transferring all old posts but this will take some time. I've also been looking beyond the default templates, though the one I've chosen has some oddities which still need to be ironed out!
Clarkson for PM?
The Downing Street Official Site has been considering an online petition signed by thousands to make Jeremy Clarkson Prime Minister...
England Lions v South Africa
Some video and photos taken during the England Lions match against South Africa at Grace Road, Leicester, on August 14th 2008.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
