Wednesday 12 October 2011 St Ives

St Ives is a real gem.  We are really enjoying our stay here.  We've been for walks, watched the rugby, cycled to Lands End, Mousehole, Penzance and Marazion.

Porthminster Beach is as good as you'll get anywhere.  Very sheltered and clean.  The tidal differences here are quite noticeable.  The little fishing harbour becoems quite empty at low tide and all the boats are left stranded on the sand until the high tide returns.

At Marazion there is an island on which St Michaels church and the castle were built, initially in the 14th century.  Legend has it that an angel was sighted there a few hundred years ago.  It has also survived a tsunami in the 18th century after the Lisbon earthquake in 1750.  It is quite a striking feature of the whole Mounts Bay area of Penzance.

Cornwall is said to be the most rural of all the counties in England.