Cornwall, Devon, Somerset

St Agnes in Cornwall is the home to many old mines and here is a small collection of their engine houses. These mined mostly copper and/or tin often from the early Bronze age up to the beginning of the 20th century when these metals either ran low or were mined much cheaper elsewhere. This is ‘Poldark’ country and it seemed on our brief visit around here that there were mines around every corner. Other minerals were also mined including gold, zinc, silver, lithium and arsenic. Cornwall’s neighbour; Devon, also has many such mines. Top row from left is the top of Wheal Coates and one of the Polberro Mines. Bottom from left is Wheal Kitty and then Wheal Charlotte which sits just south of St Agnes Head. Only Wheal Kitty now survives of these, as a visitors centre with workshops and a café. The PiP shows a view of the bottom engine house of Wheal Coates. Enjoy full screen.

We just love a seat with a view, and not many can compare with something like this. Let’s take a seat overlooking this giant Perran Bay and drink in the sight of the rolling sea whilst listening to the roar of the breaking waves. The people on the beach look like ants from up here but quite different views await us down there seeing the giant incoming waves up close with adventurous surfers ‘strutting their stuff’. In the distance we see Ligger Point. Enjoy full screen PS before you ask – I don’t really think there was a big drop from in-front of this bench – yes the ground did fall away but only as a gentle slope with a fence before it dropped more drastically. Have a great week.

Time for a hot brew, chat and sit down outside the harbour office here in St Ives, Cornwall. When the tide comes in, water rushes below these arches underneath the harbour wall leading to the old lighthouse at the other end. Enjoy full screen.

A look at our Cornish sea-side village of St Ives. A picturesque fishing harbour, long time popular with artist because of its soft light. On this day however the sky was overcast and the air cool and damp. Note -This is a very wide-angle shot making the place look a little more expansive than it really is. Enjoy full screen.

Those that know me from Panoramio will remember that I used to take very many beach hut scenes. Now, not so many at all, but I could not but help myself to taking this at St Ives in Cornwall. Not really the weather for beach huts but the beach bar has customers. Enjoy full screen. Herb

Here at Perranporth in Cornwall they have a rather nice selection of seats and benches. Another taken from the southern clifftops paths. Enjoy full screen.

A shot here from my Devon archives which I though deserved to be viewed here. Encompassing for me several things that I like to see, ie trees, mist and pattern. It was quite early when I took this after seeing hints of mist from our touring caravan window. The caravan sitting in a large field with a small edge designated for five caravans maximum. I was thankful that my camera battery was fully charged as I ran to the edge of the woods only a hundred metres or so away. To catch a misty scene correctly is always difficult but I was happy with this. If only I had seen a deer here too. It is unusual for me to see mist in August but we were quite close to the sea so imagine this to be some kind of sea fret. The luminance has been turned up slightly as has the shadows in order to keep the mist looking right giving it a high-key feel. A slight adjustment to the colour balance too. Olympus E-410, Zuiko 40-150mm zoom lens at 42mm. ISO 800, F5.6, 1/50th sec Enjoy full screen. Herb

We are back in Cornwall, just slightly south of the famous St Agnes head and its Wheal Coates mine. Heading down to this tiny cove with its busy little car park. Time for a sit down, especially for walkers coming up. Enjoy full screen.

Another chance to see this iconic Cornish tin mine. We are on our way down the twisty coastal path to the lower part you can see here where we will walk further along the ‘South West Coastal Path’ towards Chapel Porth. Its windy and the waves are quite choppy as can be seen. See PiP for one of my earlier photos and descriptions of this mine. Best viewed full screen

We are here on the end of Smeaton’s Pier at St Ives in Cornwall. On the right side of the pier some fishing boats are tied up, as witnessed by their waiting lobster pots. To the left is the open Atlantic. The lighthouse was established in 1890. Smeaton was the civil engineer in charge of the building of this pier, built in 1767. He was well known for being commissioned to build many canal, harbour and bridge works but for me his most famous work was ‘Smeaton’s Lighthouse’, later renamed Eddystone Lighthouse. In building that, he evolved the stone dovetailing method of keeping the tower immensely strong against raging seas and wind, a system that was to be employed in most rocky island lighthouses until the present day. An even older lighthouse still stands at the other end of this pier, established in 1830. See Pips. Enjoy full size.

A look across the sands at low tide here at St Ives.

We make a special journey to cross the headland of Godrevy Point so that we can see this lighthouse from up close. We are on the ‘South west Coast’ path but we can also see it from the hill near our cottage some miles away. Built on Godrevy Island in St Ives Bay, Cornwall. It marks the infamous Stones reef which has been a hazard to shipping for centuries. Established in 1859 and designed by James Walker. It has a white 26 metre octagonal tower and was made famous by Virginia Woolfe in her novel ‘To the Lighthouse’, though she places it somewhere else. Enjoy full screen.

In October I posted a photo of the famous Godrevy Lighthouse in Cornwall (see pip) where I mentioned we had seen grey seals around the rocks too. Here then you see a collage of just three of the photos that I snapped there. The bottom two, showing the same mother and her pup. I was very pleased to catch the one with the pup suckling its mother, which I think is quite rare to see. The tide was out as I took these from a high cliff vantage point some way from the seals, and I imagine it would have been quite a different picture with the sea being in. Enjoy full screen.

Seen on St Agnes Head just as the rains started to hit us. I do love to see nature’s sun rays in this way and the sea bird makes it for me. The hills in the distance are towards St Ives in Cornwall. Enjoy full screen

As rainfall comes in over the sea we see rainbows come and go in the distance. This is actually looking over Trevaunace Cove towards Cligga Head. Bawden Rocks are sometimes called Man and His Man! Moments after taking this photo I took the preceding photo on here looking in the opposite direction. Enjoy full screen.

It’s a cold wet September day and I am above Birnbeck Island at Weston Super Mare, with a view of this sadly dilapidated Birnbeck Pier. The retro sepia look, I believe, is quite in keeping in what we have here today. See PiP for alternative view. The pier, designed by Eugenius Birch first opened in 1867. Steam-ship trips were once taken from here. We see clearly the Weston Lifeboat Station that was housed here from the late 1880s. “Over the years there have been many plans to restore this iconic and once beautiful pier but they have come to nothing. However, there are now plans afoot to save the pier and eventually rehouse the lifeboat station here.” Enjoy full screen

As the winds whip up the waves, these dogs and their masters enjoy the exercise in this fresh air here at the tiny cove of Chapel Porth in Cornwall. Enjoy full screen

A view to the Cornish village of St Agnes from St Agnes Beacon. We are looking north-east here over Trevaunance Cove. Centre stage is the old tin mine of Wheal Kitty, now a living museum. (see pip bottom left) This hill we could see from our holiday cottage windows and was barely a 50 minute walk from the front door. Of course we have pretty typical weather for October but it was to improve later in the day. Enjoy full screen