Lands End, Mousehole, St Ives

This is the core of the trip - approx 164 miles, Lands End then the coast road to St Ives and back towards my home side of Dartmoor.

Mousehole

Wet overnight, but a clear start - cloudy but not too cold.

My first port of call is a mile down the road in Mousehole - narrow streets but luckily empty at this time in the morning and space to setup some photos on the quay.

I always fancied retiring to Mousehole, running the second hand bookshop and calling The Ship Inn my local. I would be a 'happy being grumpy' Black Books style shop owner. However its too early in the morning to check out the local establishments today.

Lands End

Then the drive to my end point - Lands End.

All closed up off season - two other cars in the carpark, one couple taking a dog for a walk and a group of 3 Chinese tourists. The situation does give me the opportunity for some good photos though.

A chat with the Hotel staff allows me to remove some bollards and get close to the cliffs. GN13 and me are now as far west as we can go in the UK before the roads run out. To the west are the Isles of Scilly and then the U.S.A.

...and the memento shot under the famous sign...

The Levant Mine

Onwards around the coast road towards St Ives, I randomly saw a sign to the infamous Levant Mine...

Officially closed - but had to be seen, so reversed up, carefully picked my way down the cobbled access road and went for a wander...

The miners followed the tin and copper for 2.5km under the sea in the 19th century, and lost ~30 men in one accident on the man engine in 1919. You have to admire the confidence of the engineering here - or perhaps the mix of engineering and business pushing the edge of what was possible/advisable?

Somewhere best part of a mile out and 700 metres down is the end of the mine, and less than a hundred years ago - men working in tunnels under the sea to retrieve metal ores.

St Ives

Getting towards lunchtime with St Ives around the corner. In the heatwave of 1976, in my childhood, we had a memorable family holiday here. Today its a little cooler - so after a wander around the streets and some Christmas shopping I holed up in a harbour facing chippy for lunch.

Fish, chips and mushy peas, pot of tea, ice cream for desert and a view over a slightly rainy, off season, UK seaside town - what could be better than that!  very happy!

After lunch its back towards home, across Dartmoor in the dark, past Exeter to overnight in Sidmouth. 

A Full day.