The Great Atlantic

Yesterday J and I took a little trip out to Cape Cornwall, a rugged and dramatic headland which lies at the very tip of Britain, and unlike Land's End itself, remains totally unspoilt. The weather was idyllic for this time of year, if a tad breezy.

Priest's Cove lies at the foot of the headland, and a few hardy fishermen still work the boats here, from a rather precipitous concrete slipway and a very rocky approach from the sea, which is always pretty wild on this great Atlantic coast.

Set into the cliff face are a number of ramshackle fishermen's huts; the rough grass and the creeping mesembryanthemum having grown over the corrugated tin roofs so that they resemble the little homes of seafaring hobbits.

The cove has an unusual geology, which I am afraid I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you about, but it is very noticeable how many perfectly rounded pale granite boulders there are littered all over the underlying rock. 

Up on top of the headland the views were spectacular, the waves crashing and frothing below. 

I feel so completely invigorated when I watch the sea

The sun was going in and out from behind scudding clouds, and it got a bit cold up on the Cape, so we headed back to St. Just to The Cook Book Cafe for a milkshake and a toasted tea cake. Their chocolate milkshakes are to die for! (I usually have two). Then a short drive to a secret hidden valley....Cot Valley.....

This little babbling stream winds its way down through enchanting groves of trees and subtropical plants until it emerges out onto the wild scrubby heathland and eventually the sea....

Like Priest's Cove, the 'beach' is almost entirely composed of rounded granite boulders.

A little way along the cliff edge is this tunnel, now blocked, which I suspect was the entrance to a mine shaft. The whole area is littered with disused engine houses and chimneys; many of the tunnels went out for miles under the sea bed.

As the afternoon sun began to lower in the sky I just stood mesmerised by the beauty of the light on the water and the continual surging back and forth of the waves....

Happy Valentine's Day to you my friends; hope you spent it with someone you love. x