October 15th and still warm and muggy here in West Cornwall. Yesterday the day was mostly misty with the mist burning off to sunny skies late afternoon but on this bright Saturday morning the mist had cleared away early and the air feels bright and spring-like. Riddled with cold, I'd spent most of yesterday in bed but that isn't possible today - it's too warm and sunny, and the beach was calling. Popped into the local nursery en route to buy cheerful cyclamen and little pink autumn daisies to cheer up the Court-yard pots, and then into the Surgery for a less cheerful flu jab. One of Cornwall's very few disadvantages is that its not so good for asthmatics - even mild sufferers like me - and last winter was blighted for me by three months of cold & flu symptoms so I am keen to avoid that.
Eventually got to Godrevy with the intention of a short walk and then breakfast at the excellent cafe at Godrevy but sadly I was just one of hundreds with the same idea, and the cafe car-park was full. I drove up to the top car-park, thinking I could park and walk back along the coast to the cafe, but realised the flu jab was starting to impact, so I just gazed at the sea looking glorious under the blue sky for a few minutes. I have to top up my Godrevy reserves when I'm busy doing other things and don't have time for a daily visit. Fortunately we Godrevy lovers have a choice of three easy access cafes, so I simply drove along to Hellsmouth where there is a big car-park and easy access to the cliff path as well as the lovely cafe.
After a five minute viewing of the view I went down to the cafe where fortunately they serve breakfast til 12. This is particularly welcome at a weekend when we want a really leisurely start to the day. I actually ordered at 11:55 so only just made it. As it was so close to lunch time I might have tried the Cafe's chowder which sounds delicious. Every time I go there I'm tempted and I'm sure one day the timing will be exactly right - but today I was after breakfast. The menu offers a good choice of different breakfast options and sensibly offers two size options of the traditional breakfast. I went for the girly heavenly breakfast which is quite huge enough - two slices of bacon, a good sausage, egg, tomato and mushrooms served with white or granary toast. Its all good quality ingredients and very tasty though I would prefer the bacon and the sausage a little more cooked. They were both cooked through but I veer towards the slightly burnt and crispy. I'm sure if I'd mentioned that the very helpful owners would have obliged and I must remember to do so next time. I never seem to have room for cake when I go to HellsMouth which is a terrible shame because the cake is delicious. Today there was a bakewell tart and that is just too irresistible so I brought some home and I'll have it later for tea. Sadly by the time I was half way through breakfast the flu jab was really starting to take effect and I changed my original plan - which was to walk back towards Godrevy and take in the air and the sights and sounds and smells of the ocean - and decided another quiet day would after all be more sensible.
Lucky me though that I live here and can come back to this beautiful place whenever I choose.
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Saturday, 8 October 2011
cafes cafes all around nor any time to drink
So much for a regular cafe update. It must be several weeks since my last blog following a lovely lunch in Perranuthnoe. THINGS have happened - diverting me from the important pursuits of walking,and sitting, and thinking, and drinking tea. So since Perranuthnoe I've managed only two true cafe visits, two (or three) campus canteeen visits, two restaurants and one very lovely pub. But the parameters are set - this is a blog about cafes. Not for me to review restaurants and pubs - a subject covered many times and with great enthusiasm by others more august (and more read.) The driving force behind this blog is the excellence of cafes in Cornwall, and my personal preference for them. As an aspiring writer I like to think in cafes. The actual process of writing often takes place in silence, sometimes in the middle of the night - but the thinking and working out and the chewing of pencils is helped by the hub-bub of life milling around and about me, and postively uplifted by a fine home-made soup or a piece of cake.
So - last week my good book-club friend Donna & I discovered a shared love of gardens. Living in West Cornwall I'm often distracted from other beauties by the sheer unadulterated glorious wildness of the coast line, and my default is to set out from Godrevy and walk to Hellsmouth or to potter along the shore line, paddling preferably, either bare foot or in wellies, when the cold gets too extreme and my ankles start to freeze solid. Finding someone with a shared interest then was a great impetus to go discover more of West Cornwall's bounty. WE decided to go to Trengwainton - our nearest National Trust property - and as neither of us had been before it was the obvious choice. The gardens are spectacular and after three or four hours wandering around a cup of tea was in order. Cafes at National Trust properties are very reliable these days in my experience, and like Doctor Who, I always look for the little shop and the cafe before leaving. The Cafe at Trengwainton is no exception, with welcoming friendly staff, a chalk board rich with appetising dishes sounding, looking and smelling lovely and an array of home-made cakes and desserts.
Sitting outside in the walled garden, basking in the warm late September sun Donna & I tucked into tea and cakes - for me a really good scone, soft and crumbly but holding its shape under a good spread of butter & very good jam (no cream on this occasion) and for Donna a thick brownie - soft , chewy and with good chunks of chocolate.
Last week felt like true holiday for me. Having decided to go to Uni in Falmouth the beginning-of-term feeling I always get in September was literal this year -so the trip to Trengwainton was the first day of a short holiday before term started, blessed with incredible summer weather that most of the country has been revelling in (and talking about of course, this being England). So on Sunday - the most fabulous of days, friend Eve & I walked from The Lizard to Kynance Cove - one of my favourite walks from many spectacular options down here. I felt quite envious of Eve because it was her first time, and I remember how blown away I was just last May when I did the walk for the first time - also on a sunny day when the sun on the water sparkles like no place else on earth. We parked at The Lizard and walked to Kynance equipped with water-bottles and swimming costumes and arrived to find Kynance at the perfect point between high tide and low tide. Still in enough to experience the slow reveal as the tide sweeps back to reveal the magical beach in its full glory but far enough out to see the Cove taking shape WE couldn't resist the water - clear, a little cold, but too enticing to ignore so a swim - however brief - was a necessary action. Followed by another NT cafe - where the food is simple but appropriate. Hearty pasties - each enough to feed several people, freshly baked baguettes, burgers made from local organic meat, and more home-made cake. I felt a pasty was in order after all the walking and swimming but then remembered the last time I'd had one I'd shared it with two other people - so for me a bit too huge. Also not too sure of its provenance - I think it contained lumps of minced meat - and I think my cornish friends would say it should be blade steak. But tasty and sustaining enough for more swimming and the walk back to the Lizard. We had intended to have supper at the very excellent Porthpear cafe on Lizard Point but lunch still felt too recent so we had ice-cream instead and promised ourselves that we would return another time to Polpear to watch the sun go down over the sparkling silver sea, and to eat fresh caught fish and Jubilee meringue....
So - last week my good book-club friend Donna & I discovered a shared love of gardens. Living in West Cornwall I'm often distracted from other beauties by the sheer unadulterated glorious wildness of the coast line, and my default is to set out from Godrevy and walk to Hellsmouth or to potter along the shore line, paddling preferably, either bare foot or in wellies, when the cold gets too extreme and my ankles start to freeze solid. Finding someone with a shared interest then was a great impetus to go discover more of West Cornwall's bounty. WE decided to go to Trengwainton - our nearest National Trust property - and as neither of us had been before it was the obvious choice. The gardens are spectacular and after three or four hours wandering around a cup of tea was in order. Cafes at National Trust properties are very reliable these days in my experience, and like Doctor Who, I always look for the little shop and the cafe before leaving. The Cafe at Trengwainton is no exception, with welcoming friendly staff, a chalk board rich with appetising dishes sounding, looking and smelling lovely and an array of home-made cakes and desserts.
Sitting outside in the walled garden, basking in the warm late September sun Donna & I tucked into tea and cakes - for me a really good scone, soft and crumbly but holding its shape under a good spread of butter & very good jam (no cream on this occasion) and for Donna a thick brownie - soft , chewy and with good chunks of chocolate.
Last week felt like true holiday for me. Having decided to go to Uni in Falmouth the beginning-of-term feeling I always get in September was literal this year -so the trip to Trengwainton was the first day of a short holiday before term started, blessed with incredible summer weather that most of the country has been revelling in (and talking about of course, this being England). So on Sunday - the most fabulous of days, friend Eve & I walked from The Lizard to Kynance Cove - one of my favourite walks from many spectacular options down here. I felt quite envious of Eve because it was her first time, and I remember how blown away I was just last May when I did the walk for the first time - also on a sunny day when the sun on the water sparkles like no place else on earth. We parked at The Lizard and walked to Kynance equipped with water-bottles and swimming costumes and arrived to find Kynance at the perfect point between high tide and low tide. Still in enough to experience the slow reveal as the tide sweeps back to reveal the magical beach in its full glory but far enough out to see the Cove taking shape WE couldn't resist the water - clear, a little cold, but too enticing to ignore so a swim - however brief - was a necessary action. Followed by another NT cafe - where the food is simple but appropriate. Hearty pasties - each enough to feed several people, freshly baked baguettes, burgers made from local organic meat, and more home-made cake. I felt a pasty was in order after all the walking and swimming but then remembered the last time I'd had one I'd shared it with two other people - so for me a bit too huge. Also not too sure of its provenance - I think it contained lumps of minced meat - and I think my cornish friends would say it should be blade steak. But tasty and sustaining enough for more swimming and the walk back to the Lizard. We had intended to have supper at the very excellent Porthpear cafe on Lizard Point but lunch still felt too recent so we had ice-cream instead and promised ourselves that we would return another time to Polpear to watch the sun go down over the sparkling silver sea, and to eat fresh caught fish and Jubilee meringue....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)