Cornwall

Lelant Church, near Hayle, Penwith

My First Day in Cornwall

I first went to Cornwall in 1974, and it knocked me out!

Crows-An-Wra

Crows An Wra is Cornish for Cross by the Way. You find these crosses all over Cornwall. This one is situated on the St Just to St Buryan Road in Penwith.
Painted in acrylics.

Men-An-Tol

Men-An-Tol is Cornish for Holed Stone. Babies used to be passed through the hole to cure them of rickets.
Situated in a field near Penzance.
Painted in acrylics.

Minack Clifftop Theatre

I've only seen one play at the Minack Theatre. That was Cyreno de Bergerac, and I was disappointed because the actor playing him didn't have a very long nose!


The granite outcrop seen from the theatre is Treryn Dinas which is an iron-age cliff fort. There is a rocking stone on this known as a Logan Stone......

Where I Met The Emperor

The Emperor in question was Marcus Aurelius. I started reading his Meditations whilst sheltering
from the rain in Penzance in 1979.

St. Piran's Cross, Perranporth, North Cornwall

Nearby is (or was) St. Piran's Oratory in the dunes, a 6th Century church. I must be one of the last people alive to see it, as the sand has been allowed to completely cover it. It used to be quite a tourist attraction, I understand. But I suppose as there was no money in it, the Council decided to cut its losses, and let nature take its course.

Wheal Ding Dong

This is an old engine-house for a defunct tin mine. You find these all over Cornwall. Sometimes they're referred to as Cornish Castles. For some reason, the West Country folk call tin mines 'wheals', I don't know why.

This one is located a couple of miles outside Penzance.

Cross in Phillack Churchyard, near Hayle,  Penwith

Whenever I see this type of cross, I'm almost tempted to think Christ is telling lies about the one that got away!

Chunn Castle, near Morva, Penwith

Chun Castle is an iron-age settlement located on a hilltop between Morva and Pendeen - not far from Penzance.

When I was there last, one of the 'rooms' was filled with a pool of unhealthy looking water, and was guarded by a large venomous looking spider that had spun its web between the door-posts.

A red helicopter was circling overhead for some reason.....
  

Sancreed Churchyard, near the Drift Reservoir, Penwith

Sancreed is a tiny village near the Drift Reservoir, not far from Penzance in Cornwall.

I forget why I went there - possibly something to do with a Pagan Sun Wheel which was supposed to be incorporated into the fabric of the church - buggered if I could find it!

It was bucketing down with rain when I first went there, and I noticed that some graves had placed on them what appeared to be large dinner plates with glass covers, beneath which flowers were dead or dying.

The thought came to me then: 'Summer rain clatters down - flowers wilt beneath glass'.

Now this, three or four years before I'd even heard of Haiku, was almost a Haiku.

Later I rewrote it as a Haiku :

Summer rain clatters
Down as flowers wilt beneath
Glass covers on graves.

As you can see, I did not have to alter my original thought much to achieve this.

But I still cannot make up my mind if this is a bad Haiku, or the best Haiku (indeed the best poem) I have ever written,  Ah well -who cares. anyway?

P.S. If you look at the picture carefully you can see the Pagan Sun Wheel I couldn't find!

Blind Fiddler in the Rain#1

During my first trip to Cornwall in 1974, I once got caught in the wilds, when it started pouring down with rain. I remember trudging up a hill towards a church tower which indicated the village of St. Buryan, and most importantly - a pub.

The Menhir on the left of the picture is known as the Blind Fiddler. According to local folklore, this was once a human fiddler who God turned to stone because he played his fiddle on the Sabbath.
I play rock music on the Sabbath, so what will happen to me?

The figure in the picture is not me, but a sort of village idiot I met on the way.

Blind Fiddler - Take 2

                                      


I did this picture again because I wanted to convey some idea of the steepness of that hill, and also have some lightning of which there plenty on that dreary day in '74.

The village idiot is the same one, although in this picture he has a different hat! 

The Coastal Path at Zennor, Cornwall

Coming into Sancreed

This time it wasn't pouring with rain. I still don't know why I bothered to go there,

 and I still couldn't find the Pagan Sun Wheel!

Painted in acrylics.

Cross in Field near Porthcurno, Cornwall

Not far from the Minack Theatre

        

Zennor

Painted in acrylics

More  bloody Cornish Stones!

                                                                             

Emmets

 Some Cornish folk used to refer to tourists as Emmets, which is another word for ants. I'm not sure if in these politically correct (ugh!) times they still do.

Anyway here they are, infesting the beach between Penzance and Marazion.

Some anally retentive pig of a guy once said I couldn't sell my paintings because they were full of matchstick men. But I think this is the nearest I've come to painting matchstick men. Actually the figures on the beach are painted that way to convey the impression of ants.

Anyway, I HAVE, in fact sold a number of my paintings - matchstick men or not. So up your's!