ST MICHAEL'S MOUNT & CORNWALL MINES May 13, 2018

Sunday morning, May 18th, we were up bright and early for a beautiful day and an early LOW TIDE to walk across the causeway to the St Michael's Mount. On an iconic rocky island, the medieval castle and church date back to the 12th century and are still home to the St Aubyn family since the 17th century.  We arrived before the property opened with time for a coffee and view of the sea. 

 Some nterior rooms are open to the public

 view from the top of the castle

 just stunning, everywhere we looked.

 Finding the heart stone in the walkway was fun

 Tide still out as we returned to the car about noon.

 Then time for a picnic on the grounds of Trengwainton Gardens, near Penzance.

 Award-winning rhododendrons and magnolias are just some of the extraordinary blooms found in the five-sectioned walled gardens. Many exotic species from around the world, brought by plant hunters in the 1920s, flowered in this Great Britain garden for the first time.

 After wandering through wooded paths and open meadows at Trengwainton, we left with plenty of time to drive the west coast of Cornwall and visit the once thriving mines, the Botallack and Levant Mines.  We couldn't have had a more spectacular day to walk the exposed cliffs of the Tin Coast near St Just, Cornwall and part of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site.

 The more we walked the tiny paths, the more ruins we came across and closer we came to the site of many familiar locations used in the filming of Polldark. Bottalack was used as Wheal Leisure.

 We walked all around Botallack Mine and then drove further down the road to the Levant Mine and the restored 1840s beam engine running on steam.

 Our daylight was growing longer each day and we stopped along the coast road for cows crossing and for a beer at a local pub

A pizza dinner back in St Ives before leaving this lovely area for a more easterly area of Cornwall.