Up quite early today and off for a two hour walk from Lizard Point around past Old Lizard Point. Go Figure. Did the old one get so eroded that they had to change the most southerly point?? There’s an old lifeboat house in between the two points and a lighthouse above. The cliffs are made mainly out of serpentine stone and the grey rock is still carefully and beautifully worked by local masons in the village. It was also from this point that the Spanish Armada was first seen from British shores in 1588. The origins of the name Lizard are still not known for sure. Was it the shape of the cliffs? Or, the more accepted version that it was from an old Cornish word meaning “high court”. Whichever is correct, the coastal walks here are beautiful.
Next it was off to St Michael’s Mount. Didn’t I see that in France years ago? Apparently it was the thing to have and the monks got involved in both around about the same time (8th century or so) so it’s hard to say who’s was the original. The Cornish one was “possibly” mentioned by Pliny The Elder and it is the backdrop of the lovely Cornish legend of Jack and the Giant, so it has a lot going for it even if it isn’t quite so spectacular. Having said that, it’s nothing to sneeze at and as a still lived in private house (although owned by the National Trust), you’d be quite happy to call the majestic and stately mansion home. Next I walked over to Penzance to find pirates. I think Gilbert and Sullivan took some poetic licence when they wrote that musical. I couldn’t find one pirate. Not one! The town is nothing to look at from the shore but wander up the hill and into the high street, and it’s lovely. Back then across the wide stretch of beach (which had shrunk as the tide came in……it took a boat to get over to St Michael’s Mount now) to my car and onto Land’s End.
XXX
About Rebecca
Rebecca’s life is one big Walkabout, experiencing external and internal journeys as they make themselves known to her. She aims to inspire others to do the same. Her base camp is in Sydney, Australia where she’ll usually be found on the back of a horse.
