More Random Cornwall
Whenever I go on holiday, I often find myself with an assorted pile of photos. Sometimes there are logical ways to split these out into themed sets of images, such as Cornish Sunsets, Old Padstow Lifeboat, or The Coin Tree. This is my preferred way of doing things if I can, because the posts are more focussed. But sometimes, once those images are lifted from the photos of the holiday, I’m left with an assortment of images that are still worth sharing, but not in groups large enough to justify their own individual posts. That is how you end up with Dorset Again or Random Cornwall.
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It is the latter post to which this is a sequel of sorts. We took a trip to Cornwall in the summer of 2018 (yes I know – I still have some older photos still to share). From that trip I’ve already shared More Cornish Sunsets and Bodmin & Wenford Railway. But now most of what’s left is a hodgepodge of shots without much thematic connection. So join me as we take a whistle stop tour of my second-favourite county through the medium of a photographic medley.
Although before we get into this, a disclaimer: this trip was coming up on 7 years ago now, so whilst I can probably offer a decent idea of where these shots were taken, it’s very possible I might not remember. Like this first shot of some stepping stones, because I don’t know where this is.
1/320sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm
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On a walk back from somewhere – I think where we saw the stones above – we came across a butterfly on a plant. It was a very cooperative butterfly, holding still long enough for me to put on my telephoto lens and get some decent closeups.
1/250sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
1/250sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 275mm
1/250sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
If you’re wondering why I was using my telephoto not my macro lens, it was because I was worried about spooking it and having it fly away. With my telephoto I could stay a decent distance away.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
As we did back then, we were on holiday with my mother-in-law and her dog. This meant a few good shots of him playing in the water.
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Here, we were in Boscastle. In the low tide, people had made rock piles in the harbour. Some of them were pretty impressive.
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The harbour has a narrow sea wall of sorts which people like to use as a walkway. I found it quite cool for walking along and then taking a photo back towards town.
1/1000sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm
The Cornish coastline is always dramatic, and the entrance to the harbour is a great example.
1/1000sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm
No visit to Cornwall is complete without popping into Healey’s Cornish Cyder Farm – I even make sure to drop in whenever I’m in the county for work. Their cyder is phenomenal, but don’t sleep on their apple juice, which is without equal. At the farm you can often find some creatures wandering around, but the most impressive is probably the peacock.
1/160sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm
Although it will pinch your leftovers.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 60mm
Another common place for us to visit when we’re in Cornwall is Rocky Valley, a lovely trek along one of the many rocky crevices in the Cornish coastline.
1/1000sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm
As you get closer to the sea it gets a lot rockier, and you get a bunch of lovely little waterfalls in the rock faces.
1/6sec, f22, ISO 100, 45mm
Along the walk there are come rocky bits of particular importance to Pagans. Lots of them descend on the area to tie items to the trees, for reasons I’m not entirely clear about but I presume to remember loved ones or as a sacrifice to be better at a given skill.
The former is represented by ribbons, or hearts inscribed with messages, or in this case, a bear.
1/60sec, f/4, ISO 200, 105mm
The latter I admit to be a bit of a guess – but I can’t see any other reason someone would tie a whisk and cheese grater or a garden fork to a tree in the middle of a wood.
1/60sec, f/4, ISO 200, 50mm
1/8sec, f/4, ISO 200, 40mm
Next we move on to Padstow, a town, as far as I can tell, owned entirely by the celebrity chef Rick Stein. His name is certainly on quite a few of the eateries, including a nice fish and chip shop. The fish no doubt come in on one of the many fishing boats in the harbour.
1/800sec, f/4, ISO 100, 28mm
We also visited port Isaac, filming location for the TV series Doc Martin, and a very picturesque place in its own right.
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In the grounds of the cottage we were staying in there were some pretty flowers, and during a quiet spell I trekked out to take some photos.
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On one of the final evenings of the holiday we went out for dinner at a pub in Trebarwith Strand. This is another very picturesque spot.
1/500sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm
1/250sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm
1/1000sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm
The interior of the pub was nice too.
1/1000sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 100mm
That was the end of this holiday – although we went back to Cornwall again the next year, so there is another random grab bag of Cornwall images from 2019 in the pipeline. And 2020, now that I think about it.
As always, below is a gallery containing a more complete set of images.
#camera #Canon #coast #Cornwall #nature #Photography #UK #water #wildlife
It’s pretty obligatory these days for a photography website to reveal what equipment is being used. Maybe it’s bragging, maybe it’s just a courtesy so someone in the market for some new…
Rob (Creative Splurges)
The Coin Tree
In Cornwall, on the walk to St Nectan’s Glen near Tintagel, you may come across a fallen tree. Even from a distance, the tree doesn’t look quite right. Something about the way it looks will catch your eye. The colour and texture don’t quite look as you’d expect. Has it been turned into a bench? It is covered in a weird silvery Cornish moss? Is it merely in an advanced state of decay?
It’s only when you get closer that you’ll be able to figure out just what, exactly, makes this tree look so peculiar.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 160, 24mm
If you still can’t make out what it is, then surely the title of this post gave it away from the start.
With St Nectan’s Glen being a pagan site, over the course of many many years, many a passerby has stuck a coin into this tree for good luck. When politicians talk about the ‘magical money tree,’ this is the one they’re talking about. Probably.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 160, 105mm
Some of the coins had clearly been there exposed to the elements for quite some time. Others were a bit fresher, and stood out a bit.
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And others had clearly given their wishers a bit of trouble getting them into the tree. Whether the wishes still worked is uncertain.
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Likewise, I’m not sure if this one counted either.
1/60sec, f/4, ISO 160, 105mm
Whilst having a look around online to see if I could find out any more information about this tree, I found a TripAdvisor review that stated that the tree made their skin crawl, and I suppose you can see why.
1/30sec, f/4, ISO 160, 35mm
I can certainly see how, especially from a distance, any sufferer of trypophobia would find this tree very difficult to look at.
As it was in a wooded area, occasionally when the sun picked up the shadows of the trees lit up spots on the coined tree.
1/250sec, f/4, ISO 160, 84mm
1/800sec, f/4, ISO 160, 75mm
I spent a little while photographing the tree from all sorts of angles.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 160, 96mm
I ended up with a decent assortment of images, which you can see in the gallery below, if it all doesn’t make you feel too uncomfortable.
#Cornwall #nature #Photography #travelPhotography #trees
