| The first order of
business the next day was to find a laundromat in
Penzance. While the clothes washed, we walked around the
town. Thann liked seeing the statue of Sir Humphrey Davy,
the famous nineteenth century chemist and developer of
the Davy safety lamp, so important for Cornish mining. We then drove the short distance along the coast to Marazion, enjoying ethereal views of St. Michael's Mount through the mist. |
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When the tide is out, one can walk to "the Mount" on a causeway built by the medieval monks who lived at the abbey there. When we arrived, the causeway (left) was under water, so we took the "ferry", a little motor boat (below, right). | |
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There was a church on the island in the fifth century, then a monastery a few centuries later. Edward the Confessor turned the abbey over to the monks of Mont St Michel in the 11th century. The castle, dating from the 14th century, incorporates some of the abbey buildings. One climbs the "Pilgrim Steps" to arrive at the castle, on top the little isle.
| From a castle walkway we could see that the causeway had become dry enough to walk across. |  |
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| We were intrigued by a little carving outside the chapel. It was very similar to figures at churches in Brittany. |  |
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We then drove out to the western end of the Penwith peninsula and parked in Sennen Cove. In the car park there's an interesting "Round House". It originally had machinery, turned by donkeys, for pulling boats up the beach. |
We enjoyed the pleasant short walk from Sennen Cove to Land's End, having the unexpected sight of a wrecked ship down below us. We assumed that it had been there for many years, but found out that evening from our B&B lady that it had wrecked just a few months before.
Land's End itself came into view, along with the Longships lighthouse, a mile and a half out to sea.
Then of course we were tickled to see the famous Land's End sign. (We didn't pay the small fee necessary to have Charlottesville, with its distance, put on the sign and photographed...)
