A week in Cornwall - August 2013

[Aberlour]

Just got back from a great week down in Cornwall. Not many interesting photos to share because we had a very lazy trip, only went to Padstow and Newquay and the beaches in between. Normally we would be out exploring every day, driving miles and taking in all the delights Cornwall has to offer, but this year seeing as we have seen it all before we decided to do as little as possible, and it was great. Mainly beach shots, but here they are in case anybody is interested.

EDIT: I've re-sized the panorama shots way too small, but I'm fucked if I can be bothered to do them again.

Newquay





You've got to love multi storey beach huts.














My favourite pub/restaurant in Newquay The Fort Inn. Best view in town.














Food's half decent as well.






I fucking love seagulls. The first thing this fella ate was an empty foil butter wrapper.

[Aberlour]

Padstow
























Padstow is mainly famous for the TV chef Rick Stein who the wife has always been a huge fan of. I quite like him myself. He owns this massive building in the main car park area, just before the harbour. it includes his fish and chip shop restaurant, take away, deli shop and shit loads of other bits and pieces.








Not bad for 6 quid.




Then he has his proper seafood restaurant.























The view across to the village of Rock

[Aberlour]

One of the main pass times in Padstow is crabbing. I couldn't get enough of it and spent several hours on 3 different occasions catching crabs from the harbour walls.













I wouldn't have enjoyed it if it wasn't for the fact that I knew my wife wanted them to eat. Catching them to just throw them back in like everybody else was doing, wouldn't have interested me in the slightest.







My catch of the day.

[Aberlour]

Treyarnon Beach


















I don't know what award they won but they were fucking handsome! Well worth the walk up to her van.












Natures swimming pool. Fantastic.










I collected some sea food for the wife. She's in food heaven, and I'm a hero.






Hungry anybody?





The wife knocks up a spicy sauce and she's good to go. Her eating food like this is like me being able to forage for meat pies.

[Aberlour]

Constantine Bay


























Low Tide. Off to get the wife some more tucker.










Back in the caravan and the misses cooks up our days catch. I pass.

[Aberlour]

Padstow and Rock

Another day in Padstow and the harbour is lined with crabbers yet again.






The wife wanted another load to take home for the freezer, so we set to it.













Took the ferry over to the village of Rock, past all the sailors.












Choosing where to have lunch in Rock isn't difficult. It's either The Blue Tomato or the other one. We went for the Blue Tomato.





Expensive (£8 for a sandwich) but it was good tucker and great views of the bay and back across to Padstow.

[blue]

Did you go swimming or surfing ?
When I was young on holiday there,a long time ago yes , the surfboards were wooden - 3 ply and curved up at the end , great fun though .

[Aberlour]

Bedruthan Steps

Bedruthan Steps is a beautiful string of bays that can only be reached in the summer months by a huge, steep flight of steps. As the tide goes out the bays all link up and become one. It's a spectacular place to spend the day.






















The mussels were a real decent size here and there were more than you could shake a stick at. Even got the wife collecting for herself for the first time.












Not a bad days catch. Should keep the misses fead for a few weeks.







Back home and she's still at it.

[beerlaodrinker]

Nice looking place cornwall, thanks for the post mate, Amazing you can just gather as much seafood as you want, is it monitored by fisheries people ? or do you have to buy a recreational licence ? thats what happens in oz , fair enough i suppose, other wise some folks get carried away and take more than they need . In perth you can pay $20 for a recreational abalone license which lets you take them from a local reef for 1 hour a day for 3 days , then the season is closed , No ifs or buts

[charleyboy]

Arber's. Great thread and nice pics.
Thanks for sharing.

PS. Great lense on that cellphone!

[jizzybloke]

Looks good, nice pictures!

Haven't been since I was a kid.

[Satonic]

Awesome pics mate, the missus really enjoyed them too. That bridge between the two rocks is beautiful.

[nigelandjan]

Nice one mate ,, shame it wasnt hot enuf for your misses to get her bikini on

Love the British summer pic at The Shipwrights arms all in the coats + pullovers !

Will be back later to nick some pics for painting ,, some good inspirations here cheers

[Morden]

Amazing pics. that bring back many memories. Thanks for posting them.

[Lostandfound]

Thanks for the great pics. There's a lot to be said for family holidays in the UK, hope you had a great time. Brings back memories of holidays over 40 years ago, although it always seemed to rain back then!

Where is the harbour with the small marina and sailing boats?

[blue]

Was Gravesend Dave technical director for photography ?
I see you took his advice and dropped the 'mud pie' faces.

[natalie8]

Great thread, Aber. I love the bridge too and the boats that look like toys in the pic. Hubby and I went down to that area two years ago, but neither of us thought of going to Rick Stein's place. Hubby is a huge fan of his and now so am I. Is his restaurant open all year round? I'm itching to get back to the UK for another visit and that area looks really great to spend a weekend in.

I love your 3 level pot / steamer thing. Your seafood looks amazing too. I also have the same question as BLD re being allowed to catch and keep your own crabs etc.

[blue]

Aberlour , are all those little shops still there selling paintings and art ?
When I was there for the eclipse, they were legion ; though sadly enthusiasm was much more in evidence than talent .
Just wondering , have they all gone bust , or do the buyers similarly poor taste keep them viable .

Any shots of the caravan you stayed in ?
Thats always great fun for children.
I like the sound of the rain hammering down on the roof too ..

[Aberlour]

Thanks everybody. I nearly didn't bother posting any pics of this trip, because as I said we barely travelled more than 15 miles from the caravan. Normally we would stay in a hotel and be out driving to different places every day but with the caravan it just made you want to laze about and stay local.

For those that don't know Cornwall then trust me, these photos don't come close to doing it any justice at all, but better than nout.

do you have to buy a recreational licence ? thats what happens in oz , fair enough i suppose, other wise some folks get carried away and take more than they need

I also have the same question as BLD re being allowed to catch and keep your own crabs etc.

As far as the crabs go it's not an issue, because they are not crabs that Farang would want to eat. Most people catch them for fun and then toss them back in which wouldn't work for me. Knowing that they were not only going to be eaten by the wife but relished like a rare treat, it made catching them really fun for me.

As far as the mussels go I don't think it's a problem. I just think they hope people will use their common sense and not collect the baby ones of which there were millions. What the rules are if you own a little boat and want to go and catch some proper eating crabs without being a licensed fishing boat I don't know, hopefully it would be the same and common sense is allowed to prevail.

Is his restaurant open all year round?

Yes they are. As well as the proper seafood restaurant and the eat in and take away fish and chips which I posted photos of, he also has a bistro and a cafe and B&B somewhere. The seafood restaurant needs to be booked in advance as it fills up quickly, but it can be done on-line really easily. I would suggest you book a table when you think you may want one even way in to the future, and then you just cancel it on-line if you don't need it, without being charged. Couldn't be easier. Or there is a seafood bar in the restaurant where you don't need to book, and obviously you don't need to book for the fish and chip restaurant, but you will queue a while.

The Seafood Restaurant - Restaurants - Rick Stein

Where is the harbour with the small marina and sailing boats?

I think you are talking about Rock. It's a 5 minute ferry ride across from Padstow. There's not much there just two restaurants, a sailing club for locals and a lovely beach.

That bridge between the two rocks is beautiful.

I love the bridge too

You can't see it in the photo, but some lucky fucker lives on it. I can't imagine what the value of that small piece of rock is. This is a photo I took last year showing the house.

and the boats that look like toys in the pic

That was an accident but I thought the same. It looks very much like I tried to do what is called tilt-shift photography, where you make everything look like model toys, but it was just the way it came out.

PS. Great lense on that cellphone!

Only half were taken with my phone, the wider ones and the panoramas. The others were taken with my very old and soon(ish) to be replaced Sony Alpha.

[blue]

we barely travelled more than 15 miles from the caravan

Any chance of seeing a photo of the caravan ?
did it come with a Horse?

Only half were taken with my phone, the wider ones and the panoramas. The others were taken with my very old and soon(ish) to be replaced Sony Alpha.

What you going to replace it with ?
Another Sony ?

[Aberlour]

and the boats that look like toys in the pic.

That was an accident but I thought the same. It looks very much like I tried to do what is called tilt-shift photography, where you make everything look like model toys, but it was just the way it came out.

Bit off topic but tilt shift is great. That picture reminded me (A tiny little bit) of photos done like this. Not sure how they're done, whether it's as simple as having a special lens or more complicated. Good fun though.

[DJ Pat]

Cornwall has been home for me for a while now. The views and countryside are everywhere even on a 20min bus trip to Truro. Padstow is a lovely little place and Rick Steins is a real moneyspinner for obvious reasons, I recall a Keith Floyd show in the 80s where he was showing a young Rick Stein some kitchen tips and he messed up a fish dish (Floyd did). I ate at his Falmouth restaurant, which was well priced and decent (chips weren't home cooked though).

My dad drove us to Bedruthan Steps, and apart from the view there wasn't much else to do there. Lovely at sunset.

Newquay is a bit mad at night, too many cut price Brits drinking cheap lager. Porth beach and Watergate bay are worth getting out of the town to see. Watergate bay is where one of Jamie Olivers first restaurants opened.

We're lucky here to be flanked by two seas, Atlantic and English channel. My haddock that I get on fridays in Newlyn gets eaten within a few hours of getting caught. Of course mussels, scallops and cockles can be grabbed off rocky beaches for nothing if you've got the time.

That Rose's Callestick ice cream is to die for, it's the creamy rich local stuff. better than that Ben & Terrys stuff.

In Newquay did you eat at the rustic looking homely place next to the station? Looks like their fare, good stuff.

[norfolkc]

what do i need to view these pictures

[jizzybloke]

Eyes.

[DJ Pat]

That rock with the house in Newquay (the one with the tiny bridge linking it) was on the market last year for £1 million.