The quickest way back from Land’s End to our hotel in Newquay was by joining the main A30 road and following it up through Camborne and Redruth.
But Mum said she didn’t want to do that. Instead she said she had a far more interesting route for us, though first we had to go on the A30 as far as Penzance…
Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stop, which was a bit disappointing as I knew there was a famous Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera called The Pirates of Penzance and, although it was written in Victorian times, I thought I might have seen some of them still lingering around if we’d had chance to go into the town itself.
But after Penzance we left the A30 and started heading east along Cornwall’s south coast, going round the edge of Mount’s Bay towards Marazion.
These days it’s best known as a holiday resort with fine sandy beaches…
…and it’s also popular with artists and surfers…
Until the 17th century, however, it was an important market town where produce from the surrounding agricultural area was bought and sold, alongside fish fresh from the sea. But after that it began to decline as nearby Penzance began to grow in importance.
Up to the reign of Henry VIII (1507-1547) when monasteries were abolished, Marazion was also an important place for pilgrims to meet to visit St Michael’s Mount which stands in Mount’s Bay, half a mile/0.8 km off shore.
It’s connected to Marazion by a granite causeway but still becomes an island twice a day, according to the state of the tide.
When we arrived, however, the tide was in and the causeway was under water and so we couldn’t go across. But we did have a lovely view of it – and Mum parked up for a few minutes and told us bit of its history, starting by telling us that it was very much like another St Michael’s Mount, that was off the coast of Britanny in France, where it was known as Mont St Michel.
In 1066 the people of the area of Mont St Michel supported their king, William the Conqueror, in his claim to the English throne and were rewarded with land and property in the south of England. This included St Michael’s Mount where the existing priory was brought under the control of the one in Normandy until the early 15th century. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s, the priory buildings were incorporated into an amazing castle…
…and in the mid-17th century St Michael’s Mount became part of the St Aubyn family’s estates and the family made their home in the castle where their descendants still live.
In 1954, however, the St Aubyn family gave most of St Michael’s Mount into the care of the National Trust, along with a large fund to help maintain and preserve it –on condition that the family could continue living in the castle and run the estate as a joint venture.
Once she’d told us all this, Mum decided it was time to drive on. She said we had 20 miles/32 kms to drive to our next destination – and there were a couple of things she wanted to tell us along the way. There were also dark clouds gathering over the sea – and the wind, which had eased off after we left Land’s End, was starting to pick up again.
I found myself crossing my claws in the hope that the weather wouldn’t worsen for the next hour or so. But, as we reached the outskirts of the town of Helston, I could see Mum was struggling to decide whether to stick to the main road and head straight back to Newquay or stick to her promise to show us a few more sights, despite the weather.
I’ll have to tell you what she decided in my next post, however, as it’s getting late now and me and Mum want our suppers before we go to bed. So please take care and stay safe – and look out for more tales from me soon!
Follow my next blog: 299. MY MUM THE STORY-TELLER – PART ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN
18/01/2024
Wilf the bear-faced blogger 