Vacation 2010 Day 12: Penzance to Helston

After St Ives I headed back to Penzance on the south coast to find the weather brightened so I walked 5k along the beach to St Michaels Mount.

There may very well be beaches in Japan that are wide and flat with the sea receding a long ways during the tides, but I havent been to them.

Not as famous as the bigger Mont St Michel across the channel, The Mount, as it is known locally, has a lot of history and was once inland but became an island when Lyonesse sank.

It is the home of some Lord or other but is administered by the National Trust nowadays.

Back when I was a student in Cornwall one of my friends mother was the cook in "the big house".

I know Thatcher stayed here...............

I walked back to Marazion on the mainland along the granite causeway before jumping a bus to Helston where I would be staying for the night with friends.

Got off in Porthleven for a wander..... I briefly stayed here when I first moved to Cornwall.

A picturesque fishing village, the coast path from here down to the Lizard is one of my favorite parts.

In Helston, a medieval market town and home of the Furry Dance, one of the oldest living traditions in Britain.

The Blue Anchor, a pub over 600 years old, still make their own beer. The different varieties are sold by specific gravity and my favorite was called Old Bastard. Twice a year the pub sells a double-strength version and as students we would come and fill up containers to take away.

There is still a skittle alley in back.