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The Little Hamlet of Mousehole

6/17/2013

1 Comment

 
First off. Don’t pronounce Mousehole the way it sounds, which is the way I did for weeks until I was sternly corrected. It’s "Mowzel." Try it a few times to make sure you have it down.
The reason we’re discussing Mousehole (did you pronounce it correctly? It’s hard, I know), is that in September Bob and I will be walking the Cornish Coastal Path through this little hamlet on our way from Penzance to… hmmm…this is still to be decided. We’d planned to visit Mousehole during our 2012 trip to Cornwall but just plumb ran out of time. Easy to happen in England.


Here’s what I know about Mousehole:

1. Dylan Thomas called it “the loveliest village in England.”  Dylan, in case you forget, is considered Wales' greatest poet. He wrote deep stuff that I am usually too tired to understand because reading deep poetry makes my head hurt. 

But still. If a famous poet calls it “the loveliest village in England,” I’m apt to mosey on over and give the place a looksee. 

Picture
 "Mousehole Harbour"; Kathleen Merrick, mid-late 20th century; oil on board

Picture
Photo from SouthwestCoastPath.com which is THE site to turn to for path information.
2. Mousehole was developed around the fishing trade. The "loveliest village in England” appeared in the record books as a major fishing port in 1266, which was an amazingly long time ago.  

3. Supposedly, the last fluent native speaker of the Cornish language lived in Mousehole. Cornish (Kernewek) is a Brythonic Celtic language, directly descended from the ancient British language spoken before English came to dominate. Some accounts say Dolly Pentreath was the last person who spoke only Cornish, while others say she learned English at the age of twenty. Whatever. It’s still cool. According to the travel guides, as you walk towards the harbor from the car park you will pass the house where she lived. It’s marked by a plaque. I mention this now because on the blog of our trip I will include a photo of said plaque, at which time you can say, “Oh, I remember Chris mentioning that house and that lady. Wow. She was right. There is a plaque.”

Teach yourself some Cornish!

Hello                 Dydh da   
Good Morning    Myttin da         
Please              Mar Plek        
Thank You        Merasta          
Good health!     Yeghes da!     
Cheers!            Sowyn!
Why?                Prog?
Yes, I do           Gwrav
Why Not?          Prog na?
Good Night        Nos dha
Goodbye           Dyw genes
See you!           Dha weles!
Good Night        Nos dha
How are you?    Fatla genes?
OK, and you?    Da lowr, ha ty?

4. Mousehole is a maze of narrow, winding streets filled with small shops, galleries and restaurants. The cottages were built from finely grained granite, and if the Spaniards hadn’t sacked the place in 1595, they would be some old cottages indeed. Alas. The Spaniards did attack, burning the entire village down to wispy ashes—missing only one lowly house, which still stands today. Which we may look for. Which I may take a picture of. Which I may post on the travel blog. 
Picture
Old Mousehole postcard from years gone by.

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Picture
1 Comment
W. John Bates
3/17/2015 05:13:07 am

Hi,as a very passionate Cornishman, who, due to circumstances now lives in 'Exile' in Leeds, in England. I would like to make a point & ask you to do something for the place, I will always call 'HOME'. Don't get me wrong I like living in Leeds, West Yorkshire, very, very much. BUT!

It is not Cornwall! & in particular St. IvesI

This is the point I am trying to make:...

Cornwall IS NOT!! an English County!! It NEVER HAS BEEN!! As such it is NOT a part of ENGLAND!! Most, but not all, English Counties end in 'Shire'. eg Yorkshire, Devonshire, Lancashire, etc.
It is a part of the U.K. It is a part of Great Britain. But NOT England.

May I therefore, ask you to do one thing for Cornwall:... In future please DO NOT refer to Cornwall as a part of England, but a part of the U.K!! or Britain.

If you want to know the reasons I make the claims, as outlined above, please leave a comment or an email & I will reply ASAP!

Thank You Very Much for reading this & hopefully acting on it.

Regards....

W. John Bates.

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Saturday 9/21

Land at Heathrow, train to paddington, train to Exeter, train to barnstaple, walk to The Old Vicarage—where we are staying until Thursday.
Have to remember how to read these boards.
Our room.
Love the bath!
First, tea in the garden.
After our tea we walk to the bus station to pick up bus schedules. Hop the 21 to Fremington, which is where we left off last time.
On the path.
Ha! Bob wants “he was a character” on his tombstone.
Fairly uninteresting walk, mostly along marshes.
Security idea for PP@L
We’re on an old railroad line, cute tunnels and all. This looks like a tunnel from the Thomas videos.
Our first pub. This is Instow.
My new favorite drink. It’s cucumber and elderberry and so good I have two. Which means we are finished for the day! We’ll complete this stretch of the walk tomorrow.
We order fish& chips takeaway rather than eating it in the pub because (a) it’s about half the price, and (b) fish & chips taste best outside! Check out the newspaper wrapping!
Not so healthy but it’s the first night and we’re on the coast where the fish is fresh, so.

Sunday, 9/22 Morning

Ate a marvelous breakfast, then walked straight out of Barnstaple to pick up the path heading northwest.
We fill out a little form the night before, choosing our breakfast time and meal items. Plus, there’s a sideboard of granolas, yogurt, fruit, etc.
View from our table.
Walking through Barnstable before hike.
The path. Heading first to Braunton.
The path is flat and fairly unremarkable. Sky is threatening.
We reach Braunton, almost pass right by this, then decide to stop for a short break.
Lovely inside, nicest people.

Sunday, 9/22 Afternoon

We walk Braunton to Saunton, intending to catch bus at Saunton, except I read Saturday’s bus schedule instead of Sunday’s because it’s so easy to do that and we soon find out there is no Sunday bus service in Saunton.
This Is looking back to Braunton. Path leads along this estuary. I think it’s an estuary.
Blackberry bushes are everywhere!
We’re right next to military training grounds.
Lunch break. Sandwiches. Forgot to pack dessert.
Ha! We see this sign as we close the gate after walking across the field.
It’s here that we realize that no bus will be coming. Luckily there’s a golf course right next to the path and we bum a ride to Braunton, which we know for sure has Sunday buses.

Saturday, 9/22 Evening

Our main goal on Sunday every time we come to England is it to make it to a Sunday Roast Dinner. Usually we miss it. Today though we are lucky: we find a good place in Braunton and end the walk on a full-belly note. Total miles today: 11.5.
Roast beef, potato, assorted fresh veggies, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding. Yum.
Waiting in the rain for the bus back to Barnstaple.
The Vicarage at last! We are both exhausted.
This waits for us every afternoon. That’s fresh cream on top.
Washed our clothes though not very thoroughly.
Choose breakfast and go to bed!
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