With 10 days of annual leave to use up before the end of August, I contemplated a journey to Helsinki Finland. It was not meant to be, however, so I booked in at a campground near Porkellis Cornwall, packed up the bike and made the 300 mile journey from London.
My route took me past Basingstoke, Andover, Yeovil, Exeter and Bodmin—a scenic route, but one with heavy traffic. There are no motorways going all the way to Cornwall and bottlenecks form where 4-lane routes merge into 2-lane roads. In theory, not a problem with a bike, but in practice with side panniers in place it was slow going at times.
On the way back the rain chucked it down—true to tradition whenever I leave London, it seems. The combination of rain, traffic and small roads meant the normally 6-hour journey ended up taking nearly 9 hours, with the rain finally subsiding 4 miles from home. I’m starting to feel like I’m jinxed—but the charms and gorgeous landscapes of Cornwall made it worth every wet moment.
Campground—Porkellis: The road in—the grass in the middle was treacherous in the wet as the heavy bike wanted to sink, and riding in the ruts meant about 4–5" clearance between the stone walls and panniers
Basecamp—Porkellis: Tent set up in a grassy field with a view almost to the ocean—it proved to be waterproof as advertised during a storm on the last night
Camp stove—Porkellis: Macro shot of my camp stove—it was the smallest/lightest stove I could find but a powerful little bugger
Campground—Porkellis: A disused antique soil roller
Daisies—Porkellis: Daisies in the garden at the campground
Progressive post-modernist dish scrubber holder—Porkellis: Yes it’s Barbie naked and bound in the campground wash house—she symbolises the eccentric charm found all over Cornwall, although she didn’t have much to say about it
The end of England—Sennen Cove: Well, not quite the end—Land’s End is technically 100m further west but has become trashy theme park charging admission for the privilege of setting foot on the most western point of the English mainland... what a disappointment that people will try to capitalise on anything
Bridge—Boscastle: In August 2004 a flash flood nearly 3m deep washed away the previous bridge at this spot, flooding all the surrounding buildings and washing out around 50 cars into the bay—unimaginable on such a serene sunny day
Boscastle: Another view towards the bay—following on from the devastating flood in 2004, the bay flooded again in June 2007 but on a much smaller scale
Witchcraft Museum—Boscastle: Cornwall is almost synonymous with witchcraft so the museum had to be on the must-see list—nice to see the witches playing their part with their environmentally friendly truck
Witchcraft Museum—Boscastle: An altar near the entrance of the museum
Witchcraft Museum—Boscastle: This charming crone was meditating with her puss while stroking her crystal ball
Witchcraft Museum—Boscastle: Jars of botanicals labelled with their properties relating to witchcraft
Witchcraft Museum—Boscastle: A petrified teddy bear used in witchcraft for its healing properties
Giew Mine boilerhouse—St Ives: Giew Mine was in operation from 1838–1922 and produced around 150 tonnes of tin during that time—the boilerhouse housed the steam engine used to pump water out of the shafts
Fields near St Ives: Typical stunning Cornish landscape—being one of the wettest parts of the UK it lush and green throughout the summer
Beach—St Ives: Don’t let the cloudy sky put you off—it was around 25°C, perfect for exploring by motorbike
