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Having tried to find shelter from the strong northerly wind yesterday on The Lizard, the promise of better weather today coaxed me out onto Bodmin Moor…
Author Archives: Christopher
Saffron cake
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Cornwall is one of the few places in the UK where saffron is used to make cakes and buns, though similar delicacies can be found in a few places around the world.
Saffron cake is a rich yeast dough cake that is flavoured with saffron and contains currants. With the delicate saffron flavour also comes the rich and distinctive yellow colour to the cake.
Traditionally saffron cakes were only made at Easter time, though thankfully they are now available to enjoy all year round with a cup of tea!
St Piran’s Day
Saint Piran was an early 6th century Cornish abbot, supposedly of Irish origin (the Irish were said to have tied him to a mill-stone, rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm, and he floated over the water to land upon the sandy beach of Perranzabuloe in Cornwall).
St Piran became the patron saint of tin miners having ‘rediscovered’ tin-smelting when his black hearthstone had the tin smelt out of it and rise to the top in the form of a white cross (thus the image on the flag). The flag however also has similarities to the old Breton flag (white flag with a black cross) and also the Flag of Saint David (black flag with a yellow cross).
A pasty or two from Cornwall
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It is said that you never talk of a ‘Cornish pasty’ in Cornwall. It’s always referred to simply as a pasty…
The delicious savoury parcel is a meal in itself, and doesn’t need to be accompanied by anything – other than a nice cup of tea. The vegetables within, comprising onions, potatoes and swede (called turnip in Cornwall), must be sliced. The meat, usually skirt or chuck steak, should be chopped. The filling always goes into the pasty raw, and baking takes upwards of an hour during which time the filling steams and its flavours blend together – acting to form a gravy.
The Lizard
Lizard point is the southernmost point in mainland UK (and is so much nicer than Lands End – which is the southwesternmost point, the westernmost point is in Scotland). The village also has a famous pasty shop!
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The Eden Project
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I spent a really interesting day at the Eden Project, and had a very sociable time. There was not much time to take many pictures, and the weather was pretty lousy with heavy rain, sleet, hail and strong winds – I was glad to be hunkered down in an old china clay pit rather than on top of a moor.
The last time I had visited the Seed sculpture by Peter Randall-Page had yet to be lowered into place within the central space of The Core education centre. To see it in situ was great – it is quite a piece of stone!
More photos from the trip to Cornwall can be found here.
Stonehenge
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Heading down to Cornwall for a few days and stopped off at Stonehenge to stretch my legs. The weather was cold, but the sun was out and I managed to get a couple of photos from over the fence with the henge in silhouette.
If only the catering was up to scratch I would have stopped for a nice cup of tea.
Super (duper) Trackstick
Well now my wondering is over, by taking a Super Trackstick with me I have a GPS log of where and when I have been (and where I have mistakenly gone off route got lost). It is not perfect but it allows me to review the route, work out how far I have gone (in what time), and where I stopped. Knowing the location of each stop is particularly useful to work out where photos were taken (though I am sure GPS in compact cameras will become standard one day).
Kent coast from the air, well GoogleEarth
Did they get me? Am I on GoogleEarth?? What are the views like…
Kendal Mint Cake
While not a traditional ‘cake’ this post could be equally at home in the A nice cup of tea and… series, though I feel further testing is required before I put a seal on the best Kendal Mint Cake and perhaps had a chance to visit the various establishments in Kendal (there are currently three companies that produce mint cake).
Kendal Mint Cake is the best combination of sugar, water and peppermint oil to be found, and can only be bettered when the chocolate coated variety is at hand mouth. Due to its high energy content it makes for a very good emergency ration.