WALKING 

One of the things we've really enjoyed in both Cornwall and the Cotswolds areas of England has been  walking through the beautiful countryside. It gives us a chance to slow down and really SEE, paying attention to nature, farmland and the small villages that make up this part of the world. 

Our preference is to follow the carefully laid-out Public Footpaths, well-marked, well-traveled trails lacing the land into an intricate tapestry for wanderers. Sounds like an easy enough plan. Get the map and directions and follow the trails. OK. So here's the plan for walking from Chipping Campden to Broad Campden, a distance of 2.6 miles. So look at the fifth paragraph: "...walk straight through the gap in the hedge line, through one field and then follow the stream on your left until you reach a gate on your left, pass through the gate and turn right, following the path through an orchard till you come to a gate." Of course we got confused (some people would call it lost) several times each trip, but we always figured it out, sometimes with the help of other walkers. Like the guy who told us we'd be on the right track if we saw the field of brown sheep, and the blackberries. And sure enough. That was exactly right. Never mind that blackberries are growing all over the place in England this time of year. "Pass through the gate and turn right when you reach a small road....." Don't even get me started on the third,fourth and sixth paragraphs. 

But you know the scenery and the surprises along the way were worth every hard-won step we took....10,000+ per day and counting.

ABOVE MOUSEHOLE

In our conversations with people, we heard of a little village just a short walk away called Paul!  So, off we went up a narrow two-lane road that in places was hardly wide enough for a car to pass the two of us without forcing us either into a hedge or a stone wall!

Along the way there was no shortage of picturesque scenes of the farmland we passed.  I loved this old barn!  

Paul is just a small community of less than 300 inhabitants, but there in the middle of the quaint homes was St Pol de Leon's Anglican church!  What a stately old building! A church has been in the village since the fifth century, but this tower was constructed in the 1400's.  After the Spaniards destroyed much of the building, it was rebuilt by 1600.  Beautiful music was coming from inside!  A youth orchestra was practicing for a future performance. It was such a serendipity moment.

 

After listening for a while, we made our way out to explore more of the little village.  Beside the church, a man was doing some stonework restoring a nearby building's exterior.  We stopped to chat.  He was an expert in restoration.  He gave us some lessons in the proper mix of a limestone mortar to fill in the spaces between the stones.  It sounded like tuck pointing to me, but he quickly said that tuck-pointing was something else altogether!  What he was doing allowed moisture to escape, and the building to breathe.  Tuck-pointing used concrete and damaged the structure.  My mistake!  What a time-consuming task!  

Before heading back to Mousehole, we had to take a moment at the only business in the village - a pub!  We chatted with a couple of customers in the pub including a local farmer who raised cattle and some vegetables on the beautiful fields around Paul.  Our conversation had barely started when he suddenly got a call and quickly handed his dog's leash to Mary Ann and asked her to watch his dog for a bit!  We just hoped he had plans to return soon!  He did, and we stayed to talked some more.  Just as we were about to leave, he called after us and said:  "Whatever you do on the remainder of your vacation, be sure to GO SLOW!"  Great advice from a new Cornish friend.  

ENGLAND 2024 Mousehole

So, we've been here in Mousehole for three days now and we've been wondering how to introduce you to this wonderful little village.  In many ways, it is so unlike anyplace we've ever been.  It is ancient, quaint, and friendly like many other places in the world, but it puts all those delightful ingredients together in a very unique way.  The specifics can only tell a piece of the story, but we've been impressed by the harbor, the narrow roads, stone homes,  good restaurants, and the dogs! 

This is the view of the harbor at high tide from our front door!

This is looking back at the village of Mousehole from the other side of the harbor.

This is one of the widest roads in the village but even it feels quite small when the bus that brought us here comes in.  A number of the roads are used for two-way traffic but are barely wide enough for one small car.  Somebody has to relent and back up to a wide spot!  Everybody is patient and even the worst tangles get resolved in short order.

The village originally consisted of all wooden structures but in 1595 the Spanish armada attacked the town and burned it all to the ground with the exception of one pub, The Keigwin Arms and that pub is where we ate our first evening meal in Mousehole.  It was delicious!  After the fire, the town was gradually restored and most of the more recent buildings (from the 1600s on) were made of lovely stones.  This photo is that very early pub, now called the Ship's Inn.

As we ate inside the Ship's Inn, we were quickly made aware that most of the restaurants and shops in Mousehole welcome dogs!  Here is one of them and she belongs to this delightful Irish couple here on holiday!  We spent some time chatting about our lives and comparing notes on travel.  Even though the little furry friend was quite young, she was relatively well-behaved until she spotted another of her kind, then she just couldn't contain herself any longer and hurried to make acquaintence.  Dogs are a very common occurance here in Mousehole and we have never seen any of them causing trouble.  The whole place has been a perfect get-away for the both of us!  

England 2024

After the long, overnight flight from Dayton, Ohio to London Heathrow airport, we boarded the shuttlebus into the city and Paddington Station where we had a couple of hours to wait for the train to Penzance.  It was a great place to begin to acclimate ourselves to the hustle and bustle of this great city.

Of course, a familiar citizen of every major city is the pigeon and several of them had found Paddington station to be a feasting place! From his ceiling roost, one of these guys was able to drop a perfectly aimed deposit on Mary Ann's head!  A kind stranger had a spare wet-wipe for the clean-up.  A London welcome?

From London, we boarded the train for a smooth but 5 1/2 hour trip to Penzance in the SW corner of England. People around us were so helpful and friendly. Since one of our main goals for this trip is renewal and rest, there couldn't be a better way to start the journey than watching the Cornwall rural landscape roll by with its fine collection of picturesque villages, cattle and sheep, and uncluttered peacefulness!

The train ride stopped at Penzance where we boarded the bus for a short trip to our destination for a week - Mousehole in Cornwall!  This small village is just gorgeous if you like quaint, ancient fishing villages by the sea!  When we arrived, it was high tide so the harbor was filled with fishing vessels all floating on the water rather than lying askew on wet sand! It was perfect!  This village of around 700 population is scattered on the hillside.  The summer crowds are reduced to a comfortable level but the place is still eager to welcome strangers and invite them to experience a taste of architecture most of us in the United States have never seen.

The cottage we were able to rent for the week is called "Even Keel" and once was the residence of the author of the famous children's book The Mousehole Cat which was later made into a movie!  It is an old fisherman's home but has been beautifully restored and suits us to a "T."  Several of its windows look out on the harbor and it is only a short walk to the town's center!  It's the perfect place to rest so we have settled in with deep contentment.