The Old Crown, Hesket Newmarket.

A morning spent hand-colouring lino cut prints.

Swansea bay beach

A great stop-over with Tom and a 'fresh' walk out on the beach.....

Towards Swansea........

Towards Mumbles ....

Cockles....

Cockles and coal....

The crossing ....on the way home.....

Cave spiders graphic

Following Tom's visit to the cave at Mumbles click here , he  has made this super graphic of the uncommon cave spiders he found.

Cornish Choughs

This was a remarkably chilled out chough photographed on the coastal footpath on the headland, just as you pull out of Porthcothan, on the way to Bedruthan. It distinctly swore at us as we tried to get past without disturbing its feeding!

 

Low tide textures...

A lovely visit to Bedruthan ....despite the dog chasing kites - of the flying kind, not the bird that is!

Constantine to Bedruthan Steps coastal walk.

After a decent drive yesterday we decided to walk from Harlyn Sands, where we are staying, to Bedruthan. Another good day and if we did 15 miles I hate to think how many the dog did!

Constantine, Treyarnon and Porthcothan - Porthcothan now has a really nice little beach cafe and we were lucky enough to get the last Roskilly's gooseberry ice cream!  

Bedruthan Steps.

A foot diameter parasol mushroom; a coastal 'mine/Cave'; Rocky posing by the zig zag wall; landslip between Treyarnon and Porthcothan; sparrows and pigeons!

Rocky loves kites! He spotted this on at the end of Bedruthan beach ...getting him back is always 'interesting'! 

Porth en Alls house, Prussia Cove.

Walking through this property on the coastal path I couldn't resist a few photos. Researching later it confirms my suspicion of an arts and crafts design - I'd love to see more and know who the women featuring in the three stained glass windows are! Another blog, once I have done some research, may be published!

Autumn butterflies

It was  joy to see so many butterflies on the wing, in the sunshine, yesterday.

Small tortoiseshells, speckled wood, small heath and small copper. 

Small tortoiseshell, red admiral, small copper and large white. We did see painted lady too - sadly no photograph.

Praa Sands to Maen-du Point coastal path.

This isn't a walk I knew at all and it was superb! It helped that it was a glorious day, but the views were spectacular and there were lots of unexpected finds. Prussia cove was dramatic and it was so obviously ideal for smuggling .....which I am currently researching, but the internet is pretty slow and unreliable in this mobile home - so it may be a while before I update or blog more detail. Porth en Alls house - built in the arts and crafts style was really dramatic ...more research, and in addition to this the butterflies were great - oh and there was a swallow too.....the last one of the summer I reckon! The views of St Michael's Mount were impressive too.

Praa Sands, towards Prussia cove and Bessy's cove.

Left - back towards Praa Sands and Bessy's cove. 

Wall top bracken and seed heads.

St Michael's Mount.

Holywell to Newquay coastal walk.

Today we parked up at Holywell and walked through the dunes to Kelsey head where there was clear evidence (embankments) of an iron age fort. Flints have been found from earlier periods - sadly, not today! Then onto and across the beach at Porth Joke - one of the few sandy bays without a car park! Then across the headland to Crantock Beach, where fortunately the tide was out, so with a quick paddle, the water from the river Gannel was rather fresh, we saved ourselves a few miles. Then onto Fistral and into Newquay for a pasty before returning to Holywell. We just about scraped getting back across Crantock beach again so avoiding that long detour to the head of the beach. Rocky had the best day again: chasing crows; running in huge circles; leaping large puddles; eating pasty ends and ice cream cone ends.

Holywell Beach 

Porth Joke 

Crantock Beach....

and a tired dog! 

Cornish tin mines: Pendeen Watch along to St Just.

 As always we enjoyed this spectacular walk along the cliffs, through the mines at Levant, along to Botallack, then inland to St Just for a pasty.....and a few cones were collected ready to dry, prep and glitter for the forthcoming craft fairs!

Pendeen Watch and the footpath towards Cape Cornwall.

Levant mine.

Levant mine ....and Botallack below.

 

Returning home ....lovely waves in the sun,  chimneys in the evening silver and a female clouded yellow butterfly. 

Harlyn Bay to Padstow round walk.

After a long day yesterday we were later getting up than planned, so we decided to walk fro the caravan at Harlyn Bay round the coast to Padstow  and then back across the top. The day was slightly foggy to start with, but it soon cleared and was really rather warm. I'm not complaining at all! Thoroughly pleasant. We stopped at the chough bakery in Padstow for a pasty and then at Roskilly's for the favourite gooseberry yoghurt ice cream. Returning back we walked through and visited the Parish Church in Padstow, before passing Prideaux Place. We missed the turn we had wanted and headed out towards Tregirls farm - passing a large herd of Fallow deer and a field with some gorgeous young pigs in it ...the dog was intrigued!  We took the way marked path to Crugmeer, crossing through harvested barley fields and cauliflower fields - a good walk totalling 13 miles ish.

Top left - towards Trevone. Top right - looking up the Camel estuary.
Bottom left to right: Through the window of the tower on Stepper point towards Trevose Head and the monument itself. View towards Gunver Head from Trevone. 

Wasps enjoying the ivy.

Old man's beard.

Hibernating snails.

Pigs!

..and the return walk: painted lady, cauliflower fields, fallow deer and scarlet pimpernel - the field weeds were really nice. 

Mumbles Cave Spiders

Tom has been walking between Mumbles and Sketty today. On the trip he stopped off at Clements Quarry- an SSSI for the Black Lias Limestone (the quarry also acts as the Oystermouth long stay car park) that contains a small cave just big enough for someone to crouch in.

Left: the entrance of the cave in the Clements Quarry, right: the inside of the cave. 

While originally he went in search of old lady moths and heralds that are beginning to hibernate for winter, instead he found a colony of cave spiders. The long-jawed orb weaver spider (also known as the orbweaving cave spider) Meta menardi is a widely, but patchily distributed spider that lives exclusively in caves and dark places.

Meta Menardi. Left: a large specimen on its web placed on the roof of the cave, top right: the same spider next to an egg sac, bottom right: a spider on the limestone wall of the cave.

The spiders were also accompanied by their egg-sacs that hung down from the cave ceiling as little white parcels.

Top: a cave spider egg-sac, bottom: the cave ceiling with numerous spiders and egg sacs, including the shed exoskeleton of a a large spider in the top right of the photograph.

The New Naturalist on Gower (Mullard 2006) describes their distribution as only ever being found at Worm's head but he suspects (correctly) that they are more widespread in Gower caves.

For more information on this cave spider species visit:  Click here

Trevose Head circuit

Arrived at Harlyn Bay for a week, so it was off 'round the block', for a stretch of the legs after a long journey. Fabulous weather - a reminder of summer with wheatear, hummingbird hawkmoths, small copper, wall brown, small tortoiseshell, red admiral and peacock butterflies.

The lifeboat station and Trevose Head lighthouse.

Constantine - into the sun.

Fetid Iris

Small Copper