OUT OF THIS WORLD...

I`m trying not to post anything about the corona virus - it`s too distressing for one thing and also there is little else that we hear about - for understandable reasons.  So I thought I would not clutter this blog up with too much about it but instead produce some posts that are a bit self indulgent in the hope that they might keep me from going completely bonkers and possibly be of some interest to my faithful reader.   So here goes with the first one.....

There have been quite a few programmes on television of late that focus on Cornwall - Rick Stein has a series going, Simon Reeve did a very good one about the real Cornwall, Julia Bradbury is of course walking the Devon and Cornwall coast paths and there has been a series centred on the Mevagissey fishing `industry.`  Spoilt for choice a bit, but what they have done is make me revisit some of my photographs that I have taken over the years during our many visits to the West Country.

And Julia Bradbury walking from Porthgwarra to Sennen Cove via Lands End reminded me of one of our most gratifying walks.  Some years ago we stayed in far west Cornwall at a hamlet named Mulfra, from where we enjoyed a wonderful exploration of the area west of Penzance.   One day we parked at Porthgwarra and walked up to Gwennap Head, and I took the photo above of these remarkable land markers perched on the top of the cliff close to Gwennap Head Coast Watch Station.

They are there to help mariners avoid the notorious Runnell Stone - a treacherous rock just below the surface of the sea. In 1923 a steamer collided with the rock with such force that it decapitated it, removing the top 20 feet and making the rock invisible from the surface. So,  if sailing off shore, the trick is to keep the black and white marker in sight from your ship;  if that marker becomes blocked by the red marker then it is probably too late to save your vessel from being holed by the Runnell Stone.

The whole stretch of coast around Gwennap Head is notoriously hazardous for shipping;  it is where opposing tidal currents collide - the English Channel from the east and St. George`s Channel from the west.  In stormy conditions the sea here is thrown into total confusion so these markers become even more vital in avoiding the dangers of the submerged Runnell Stone.

It was an unforgettable walk - a strong wind was blowing, the Atlantic air was exhilarating, the scenery spectacular and I had a real sense of being somewhere very special - almost out of this world.