Day 12 St Just to Redruth
Quick facts:
Weather: Sunny.H25 L17 C humidity 61%
Departure: 9:30 am from The Old Post House St Just
Destination : Redruth
Distance: 37.1 miles. 59.2 km
Planned ascent: 1,499
Planned decent: 1,516
Check out my Corner to Corner, Day 12: St Just to Redruth via Land’s End on Strava: https://strava.app.link/EIPnbda1wsb
Hello/ Good morning/ Good day
As usual my day started with yoga and exercises but today was different. Our hostess Fiona at the Old Post House is a yoga teacher and I had a real, cushy mat, blocks and a strap! She and her partner Dominique served us a breakfast with wholesome foods sourced locally or made by Fiona.
Off we went at 9:30 to Land’s End. Ralph hadn’t seen it bustlting last night. It was actually quite quiet at 10 am. No musicians on the stages but plenty of people watching to do. The biggest surprise for Ralph was the fact that the Land’s End sign is a family’s commercial business. I think that was very entrepreneurial of the “grandfather” in 1950! Others have a different view of this sign “monopoly”. 1950 in Britain life was still quite a struggle .
Note that we were able to get CORNER TO CORNER and 4HH onto the sign with the date.
Land’s End itself is just the point of land, the hotel and carnival site. There is an excellent Visitors’ Centre and a small End To Enders museum that I found fascinating . It is amazing how many ways people have used to do LEJOG. (Lands End to John o’Groats) The signpost says John o’ Groats is 874 miles away. I wonder what route they used!. They museum shows the distances by car, bike, walking and flying.
Our route from Land’sEnd took us out on the A highway but we quickly turned off into National Cycle Network 2 (or maybe it was 3) and we followed twisty paved farmers’ lanes back to Penza ce. Ralph has routed us back along the south coast of Cornwall so if I want to experience the hills to the north I will have to come back another time.
We were coming down a shaded lane at about the time it would be nice to have a break when I stopped under shade. Fortunately Ralph came up behind and announced how perfect the cafe stop was. I was right beside the Lamorna Pottery outlet BnB and cafe. It was perfect. A Bangladeshi chef who served me a lovely roasted red pepper and coconut soup and served Ralph a cardinon,lime and coconut piece of cake.
His husband is the potter who took over a business that has been ongoing for 75 years.
I commented to the potter that the signage was quite limited and I almost missed the cafe. To my surprise he said he has taken down 25 signs. They have all the business they can handle and all those signs need “up keep”. A good point.
Our lovely roads led us back to the promenade at Penzance where we enjoyed the smoooth traffic free ride. A visit through town to the Cycle Centre where we had our tires pumped up.They were VERY low! I bought the last stem adapter for 1£ so we could use a gas station pump . Ralph is very proud of his 5” carbon fibre super light bike pump but it isn’t practical for daily air top ups. I also bought a Cycle Centre water bottle … with cold water for 1£. A collector’s item because they are closing in 2 weeks. The owner says he is « Quitting while he is ahead ». Everyone is buying everything on line today.
St Michael’s at Manzion in the background. Beachgoers along the promenade at Penzance:
We had a very nice cycleway to follow in Hayle where we met Andy Parker. An ex naval man everyone calls Fez. Something to do to his hat in the Navy??? He told stories of his time in Halifax,Canada and of his cycling.. He knew a fabulous amount about the history of Hayle. A facinating place. Apparently it is the birthplace of the steam engine and as such… the oldest railway bridge was just behind where we were biking. He left us saying he was now a solid member of our fan club….
Thanks Fez!
We left the cycle trails and quieter country roads for a lineup of rush hour cars in our destination town Redruth. The entrance to our hotel for the night was a long shaded parkway opening up to the Penventon patios and entrance. As always our accommodation for the night was a welcome signt - but this was extra special.
We had help from Jonathan to secure the bikes in the staff room for the night. I booked a table for dinner at 8:00 and assured the reception staff that I would look very different at that time. I hope I pulled that off.
The Penventon Park Hotel was purchased by Paila, David, Joan and George Pacoe in 1968 and remains in the family today. David Pascoe, the artist, passed away in 2019 but his art lives on in the hotel.
https://www.penventon.co.uk/david-pascoe/
David Pascoe art on the back of the menu:
His wife, Paola, very fondly referred to by staff as Mrs. P still makes all the preserves used at breakfast and afternoon tea. This is a substantial undertaking! Mrs P must be decades past normal retirement age!
What made my stay so special was the atmosphere in the dining room, the gentle, friendly care of the serving staff and the excellent cuisine. As a business traveller during my career, I often dined alone and the placement of a single woman dining in a crowded room, makes a difference. The hostess placed me at a lovely table and Millie, my server took over and made my evening a delight. I chose the chef’s catch of the day special and was not disappointed. It was the best fish dish I have ever had the chance to enjoy. The chef will be horrified that I can’t describe it properly but all I can say is that the fish had a delicate crunchy crust, with a swirl of parmesan flavoured cream sauce mixed with a green swirl lightly flavourful. As you ate the fish and sauces every once in a while your taste buds had an awakening with a crunch of freshly ground salt. The fish rested on a bed of small new potatoes. I enjoyed every morsel.
The dessert of the day was another treat. Apparently it is going to become part of the standard menu. Millie explained that the chefs created it and tested it on Mrs P’s birthday. A success! Picture a milk chocolate bomb filled with white chocolate, chocolate cookie, and honeycomb. It is presented at your table looking beautiful (I didn’t take a picture ). My server then poured hot caramel sauce over the bomb so the chocolate and honeycomb melted together as the river of caramel swirled on my plate. Absolutely lovely. Thank you to all the chefs and servers that night. Millie spoke very highly about how she enjoyed working for this family business. It shows.
A lovely end to another good cycling day.
Safe cycling.
Lorraine