A perfect early Spring
morning – a light haze, a chill in the air but warm sunshine on our faces. We
headed south down the estuary to Fowey, a jewel of a place at the mouth of the
eponymous river. Whilst Dad caught up with the news, we dawdled around the
waterfront absorbing the idyllic atmosphere.
We then wandered back up into
the surrounding hills above the coast looking
for “Manderley”, the mythical setting of the Daphne du Maurier novel “Rebecca”.
About 2 miles west of Fowey, alerted by a substantial gate house, we reckoned
we had stumbled on “Menabilly”, the house tenanted by Daphne du Maurier from
1943 to 1969. From the church yard of the Tregaminion Chapel of Ease, across
the fields we could just make out the silhouette of an impressive pile almost
hidden by the surrounding woods.
Heading west towards St
Austel, we visited the Eden Project, set spectacularly in an abandoned
kaolinite pit. The self-supporting geodesic domes create separate bioms, the
tropical one being the most impressive. For lunch, we sampled our first Cornish
pasties. There was an interesting looking zip wire ride traversing the pit.
Ingrid and Dad declined to try it.
Our destination for the
evening was Falmouth, where we were lodged in very neat surroundings, looked
after by a cheerful landlady. Next day, I caught up for lunch with a fellow
student from Southampton days. Fortunately for Ingrid and Dad, the food at
Castaways Wine Bar on the harbour at Mylor was excellent as Peter and I had 35
years of boat talk to catch up on. That evening we had a rollicking dinner at
the Wheelhouse Restaurant on the Falmouth waterfront. It featured excellent
seafood, interesting fellow diners and a more eclectic conversation.
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