Fowey, Eden Project and Falmouth

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.

   

For more photos, click here: