As a reward for the continuing work on boxes (sound like a Government Minister….), we decided to do the half hour drive over to Fowey. Magnificent weather yet again. We parked in Readymoney cove (free till next week!) and explored the little beach ( above), and then walked into Fowey past a series of wonderful houses, all in tip-top condition making us think this was another of those places referred to as Kensington-on-sea. As we came into town we were caught by a menu board for ‘The Fat Cap and Brisket’, so we went in for a light lunch. We were really glad we did, a wonderful experience. Caring staff, terrific menu, bargain prices, view of the sea…what more could anyone ask? It has only been open 3 weeks apparently, according to one of the owners, but we will be returning with family as soon as we can. It is really satisfying when you find a restaurant you like and can undoubtedly rely on. Fowey is what some people might regards as twee, but like Dartmouth where we used to live it is in my opinion ‘improved’, and I like it a lot. In many ways it is similar to Dartmouth, location pretty as a picture, views across to an equally pretty town on the other side of the creek, ferry services, historic buildings, nice independent shops, good cafes and restaurants, spectacular walks…..really what more could you ask for?

Having been here a week now, we decided we must go into Looe to buy some fresh fish. The day was lovely so we strolled through town and walked along the beach. Looe is a lot nicer than I remember, not as twee as St Ives or Fowey (both of which I like very much), but having pretty much everything…..lovely train run into town from Liskeard along the river, shops enough, harbour, beach and walks. Oh yes shopping….we went to Pengelleys, and looked at the enticing fresh fish display and chose a lovely large haddock fillet and a whole gurnard, both of which proved excellent choices for main meals over the next couple of days. The gurnard I baked in foil in the oven with a few herbs and lemon, and it was very meaty and quite delicious. Ugly fish, though!

As you can see from the picture of Looe it sits on a tidal estuary and there is quite a different feel as to whether the tide is in or out. On a Summer’s day the blue-green water extends far up the valley (our valley!) and the views are pretty as a picture. When there is just mud, the impression is one of almost abandonment. When we first came to Cornwall and walked around the Helford river and up Frenchman’s Creek, I thought the mud flats were quite depressing and had a sad aspect as if the locations themselves were dying. I came fairly quickly to appreciate that low tide gave tremendous atmosphere…mystery, nostalgia for something lost. So now I really appreciate Looe and the twin valleys of East and West Looe in all its moods.

Having unpacked around half of our boxes (the rest floor to ceiling in the garage), we went for our first walk from St Keyne today. A steep descent down a lane to St Keyne’s well (made famous in a poem ‘The Well of St Keyne’ by Keats , and indeed turned into a mini opera) and the river valley, followed by a rather gentler ascent with the banks full of Spring primroses and daffodils, it was quite a delight. Such hilly country. Very reminiscent of Devon where we lived once. This area is quite unlike other areas of Cornwall, and we think we are lucky to have ‘found’ it.

The last book started and finished in our old home was ‘The Killing’ by David Hewson…..so-called Scandi-Noir, and one of the best Crime stories I have read in a long, long time. Politics, crime and the usual personal life of the chief detective all come into play, all utterly believable, and a range of suspects keep you hooked until the very end. Highly recommended. I moved from that onto ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ which most of us will have seen on TV with Gregory Peck. I had a lovely Folio edition so it was pure joy to hold and read. I was quite surprised that the action in court was only a small part of the plot (the movie being based around that). However, the way in which we became involved with all three members of the Finch family as well as assorted in-laws etc was masterly. As was the portrayal of just what it meant to be poor in the deep South (whether White or Black). In fact that is what I take away from this great novel more than anything…astonishing. I have to say that for one of the greats I did think the ending was highly anti-climatic, but then that applies to 95% of novels, does it not?

Over the course of the last few weeks I have also been reading Nigel Slater’s ‘Kitchen Diaries II’ Once started impossible to put down, a very readable cookery book indeed. And all the recipes we have tried have been absolutely wonderful (and economic). Reading it is like being with Nigel at home for a while. Interesting, soothing, pleasurable….
Daphne Du Maurier’s ‘Castle Dor’ was started in Binley Woods and finished in our new house in Cornwall – very appropriate really as the book is set in and around the Fowey estuary, and we are now living very nearby. Well we will be ‘living’ when we get on top of a few more boxes. About 220 boxes and most of them full of books. Still it’s a real joy to put them out, and remember them. The delivery men asked if I had read them all, and I did say yes (a bit of a porky, but I must have read 90% of the collection). So, ‘Castle Dor’. An unusual novel as it was started by the famous ‘Q’ (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch), and his daughter asked Daphne to finish it when he died half way through the writing. You can just about see the join. One of those books which was quite hard to get into but in this case only for the first half dozen or so pages, it tells the story of Tristan and Isolde but transplanted to South-East Cornwall of the nineteenth century….a chance encounter between a Breton onion seller, Amyot Trestane, and the recently married wife of a publican Linnet Lewarne, leads to fated love. It intertwines present day with past legends and is well told and sustaining throughout. Not untypical of any of Du Maurier’s novels. For a description of the ‘real’ Castle Dor Iron Age site see…..the Access To Monuments site…

The last couple of weeks have been spent tidying up the sale of our house and the purchase of our house in St Keyne Cornwall, that plus packing loads of boxes. The daily walks continue, albeit we are getting bored by the same old routine, and we are very much looking forward to doing new things in Cornwall. Reading has continued and for me has been mainly the re-reading of the marvellous ‘The Sunne In Splendour’ by Sharon Penman. I finished this yesterday and it was a marathon read as the book is 1240 pages long. However every page is a delight. It must be good as I hardly ever re-read a book, and having finished this for the second time I would happily start all over again! Basically it’s the story of Richard III, the locations are always real, the events are nearly always real, but the dialogues are of course made-up. It is the Yorkist version of History and very interesting for being that, particularly if you feel the conventional Tudor spin on things might not reveal quite all the truth. The times were momentous and so it has everything…family relationships and quarrels, love stories, politicking, battles galore……..the pace is relentless. At the front is a kind of Dramatis Personae to which you have to refer constantly because of the plethora of family members with the same name, that and the fact that personnel keep changing sides so you want to see whose battles they should be fighting! The book was 12 years in the writing, and I can only wonder at the amount of background research that underlies it…I have huge admiration for the author. But not only is it a fantastic read in its own right, it makes you want to explore the period even more. So I have immediately pulled one of my so-far unread Folio books off the shelf…’The Wars of The Roses’ by medievalist Desmond Seward. Rather good so far. In fact, having finished it….very good. Unbelievably it was almost like revisiting ‘The Sunne In Splendour’ again. It is really well researched, balanced, and zips along at a cracking pace. Plus its approach, which is to concentrate on five of the main characters, and tell the story of the Wars through them, is highly enjoyable, particularly as at least two of the people are not whom you might expect…..one a political ecclesiastic, Dr John Morton, and the other Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV, then of his friend William Hastings (another one of the five) and then of his stepson the Marquess of Dorset….a remarkable woman and according to Seward ‘the first ordinary Englishwoman recognisable as a human being from contemporary sources (actually Sir Thomas More’s ‘King Richard’). Using all these people in this way does make the wars very immediate, and you realise how much impact they had on the extended families of everyone involved. Btw the upper pic is of the ‘Sun In Splendour’ at Tewkesbury Abbey.…

Caught the train from Rugby to Birmingham early morning, surprisingly busy, for F’s dental appointment. We then had a chance to have a good look round the redeveloped New Street Station area which is now called, without any hyperbole, ‘Grand Central’. a terrific improvement this is. It used to be by far the worst mainline station in Britain…underground, cold, dark, unloved, scruffy…and now it is a magnificent station/concourse and shopping centre where you wouldn’t mind waiting half a day for a train. Anchored by a new John Lewis, which itself has lots of lovely new touches, we did enough walking to call it a day (after a nice lunch in JL). We escaped with just one new pair of shoes…..Coming from Manchester myself I always think it laughable when Birmingham calls itself Britain’s second city, but even I was impressed. Plus the rest of the central area is well worth visiting with extensive nice Victorian/Edwardian buildings redolent of the period. Bit of a surprise Birmingham town centre….

For a change, and because less muddy, we walked to Coombe Abbey, glorious day, just over a mile there and then we did the 2.3 miles walk around the outside of the grounds and went in the bird hide where we saw nuthatches, great tits, herons and the usual mallards, coots etc on the lake. For more background to this lovely historic building and now a splendid hotel see the Coventry City Council site…..It is a very special place, and the afternoon tea we have had on a couple of occasions is great too.

Warwick Arts Centre to see the film ’Carol’ of which I’d read such good reviews, touting it as the new ‘Casablanca’ for instance, an oldie which always has me in tears. So, having stocked up on paper tissues, and fortified ourselves, in we went. What a disappointing film. Typically American, over-emotive, and with the usual uncalled-for happy ending. Why do they do that? It was very slow indeed….I suppose we were supposed to appreciate the atmosphere, but it was all just too mechanical, too stereotyped, too wooden. Complete waste of time for me. (F liked it rather better, but not much I think).

In a couple of days I read ’Death On The Cherwell’ a new series of re-issues by the British Library…..this one was first published in 1935. I chose it for the cover really (like a lot of our customers?!), two charming girls in period dress in a punt. Like many covers it only reflects the story inside very loosely, and I have always found this strange. Are cover designers given a completely free hand? Do they not read the story? Is it just seen as a marketing tool? All a bit annoying. Anyhow, the book reflected its period, lots of taking tea, prejudice against women, fast cars, loopy dons and so on. Hardly much of a plot at all really, and what there was was soon very transparent, but nevertheless atmospheric and quite enjoyable for that reason.

We used our free Times+ cinema tickets to go to the cinema at Stratford to see ‘Black Souls’. First of all, it is always a privilege to visit Stratford-upon-Avon – such a marvellously historic town full of everything you could possibly need including the world-class theatre of course, but considering its huge influx of visitors, relatively unspoilt. And the Picturehouse is a good cinema, two screens, a bar/cafe , and outside terrace. ‘Black Souls’ is a MUST SEE (my son tells me I shouldn’t capitalise like this, but I can’t help it just here). Although we missed the first 15 minutes due to a printed error on The Times’s site, it mattered not. It is gripping, frightening, film at its best. Nothing at all like the usual Hollywood crime blockbusters, and much the better for that. Based on real-life events (which thought is very scary indeed) it is about vendetta-style recriminations closing in on the Carbone clan, goat farmers who have diversified into the riskier and more profitable business of drug-dealing.The film focuses on the differences of character between the Carbone brothers: Luigi , the hard man out in the field; urbane Rocco ( who lives a seemingly respectable bourgeois lifestyle in Milan); and older brother Luciano, who’d rather tend his herd than continue the old cycle of bloodshed. But when Luciano’s tearaway son makes a rebellious gesture, matters move inexorably towards an outcome that is visceral and surprising. You know immediately that this is filmed by a FrancoItalian company, the quality of direction and the atmosphere are superb and the director feels no need for gratuitous violence but at the same time leaves us on edge and fearful all the way through. Both setting and action are darkly brooding. It’s a while since we had been to the cinema but we must get back into the habit again. Seeing a film at the cinema is such a direct experience as you are focused totally on the screen and committed to the film as there are no background distractions as there are at home. It is full immersion, and we were reminded seeing ‘Black Souls’ that watching a film on TV at home is not a patch on it.