Knowing the Red Arrows were performing we again came to Falmouth and we scouted out a wonderful vantage point at The Boathouse pub on Trevethan Hill. This is our overall view, and although we only had sweet potato chips as well as a pint, we were able to sit in the uncrowded eating area. 

And, not only that, but the landlord swung the windows open for me to take pictures and we were treated to appropriate background music…The Dambusters March etc etc…what could be better? The whole experience was good enough for me to submit a glowing TripAdviser review….

Our usual walk to Hannafore and back enlivened with some new flora by the path side….

If visiting Falmouth by car we try to park (free) on the outskirts of Kimberley Park, which makes a nice start as I don’t like paying for parking unless I have to, and the park is a delight to walk though on the way to town. Falmouth is a great place for independent shops, art studios, restaurants and much else. This time we walked up High Street, a steep hill given more to antique shops, and lunched at The Star and Garter. This is a terrific eatery and we bagged a table by one of the windows for extensive views of the estuary (Falmouth is the third largest natural deep-water harbour after only Rio and Sydney). In fact wherever you are in Falmouth you have views of the sea. It is built for the sea….When packet ships left Falmouth, it became the place to go ‘for orders’. ‘Falmouth for Orders’ coincided with the arrival of the railway and the docks. Ships would call in at Falmouth to find out where to take their cargoes to get the best prices. In 1881 Falmouth was a cosmopolitan place. So many languages were spoken that there was a resident interpreter. Quay punts serviced the ships, taking out outfitters to measure up crews for new clothes etc. Other working boats included oyster punts’. On other occasions we have visited The National Maritime Museum a really splendid place, the equal of any London museum. And on past holidays we have taken the ferry from Falmouth to St Mawes something we must do again soon…..

Three weeks more or less at our house on Punta Montgo which is on the Northern end of the Costa Brava Spain, and near L’escala. Last year the Daily Telegraph had a good article showing some of the highlights of the region with all of which we are well familiar. These days I am more relaxed and more content to hang around the house and pool, but since the whole family were there at different times there was plenty that we did do. One pleasant task was to take the numerous steps down to the beach each morning to buy fresh croissants and pastries – always a big thing for me. And the Montgo bay is very pleasant, as well as being an important nature reserve.

The walk into L’escala is great now as it goes along the cliffs previously and until very recently in fact occupied  by the Army. Half way is the busy resort of Riells (crowded beach, many shops and several ‘pollo a’laste’ outlets). After Riells there is a lovely walk along a promenade shaded by olive trees into L’escala itself……the statues of the sardanas band are rather good.

This time F’s sister Judy took us up one of the Pyrennean mountains via a long, long, long switchback road to visit a medieval monastery with accompanying restaurant….unfortunately we went on the one day it was closed! However we were a bit better off than the group of English cyclists who had wound their way laboriously to the summit expecting to find supplies of water on arrival……there was nothing. At least their run down the mountain would be quick! What magnificent views we had despite the disappointment. On the way back we lunched at a restaurant on the side of Lake Banyoles and then visited the twelfth century Romaneque Church of Santa Maria de Porqueres which was very atmospheric.

We have always been to Can Miguel’s restaurant at Montgo. This time we went more than once to the concession who operated the area outside the hotel around the swimming pool which they have made very swish indeed….great cocktails, good food, and reasonable prices. Our granddaughter Aiisha wanted to remain behind dark glasses when there…

On another occasion we caught the boat in the marina at Riells southwards down the Costa Brava coast to L’Estartit, passing the Montgo peninsula and looking out for our house on the way. The glass bottom was great for seeing shoals of fish, and the coast was almost totally unspoilt (just as the whole Costa used to be!). The boat could get a move on when it suited.

L’escala itself has lots of interest apart from the usual touristy things. We love to go to the local market, and some of the side streets are full of old fishermen’s houses (one of which Judy and Tino improved to make it the fantastic house it is today. The bougainvilleas are quite spectacular at this time of year although we have never been able to grow one ourselves at the house in Montgo. Another day was spent walking to Sant Marti for lunch, a beautiful tarted-up medieval village, and exploring again the fantastic Greek and Roman ruins at Empurias. These are of tremendous interest and very extensive although, despite that, only a tiny fraction of the archaeology has yet been revealed. It was founded by the Greeks as a market location (Empurion), and then the Romans landed there during the Punic Wars and stayed eventually turning it into a retirement village for some of Caesar’s legionnaires. Sant Marti was probably the first of the old villages of the province of Gerona to receive the make-over treatment, with Pals close behind. These tend now to be tourist traps and coach party destinations, but nevertheless worth a visit. However, inland the Costa Brava is absolutely crammed with amazing historic villages, some totally unspoilt.

By this time of year the lanes around St Keyne can only be described as lush, and they stand very high indeed. When our friends Julia and Allan visited we were discussing why the lanes in Cornwall and Devon are so deep. I looked up my ‘History of The English Countryside’ and have since found an excellent account in the Cornish Hedges site. However,  both of these otherwise masterly accounts are flawed in my opinion. They attribute most of the depth of West Country lanes to possible double-ditch construction by farmers on opposite sides of the lane creating boundaries, and to water erosion. Now we know from living in both that Devon and Cornwall are wet, but to suggest that a lot of the enormous depth of lanes is caused by water run-away seems to me a nonsense. Whenever I have examined a hedge by looking underneath the top-soil covering I more often than not find a carefully constructed stone wall, or hedge if you like. My theory is that these were constructed as boundaries, and that they were tall because there was an exceptional amount of stone waste material on the fields, for nearly all stone walls are made from material that was to hand. This is so in the Yorkshire Dales and everywhere else. The studies I mentioned seem to ignore the underlying construction of the hedgerows….

A few days with our lovely family in Edinburgh. David and Jennifer were buying us a meal to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and so were Katherine and Nasar…lucky old us! Plenty to do in Edinburgh as usual. This time we visited some nice gardens, went on the train to the seaside (Portobello and North Berwick…both fantastic), went round the National Portrait Gallery (one of my favourite museums of all time), and had plenty of fun with our darling grand daughter, Aiisha….lots of possible meanings to the word, I like ‘beautiful’.

When the water is in and the sun out, Looe looks as lovely as any of the Cornish ports but, unlike some, it is a genuine working port. The fish trade is serviced by so-called day boats which go out and back the same day although we have seen them moored outside the harbour when the tide has turned too quickly for them…a miscalculation or they caught a heck of a lot! Here’s one hurrying back…..

Bus to Polperro today, and a short walk Westwards on the SW Coast Path, coming back along a slightly higher route. What we find absolutely astonishing is the change in wild flowers we see as the seasons change. We do sometimes stop and try to identify what we see, but it’s all invariably forgotten soon after I’m afraid! Still it’s the experience that you do remember. The route on the way back wasn’t clear in some parts and at one point we had to stop and reverse as I had reached a place where my acrophobia took over….the SW Path can be quite exposed in places, as I had found in the past. As you can see, Polperro itself is steeply fitted on its cliff faces. The large wall you see was built by NT volunteers…a really splendid example of their work.

F’s sister Judy was over from Barcelona for a short visit just to see our nice home. So today we took her on one of our favourite bus trips to Padstow. Lucky with the weather, we had lunch at Rick Stein’s fish n’ chips (with which Judy was very impressed), had a wander around the harbour and shops (including the high-quality fresh fish shop pictured), and then took the ferry across to Rock where we strolled along the beach to our heart’s content, and then sat basking in the sun. Padstow and Rock are on opposite sides of the Camel estuary, and depending whether the tide is in or out, the estuary is one vast expanse of sand and sand

banks and is quite a sight, or sea-filled. We saw both during our trip. Lots of holiday makers but the beaches were still not crowded…