Not a Cheap Date
⬅ previous ⬆intro next ➡Day 12 ~ Friday 13 September ~ St Blazey
First off, a little walk along the canal which is right by the house.
We may not be staying at the YHA but we still have plans for Eden. We're also going to visit a clay mine/museum this morning.
Weal Martyn Clay Works. It's the only china clay mining museum in the UK.
'China' clay? Is that different to ordinary clay?
Indeed it is. It's a mineral called kaolin which forms as granite rock weathers over time. The name comes from the fact that the Chinese had been using it for centuries to make porcelain, but nobody in the West knew their secret until the begining of the 18th century. Despite its original use, for many years most production went into the paper industry: it's the gloss in glossy magazines, and it's what makes the difference between writing paper and newsprint. That market has diminished in the online era and only accounts for about 25% now, with about half used for ceramics and the remaining quarter in plastics, paints, cosmetics and suchlike.
To power the machines and pumps before steam or electricity, a waterwheel drove a series of metal rods that ran back up the hill.
Originally the line would have continued through the tunnel, but it's been removed to make it easier for visitors to walk through now.
Clay is still being dug here, although it's now processed elsewhere.
We have no idea what this is. It's big enough to climb into and can obviously be lifted by a crane, but why?
High pressure water jets like this one would be used to blast the soft rock into a slurry that could be pumped out of the quarry and then allowed to run downhill under gravity. The heavier mica and quartz particles would settle out of suspension before the kaolin, so the final holding tank would just have the latter. That would itself settle eventually and most of the water could be drained off.
The resulting sludge would then be spread out to dry on a heated floor. When fully dry, this would be the end product for sale.
Not quite as old as the waterwheel. They have various exhibits relating to the history of the works.
A well equipped blacksmith's workshop would have been an essential part of any industrial site at one time.
Each cylinder has a kettle, a pasty and a paragraph or two of interesting snippets about mining and the miners.
That must have been an icebreaker at parties: "So what do you do for a living?" "I import bird poo from Peru."
After a most interesting morning, a spot of lunch and we're heading in quite the opposite direction to go down to the coast and have a bit of a walk.
The sign at the car park says the marked walk should take about three quarters of an hour, but we want rather more than that, so we will improvise our own route.
What's that tower in the distance? We must find out!
Ah, interesting, it's another of these daymark towers, right in the middle of being repainted.
We have a chat with some of the workers and say that it looks like somebody put it in the wash and the red has turned everything pink.
You can just make out a bit of beach in front of the furthest hill. That's where we came down from the car park, so we're going to go back that way and then continue along the coast.
The wooden bridge just behind the stepping stones is private land. I presume that they wouldn't actually shoot anyone for stepping over the chain and using it, but we don't need to take that risk.
The small town of Fowey comes into view. Either the town is named for the river or vice versa, as the river is called Fowey too. It's clearly popular with boaty types.
Looking out from "St Catherine's Castle", another of Henry VIII's fortifications, although very little is left of this one now.
We're not sure what this house is, but it's very grand.
Another Troy Town reference (although we have no idea at the time). I just fancy some gin.
It's definitely an attractive little place.
Amanda doing her David Attenborough bit.
The seagulls certainly have attitude.
That's a curious sculpture, what does the plaque say?
Well, well, well. We didn't know that.
This town was not built for cars. It's not too bad here, but there are places where it's best to step into a doorway to let the cars get by.
Well that's been a nice little visit (and we had an ice cream too), so now it's time to start heading back.
In case you didn't know. That's why we're here, of course.
And I get to work in the kitchen.
While I'm cooking, a young woman comes in with her own dinner, which she's just going to microwave, but she looks around and then asks me if there's any salt in the kitchen. "Not that I can see, but I've brought my own and you're more than welcome to some."
So we get chatting and it turns out she's a bit of a runner, and she and Amanda start telling running tales. We tell her that we're going to do Eden parkrun in the morning and she thinks that's a great idea. She hadn't known about it, but is definitely keen to go now she's heard. We'd offer her a lift, but our car is stuffed full and we're not coming back anyway, but it's only a mile or two so she thinks she'll just jog there. Perhaps we can meet for a coffee afterwards.
It's been a convivial couple of hours. It's felt slightly weird being in a house of strangers with no host, but it's worked out well enough for us and while it wouldn't be our first choice, we'd certainly do it again in similar circumstances.
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