LAND OFTHE LIVING

Just a few lines to say that I intend to resume my blog in the next couple of days. Major changes have taken place in my life since last I posted.

Just considering restarting my blog - this is just a test to confirm that I have signed in correctly

Hopefully a brief interlude

I was intending to write a few words and take a few pictures of the places that I visit on the Cornish coast dururing my working day. Unfortunately the doctor has signed me off work and has been brutally honest with his opinion that it is unlikely that I shall get well enough to return. I had five cornary bypasses eighteen months ago and it would appear that I again have serious heart problems. I am hoping that if such is the case then I shall be well enough to spend more time at my condo in South Florida. My next scheduled trip is on Boxing Day with my partner and two youngest children who will be away from univerity then. We have a trip booked from Miami to the Bahamas on the Carnival Imagination so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the trip will go ahead.

Meanwhile here is a shot of Imagination and a couple of the condo where I can, hopefully, put my feet up for a while !

All In A Day's Work

Working in a rural community has its compensations. My "patch" is a delight to drive around on a nice day with many interesting things to see and pleasant spots to pull in for a light lunch.

Just a short distance from my office is one of the oldest man made stuctures in Britain - Trethevy Quoit.

The quoit was erected around 4,500 BC as a burial chamber. Originally, it is believed, it would have been covered in earth and grass. The stone is Cornish granite.

Five or six miles west is the most patronised store in the West of England, Trago Mills. Trago was founded by the eccentric father of the present owner, Bruce Robertson. His father, Mike, started selling very cheap goods from a small shed on the site and in a very short time became a multi millionaire.

The founder was always incurring the wrath of the local council and the planning committees by just developing the site without planning consent. It is now an attractive country park with a number of lakes stocked with Koi Carp and many varieties of duck and other birds. The Fowey river runs through the property and I often sit by the river with a light lunch. There is a large restaurant and "takeaway" with a comprehensive menu.

My travels then often take me to Launceston two or three times each week. Launceston is an old market town dominated by the castle.The castle was built in the 13th century on the site of an old defensive earthwork. In the 17th century it was used as a prison and in 1656 George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) was imprisoned therein for eight months. George Fox believed in truth, equality and peaceful solutions to conflict. His offences were to refuse to doff his hat to the gentry, to not swear oaths in court and to speak against what he believed to be the hypocracy of the established church.

(The autobiography of George Fox is available in full on the web. Just Google "George Fox Journal" to get it. It covers well his imprisonment at Launceston and elsewhere. I often wonder what he would think of the mixed bag of folk that comprise Quakers today - including "yours truly").

(I will add to this post when I get a chance to take a few more pictures - I can't spend all my working day doing things other than working -lol)

Today I had to take a different route. The first place of note to pass was "The Hurlers". The Hurlers are one of three stone circles quite near to each other. They date from the Bronze Age and were erected, probably as a religious site, around 1500 BC. It is said that the stones were once local folk who played "hurling" on the Sabbath and were turned to stone for their sins.

Just a short distance down the moorland road was an opportunity for a quick photo stop at King Doniert's Stone. Doniert, or Dungarth, was an old king of Cornwall and Cornish people still consider themselves separate from the rest of England.

There is a thriving Cornish independence political party known as Mebyon Kernow and a number of them speak Cornish, though now as only a second language.

Lunch was taken, ( with one on my patient's I must add), at a delightful tea room on Kit hill. The 400 acre hill was given to the people of Cornwall by Prince Charles, the Duke of Cornwall, in 1985. It is dominated by an ornate tin mine chimney, sadly now spoiled by an array of mobile phone aerials and such like.

The views on a nice day however are still impessive. The cafe has lots of small animals and birds which makes it a good attraction for children.The whole area is strewn with the remnants of tin mining. Tin has been mined in Cornwall since the time of the Phoenecians with whom they are said to have traded around 1300BC. The last mine ceased production in 1997. There is talk of this last mine, South Crofty, being reopened but I doubt it will happen.

For my next contribution I hope to write about the days I work in the coastal area of North and East Cornwall. Just by way of introduction to that I close with a snapshot of my favourite Cornish beach on my working travels - Bossiney Cove.

Value for Money

A few weeks ago I arranged to have a free hearing test with an audiologist who is permanently based in the large pharmacy of a national chain. The test was most impressive and took well over half an hour. At the end of it I was presented with an impressive array of frequency charts and advised that I was definitely in need of a hearing aid. When I enquired about the cost I was advised that the aids supplied ranged in price from about 1,000 pounds to 6,000 pounds. (about 1700$ US to 10,000$ US). I thanked the tester for his time and advised him that at those prices I would just have to concentrate a little harder when the TV was on at low volume or I was in general conversation with others!

A few days later I spotted an advertisement in a magazine that is posted to me quarterly. The full page advertisement marketed aids at seventeen pounds and ninety five pence (about 35$ US - I do not have a pound sign on this laptop computer!). The aid supplied came together with spare batteries, other spares, instructions for use and a cleaning brush. As I knew that this particular magazine would not accept phoney advertisements I decided to give one a try. In actual fact I ordered two as there was a substantial discount for buying a pair!

One arrived in the post this morning, just four days after ordering, with a note saying that the second would arrive separately without extra cost to me for postage. I was very impressed with the contents of the package and even more impressed when, after following the instructions carefully, I inserted the device to give it a try. I was amazed at how well the aid performed and I could turn the TV volume down extremely low and still comfortably hear the broadcasts.

I guess the really expensive ones would have been impressive too but on my limited funds would not have given me the same delight as this purchase did.

A Stroll Into History

It has been a depressing summer weatherwise and on the financial front too. Today I skived off work a little early in order to transfer a proportion of my meagre wealth into a safer haven than it was with HBOS bank. Rumour has it that the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds, to prevent the former going under, may not go smoothly and investing in a bank whose assets are mainly tied up with dodgy mortgages seems to be a bit risky at this moment in time. The sun was out for a brief while so I decided on a stroll round Plymouth waterfront just a few minutes from where I live

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Plymouth waterfront is steeped in history and it is a priviledge to have such a place on one's doorstep. I had a camera in my pocket and took a few shots to embellish this post. Below are some of the plaques commemorating some of the historical events that had their beginnings at what is now known as Mayflower Steps. It was from these steps that the Pilgrim Fathers boarded the Mayflower to travel to America to create a settlement there. It was here that the first emigrants to Newfoundland, New Zealand, Bermuda and many other places set sail.

Here too, some of the Tolpuddle Martyrs returned from Australia after having been forcibly transported there for daring to form a trade union. In more recent times the first transatlantic crossing in an aeroplane landed in The Sound. Sir Francis Chichester sailed from and returned here after completing the first solo circumnavigation of the world on May 20th 1967.

There are many commemorative plaques at the Mayflower Steps and just some of them are featured here.

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Above the waterfront is the Royal Citadel, built by King Charles II in the 17th Century after the English civil war. As Plymouth fought on the side of parliament against the royalists. the guns of the citadel pointed over the city as well as out to sea. The restored king did not trust the Plymouthians!!!! Alongside the citadel is Plymouth Hoe, overlooking Plymouth Sound. Here it was that Sir Fracis Drake insisted on finishing his game of bowls after the Spanish Armada was spotted approaching the city. Afterwards his fleet defeated the armada and this made Drake a national hero.

Near the Mayflower steps is where Robert Lenkiewicz, Plymouth's well known artist, had his studio. Sadly he died a few years ago but his pictures now command a high price. He was quite a character and attracted much publicity. About twenty years ago he wanted my eldest daughter to sit for him. I strongly discouraged her as most of his female sitters seemed to end up pregnant with his many children! Lenkiewicz befriended a tramp in the city and christenened him Diogones. When Diogones died the artist had him embalmed and concealed the body. It was only found after Lenkiewicz himself died.

The artist is the prominent sitter in this painting of his

Alongside his studio was the "Barbican Mural" which has now fallen into disrepair. When painted it was impressive and quite a tourist attraction. I think the city fathers should be condemned for not ensuring it stayed in good repair

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Plymouth still has some of its historical features. This is New Street which was Rag Street in the 17th century. I read an historical novel a while back - "No More the Sword" by Marcia Treece. The novel centred around a fictional family that lived in Rag Street during the turmoil of the English Civil War.

Time for bed!

Charity Shops Galore

Sunday is the one day of the week when I give token allegiance to the care of the environment, leave the car behind and travel by bus. The fact that I have a free senior travel card could also be a factor! The trip to the Quaker Meeting House that I attend is only about one mile. It is situated at the end of Mutley Plain in Plymouth.

Mutley Plain

The Plain must be the charity shop capital of the country with no less than seven outlets within one hundred yards of each other.

In this shot there are actually three next to each other

Only the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) is open on a Sunday morning and I often drop off a load of tat there. Usually it is no longer required DVD's, video films and books. Whilst there I always pick up a light book to read at the bus stop where I have a half hour wait. Last week it was a volume of incredibly silly signs, which amused me. As I spend a considerable time in South Florida one that appealed to me was from the Everglades:

THOSE WHO THROW OBJECTS AT THE GATORS WILL BE REQUIRED TO RETRIEVE THEM

Today it was "The Biggest Book of Bloke Jokes Ever". My partner thought it was hilarious and I just had to accept that we men can laugh at being the butt of female humour! One that did amuse me was:

How do you kill a bloke?

Ask him to jump off his ego and land on his IQ.

On a more serious note, there is a lot of animosity from the regular business community against the proliferation of charity shops. The charity outlets do not pay business rates and many of them now sell new stuff as well as goods handed in by the general public. When they first opened they were fully staffed by volunteers but now most have salaried managers who are urged to meet sales volume targets. I have some sympathy with the business commuunity on this point.

Mutley Plain is just four hundred yards from the main university campus and the area is well patronised by the large student population. The rest of the street is made up of fast food outlets, bars and night clubs and agencies marketing student accommodation. At weekends the place is a hive of activity with a good presence of the law. The charity shops provide a good service to students on a tight budget but, on quite a lot of occasions, I have seen goods priced well in excess of what they cost new in Poundland (same as Dollar stores in the USA).

"Caveat emptor".