As far away from where I live as you can go and still be in England. Over 10 hrs drive, the first half of which is mind-numbingly dull but with this old pile of rocks mid-way to make it a bit more interesting.
Didn't even have to stop and get out of the car as the road goes right beside it.
The main reason for my visit was to go sailing in my mate's new yacht.
A Sadler 25 for those interested in boats.
We wanted to go to the Isles of Scilly but the wind was against us so we settled for a short sail down the coast from Falmouth to the beautiful river Helsford where we spent the next day playing poker and drinking while it rained almost non-stop.
Then a nice sail back to Falmouth with the wind behind us.
Followed by a couple of days looking at 'old shit'.
First a trip to Pendennis castle. Built by Henry VIII to protect Falmouth from the sneaky Spanish.
A little modern for me, I like my castles to be 12th -14th century, before the age of gunpowder, so a 16th century one like Pendennis wouldn't normally get my juices going but it was still a good day out.
Next day we went for a walk to a remote Iron Age hillfort called Chun Castle. That was a bit older at around 2,500 years old.
Not a great deal left of it but a stunning bit of scenery on the walk up to it.
On the way to it we passed a Neolithic quoit which is an ancient burial mount consisting of a 3 or 4 ton rock balancing on some other rocks which had somehow managed to not fall off for around 4,500 years.
All in all a week well spent even accounting for the fact that 2 days were spent driving.
Oh yeah, we spotted this beauty on the walk back from the hillfort. An adder, our only venomous snake in the UK. Around 2 foot long and a more colourful green and yellow than the photo shows.
Not likely to kill you if treated but more than enough to spoil your day.
An old friend of mine spent 5 days in hospital in a lot of pain after being bitten by one.
