Monday morning was spent exploring the lanes and shops of Penzance. I walked up more steep paths and steps than I’ve done for a long time. At lunchtime we had Cornish pasties, sitting in Penlee Park watching young people play tennis.
Later we took a bus to Mousehole (pronounced Mowzel). This is absolutely the quintessential Cornish fishing village – unbelievably picturesque. We did part of the Mousehole Trail. All the roads and alleyways are incredibly narrow and cars and buses edge slowly along with bare inches to spare. The origin of the town’s name is uncertain but it can be interpreted as mowse hal, which means women’s stream or marsh in Cornish.
There is a lovely sandy beach and many families were swimming or playing there. Apparently the harbour isn’t naturally sandy, so sand is imported every spring.
Cornwall is the nearest point of England to Spain and in 1595 the village was invaded by the Spanish, sacked and set alight. One house that survived, Keigwin House, can still be seen, and opposite it is a plaque marking the home of Dolly Pentreath who died in 1777 aged 102. She was the last person to speak Cornish as her native tongue.
We dined at the Ship Inn where Dylan Thomas spent his honeymoon in the 1930s. He described Mousehole as ‘the loveliest village in England’ and it is said that his time here inspired ‘Under Milk Wood’.
I had a Cornish Haddock and Crab Stew, which was not as thick as a chowder, but delicious with chunks of fish, small potatoes, and sugar snap peas. I couldn’t actually detect any crab.
At 7.30pm the Mousehole Male Voice Choir began a concert on the harbourside and we heard them sing a couple of hymns before catching the bus back to Penzance.
‘Stone cottages, lanes up and down
Make Mousehole such a pretty town.’
How delightful to read about Mousehole Ruth. Murray’s maternal ancestors came from there and we have a lovely wee watercolour of Mt Pleasant on our wall.
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There’s a beautiful childrens’ book about the Mowzel cat, which has been a favourite of my granddaughter for some time. So I know about this place! From the drawings in the book, it looks really charming.
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So envious of this sojourn in Cornwall Ruth. Do hope you post a lot of photos on your blog when you get back at your lap top. Know what you mean about the seagulls as we experienced them at Mevervagissy but they really are just part of that special atmosphere of a Cornish Port aren’t they?
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[…] on the contents of one bag at a time. The picture of Mousehole was of particular interest as we visited that town just a few years ago. After all that work I can hardly bear to break the puzzle up […]
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[…] which increased the story’s interest for me: Glastonbury, Tintagel, the Minack Theatre, Mousehole, Penzance, and the Geevor Tin […]
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