Monday 16th May 2011 Falmouth, Porthallow and Porthoustock

We intended to have a day in Falmouth, but found it too busy with traffic for out taste, so we drove round the scenic drive past Pendennis Castle to park for a walk round the Queen Mary Gardens.
Here was the view across the bay

They looked a bit sparse as they haven't yet been planted up with the summer plants, but are still very nice.
This view was rather different last year when we visited, with the beds jam packed with gorgeous blooms

However there were some areas of the garden in full bloom.

And here

and some very attractive individual flowers

There are some pleasant paths in the garden

Behind the gardens there is a small but very nice beach, and all the usual facilities

In the distance to our left we could make out Pendennis Castle on the headland we had just driven round

Walking back through the garden to the car we saw these cactus blooms above our heads!

The most amazing flowers grow between the stones as weeds, these were on the car park

By now we were looking for somewhere for lunch, and we chanced on a bakery at St Keverne on an industrial estate. He produced superb pasties and also Strawberry Flans that were a little bit different to the usual ones in that the pastry base had a thick chocolate coating!
They were by local standards cheap, too, the pasties were £2.30 and the Strawberry Flans only 80 pence each, it made a heart dinner for a small sum.
We departed from St Keverne feeling rather full and followed the very narrow (and steep) little road down into Porthallow, a charming village with a shingle beach, loos and a car park with an honesty box instead of an exhorbitant fee, splendid!
Here is the shore and village

And from the same spot outwards

Then after several miles of narrow twisty road, Porthoustock was in many ways similar, though there was a large quarry still operating at the mouth of the bay, here is the village, note the home port of the fishing boat, "North Sheilds" he is a long way from home!

Again the beach was shingle though some so fine it was almost sand.
By now we were ready to take a steady ride back to camp.