nichepoetryandprose

After completing my virtual bike journey through central France, I was faced with a decision …. where to go next?  I considered all sorts of places, but the winner has been the setting for some of my favorite literature  … the Cornwall coast of England.

A few minutes with Street View convinced me.  Along the Cornwall coast are the ocean views I love, the rugged shoreline of Daphne du Maurier fame, the hilly countryside of southern England, and numerous opportunities for side trips to see farmsteads, churchyards and ruins.   It was hard to settle on the 26 images that would take me through my first 30 minute virtual bike excursion.  So hard, in fact, I selected 39 images for the first trip!

I decided to begin just west of Plymouth, and I plotted ten, 3 km trips to begin.  Beyond that is a more than 300-km-distance around the entire Cornwall coast.

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Today’s trip took me through the hamlet of Rame, along the Whitsand Bay of the Atlantic Ocean.  The Street View image of the parking lot at Rame’s Head provides a view of 14th century Saint Michael’s chapel on a cone-shaped headland.  The chapel is now derelict and is thought to be the site of a Celtic hermitage …

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St Michael’s chapel is the tiny building on the cone-shaped hill at about 5 o’clock (image from Street View)

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The first part of the trip took me past the Saint Germanus churchyard …

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Saint Germanus churchyard (image from Street View)

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The church was dedicated in 1259, on the site of an older building.  In the church are pews surviving from the 16th century!  Since there is no electricity or gas, services are by candlelight.  I particularly like the lych gate in front of the church since my novel begins with my main character standing under a lych gate to keep dry from the rain.  A lych gate is a covered gate – during a funeral, the body of the deceased person is carried through the lych gate on the way to the church …

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Saint Germanus church in Rame (image from Street View)

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The next part of my trip was along the Military Road.  This road runs along the coast on the high land.  Other, narrower (!) roads run between the small communities closer to the coast.  My guess is, this road was built as a way to patrol the coastline for military purposes …

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Military Road near Rame – Gorse blooming along the road (image from Street View)

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I enjoyed my visit with a herd of horses along the Military Road …

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As I looked back along the road I’d just travelled (virtually), I was so glad I chose this as the next stage of my exercise scheme …

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Best View:  so many to choose from!  I liked a view of lilacs in the yard of a house near Rame …

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July 1, 2013 ‘Lilacs near Rame’ Jane Tims

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Copyright  Jane Tims  2013