Posts Tagged ‘stationary cycling’
encounters with literature 7-14
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coast near Fowey (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled … Daphne du Maurier’s house is near the yellow dot at about eight o’clock … Pont Pill is the stream at about one o’clock (map from Google Earth)
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On today’s virtual bike trip, I happened upon two locations famous for their literary connections. Near the end of my trip, I saw Readymoney (from the word for pebbly), the house Daphne du Maurier lived in during 1942. She lived here while writing her book Hungry Hill ( Doubleday-Doran, 1943) …
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Across the road is the beach at Readymoney Cove. I imagine Daphne du Maurier looking out on this view as she wrote or thought about her writing …
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Readymoney Cove in Fowey, across from du Maurier house (image from Street View)
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The house was originally the coach house for the mansion at Point Neptune …
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I also took a side road to Pont Pill. Pont Pill or Pont Creek is thought to have been the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows …
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Pont Creek beside a nicely landscaped house at Pont Pill (image from Street View)
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Best Views: Little Lantic Beach and the old water mill on Pont Pill …
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July 23, 2013 ‘Little Lantic Beach’ Jane Tims
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July 29, 2013 ‘old water mill at Pont Pill’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
water and stone 7-13
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treed archway over road near Lansallos (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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After seeing hidden doors and arched roadways, I am on the lookout for other evidence of enchantment on my Cornwall journey. So, when the road dipped into one of those treed valleys …
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treed archway near Lansallos (image from Street View)
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I was not surprised to see an unexpected stone stairway …
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unexpected stairway (image from Street View)
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and a roadside fountain …
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water ‘fountain’ in roadway west of Lansallos (image from Street View)
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I think this is a way of making the water in a hillside stream more accessible, but it made me think of the magical associations of woodland pools …
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July 25, 2013 ‘reflection’ Jane Tims
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Best View: a stone house near Lansallos … pen and watercolor …
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July 22, 2013 ‘stone house near Lansallos’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
old trees and old towns 7-12
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hedgerows along Raphael Road (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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After the picturesque town of Polperro, the road I am following takes an inland route. I peer over the hedgerows and watch for other vehicles on the narrow road …
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be prepared to give way!!! (image from Street View)
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Near Lansallos, agricultural land spreads endless, to the very edge of the sea cliffs. There are sheep in the pastures … I just leave little unpainted gaps in the watercolor!
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July 20, 2013 ‘fields along coast near Lansallos’ Jane Tims
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Lansallos is a charming village with places to stay …
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Rose Cottage, Lansallos (image from Street View)
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white houses, white blossoms …
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white house, white flowers and white cars (image from Street View)
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and an old (15th century) church …
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St. Ildierna Church, Lansallos (image from Street View)
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You can see the tower of St. Ildierna church from miles away. The interior of the church was partly destroyed by fire in 2005 but has since been restored through donations.
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The village of Lansallos is listed in the Doomsday Book (the landowner survey done for William I and completed in 1086) as the Manor of Lansalhas !!!
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Best View: old tree near Lansallos … ink and watercolor …
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July 20, 2013 ‘old tree near Lansallos’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
narrow streets and wide-open countryside 7-11
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Landaviddy Lane in Polperro (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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I have never encountered such narrow streets as in Polperro. In this charming little town, the streets bulge with sightseers. The narrow streets can be confusing, so it’s a good thing the roads are labelled to show the ‘Way Out’ …
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July 21, 2013 ‘way out in Polperro’ Jane Tims
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Best View: countryside near Polperro … yellows are a little bright in the scanned version compared to the original painting …
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July 19, 2013 ‘countryside near Polperro’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
peering over hedgerows 7- 10
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Talland Bay (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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I am beginning to realise, the Cornwall countryside is often not visible from the road, a result of the ubiquitous ‘hedgerow’ …
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peering over hedgerows (image from Street View)
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Fortunately, there are weird trees at intervals …
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eerie tree near Talland (image from Street View)
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and places where the trees make tunnels of the road …
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narrow road and natural archway (image from Street View)
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natural archway (image from Street View)
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Best View: Church in Talland … I tried using pen with the watercolour … I love the big cloud … but the gravestones a bit thin and wavy …
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July 18, 2013 ‘church in Talland’ Jane Tims
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and the waves at Talland Bay … these waves have some frothiness compared to my painting of the beach at Millendreath (see post for August 7, 2013) …
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July 19, 2013 ‘waves at Talland Bay’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
hills and harbours 7-9
One advantage of a virtual cycling trip – a day like today is not exhausting in spite of steep roads. Visiting the city of Looe involves biking from the higher land around St. Martin, down into the valley where Looe is situated. Leaving Looe means biking up a very steep hill until you reach the high land again.
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houses along West Looe Hill … a long way to the top of the hill (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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Looe is from a Cornish word meaning ‘deep water inlet’. The River Looe divides the town into East and West.
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approaching Looe from the east (image from Street View)
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The town is a busy port. Life seems to be centered around the river and the bridge crossing the river …
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bridge over Looe River (image from Street View)
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Sail boats anchor just off Quay Road …
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view along Quay Road (image from Street View)
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It can’t always be fun to live at the base of a steep hill …
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what happened to the white car? (image from Street View)
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Best View: a composite of two places on West Looe Hill … a garden of shrubs and ferns …
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and a view of a quaint stone stairway …
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I think they blended well into a single painting …
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July 15, 2013 ‘West Looe Hill’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
on the beach at Millendreath 7-8
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church at St. Martin (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Maps)
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On Day 8 of my virtual bike trip along the coast of Cornwall, I did three watercolors of the countryside. I can’t keep this up, but for now, I am enjoying learning about watercolor technique. My plan is to practice, using the scenes of Cornwall as my inspiration, and later, do a series of watercolors ‘en plein air‘ in an area of New Brunswick I know well.
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I began my biking in Millendreath on the beach looking toward Looe Island. I love the band of red seaweed, left by the waves at high tide. My waves need work – I have tried leaving white space and then highlighting the areas later with Titanium White, but this does not allow for splashy detail in the waves. I plan to try a product called ‘resist’ – it keeps small areas free of paint until it is removed. The name Millendreath sounds like it comes straight from the Lord of the Rings …
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July 13, 2013 ‘beach at Millendreath’ Jane Tims
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In St. Martin, I passed by the Parish church …
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July 13, 2013 ‘Parish Church, St. Martin’ Jane Tims
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On the high land above Millendreath, the scenes are of distant hills and fields …
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July 13, 2013 ‘countryside near St. Martin’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
along Looe Hill 7-7
stairs along Looe Hill (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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Looe Hill (pronounced to rhyme with ‘who’) is probably the most magical, interesting place I have discovered so far on my virtual journey. Much of the length of the road is a narrow path between high banks. The overhanging trees must create a microclimate where wildflowers and ferns thrive …
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ferns and flowers on the road banks of Looe Hill (image from Street View)
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More open sections of the road show the steep terrain …
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Gorse on Looe Hill (image from Street View)
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Best View: leafy tunnel on Looe Hill … I like this watercolor, especially the ferns, done using a dry brush to pull color from the fern shape, and the way the light varies across the painting …
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July 10, 2013 ‘Looe Hill’ Jane Tims
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This image provided the inspiration …
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road on Looe Hill (image from Street View)
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Another magical view was of ‘caves’ created by the overhanging vines. I made two attempts at this … the first was a disaster. I like the second attempt (below) but it fails to capture the ‘caveness’ of the view. I like the vines, done by dipping the head of a carved eraser in the paint !!!
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This is the inspiration for the painting …
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vine ‘caves’ on Looe Hill (image from Street View)
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
Downderry by the sea 7-6
my first view of Downderry (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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Downderry is a charming town, tucked beside the sea …
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houses in Downderry (image from Street View)
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My virtual memories of Downderry will be of stone walls …
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gardens along Downderry street (image from Street View)
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hillside gardens …
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hillside gardens (image from Street View)
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and a charming red brick church …
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Downderry church (image from Street View)
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Best View: a lilac in front of a white house …
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July 4, 2013 ‘Lilacs, Downderry’ Jane Tims
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and a Horse Chestnut tree beside Downderry Church …
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July 5, 2013 ‘Downderry Church’ Jane Tims
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Then, onward to Seaton and a backward view at Seaton Beach from Looe Hill …
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July 6, 2013 ‘Seaton Beach’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
along a Cornwall road 7-5
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farm tucked into a valley (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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Today’s virtual biking trip took me toward the town of Downderry, along narrow roads lined with Western Gorse (Ulex gallii) in yellow bloom. Gorse grows on sunny sites with sandy soil and is common on the heathlands along Britain’s Atlantic coast. Before my virtual trips to France and England, I had heard of gorse but had never ‘seen’ it …
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gorse in bloom (image from Street View)
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I saw a few farms along the way …
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a house and barn (image from Street View)
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and horses in a green pasture …
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horses (image from Street View)
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Best View: farmstead not far from Downderry … my skies are improving, don’t you think???
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June 8, 2013 ‘farm near Downderry’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
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