Sidney Heath

“ The first view of Penzance from Marazion (known locally as Market Jew) is one that is never forgotten. Right before us, rises the famous St. Michael's Mount, capped with its architectural adornment; to the right the bay swings round in a semicircle to Penzance, beyond which is the harbour of Newlyn, the village that has played so great a part in the history of our modern school of painting. ”

“ At such times those who love the sea breezes, and the hoary rocks bearded with moss and lichen; those who are fond of the legends and traditions of the past, will find much to interest them at the Land's [Pg 42] End. It is a favourite spot with artists, many of whom come year after year to depict its frowning cliffs and heaving belt of sea, for, curiously enough, the grandest effects of the waves are frequently seen in calm weather, when the heavy ground swell causes the waves to break with great force on the rocks. ”

“ Contrast this with the present day, when there is a choice of no less than five trains by which passengers can travel from Paddington to Newquay, to say nothing of the morning coach which meets the South Western train from Waterloo at Wadebridge. The famous Cornish Riviera expresses, that do the journey from Paddington to Penzance in a few hours, have become a familiar feature to those who live in the western counties, and few seaside resorts, situated three hundred miles from London, are so favoured by railway enterprise as the beauty spots of Cornwall. ”

“ The old port of Falmouth is situated in a sheltered bay with the glittering sea beyond. Landward lie the villages of Mabe and Constantine, with their great granite quarries, and beyond them wide [Pg 23] expanses of undulating and treeless land that is not devoid of beauty. ”

“ Ives that Anders Zorn, the celebrated Swedish artist, painted his first picture with oils, a fine work that now hangs on the walls of the Luxembourg. The sketcher from nature who clambers along this rocky coast in search of colour notes or impressions, will perpetually experience the difficulty of not knowing where to halt, always a difficult problem for a painter in a new territory. Many are they who have seen the day draw to a close with nothing accomplished. ”

“ The antiquary Leland describes it as "a little fischar towne with a peere". It is an extraordinary jumble of habitations which press upon each other so closely that it is only by wriggling through the narrow streets and turnings that one can make any progress at all.
There is no coast track west of Polperro and both the roads to Fowey are very hilly. The pedestrian should proceed by way of Lansallos, where the church in the Perpendicular style forms a conspicuous sea-mark. From Polruan the descent to Fowey is very steep, but the view of the harbour from the high land is one of great charm. ”

“ The most enjoyable way, however, of viewing this well-known promontory is to sail from Falmouth. Those who would woo the charms of the Cornish coast from the water should remember that even on the calmest day sailing along this exposed seaboard is no child's play, but a serious business. As a matter of fact no one who is not intimately acquainted with the coast should take a boat out of the harbour without [Pg 25] an experienced man on board, and no amateurs should attempt unaided, to sail the lugsail boats in general use among the fishermen. ”

“ The submerged crags that fringe this portion of the coast are many, while the larger of those whose jagged points appear above the water, are the Armed Knight, the Irish Lady, and Enys Dodman, the last being pierced by a fine natural arch about forty feet in height. The Cornish name for the Armed Knight was "An Marogeth Arvowed", and it was also called Guela or Guelaz, the "rock easily seen".
To enjoy fully these western cliffs, one should stay in the locality for some days; be on the spot at all hours, see the mists of morning and the mellow tints of evening when all is calm and peaceful. ”

“ The Mount is really a pyramidical mass of granite, a mile in circumference, capped by a cluster of castellated buildings. The steep ascent up the side of the rock is commanded by a cross-wall pierced with embrasures, and a platform mounting two small batteries. The house itself has a few interesting points and an excellent chapel with some good details of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods. From the summit of the rock a superb panorama of the Cornish coast and the wide-spreading Channel may be obtained. ”

“ The harbour, which is navigable as far as Lostwithiel, a distance of eight miles, is formed mainly by the estuary of the river Fowey, the town stretching along the western bank of the harbour for a mile.
Seen for the first time Fowey is a revelation. Much known and rather too much visited, it is yet one of Cornwall's most picturesque and interesting [Pg 14] towns. Nature and art have combined to make it so; the art of the old village builder, not the so-called art of to-day. A modern element exists, but it is of small proportions. ”

“ The sun sinks beyond the vast expanse of open, wide, and illimitable sea, heaving with a deep and mysterious ground swell as the long waves roll shorewards. Between the great pinnacles of rock blue chasms yawn and pass away, and the bases of the nearer rocks are momentarily hidden by the foam of the surging waves. ”

“ IN ST. IVES HARBOUR
"There is a charm in the Cornish coast which belongs to no other coast in the world." So wrote Dean Alford many years ago, and no portion of Cornwall possesses greater charm than the section as seen from Newquay Beacon. Like so many of [Pg 55] its neighbouring holiday resorts, Newquay was a very small and not very well known little place until the Great Western Railway gave it four trains a day from London, advertised its charms in the press, and depicted them in glowing colours on innumerable posters. ”

“ Almost every ruin, rock, and church has its legend, more or less ancient and authentic, and once off the beaten track there is much that will interest the lovers of saint and folklore, as well as the admirers of coast scenery of a bold and broken kind.
All visitors to Newquay make their way to Crantock "churchtown", situated on the western side of the Gannel, a small tidal stream which is crossed by means of a plank bridge. The village of Crantock is ancient and interesting, but the great attraction of the place is the church. ”

“ At the foot of the rock is a tiny harbour and a cluster of cottages, and here also is a kind of station for the railway, which carries coal, provisions, and luggage up to the top of the Mount. When the tide is out the Mount can be reached along a causeway, but the road is very rough for walking, as one would expect from its peculiar position on the bed of the sea. ”

“ Penzance itself is a town of many attractions of the civilized order, and the whole of the neighbourhood is lovely. It is the most westerly town in England, and one that has a good deal of ancient history. The older part of the town, lying between Market Jew Street and the harbour, has retained a good deal of its ancient domestic architecture, but the churches have no features of any particular interest.
The fishing village of Newlyn is a picturesque but ill-built group of old cottages, fish-cellars, bungalows, and artists' studios. ”

“ Cape Cornwall, a mile and a half from the village, is one of the most prominent headlands [Pg 46] of the western coast, but being in the neighbourhood of the great mining district it is somewhat neglected by visitors, a remark that applies to the whole of this portion of the coast as far as St. Ives, the great exception being Gurnards' Head. The inland country is bleak and barren, with a number of mining shafts capping the hillocks, with the result that the uninviting hinterland has inspired few people with the desire to explore a really grand and rocky piece of coast. ”

“ Steep hills and zigzag roads, at every alarming angle of declivity, intercept the labyrinth of houses, which stand on each other's heads, or peep over each other's shoulders, and settle down on the ledges of the river bank. ”

“ THE CLIFFS, NEWQUAY
Be this as it may, and there is no doubt a good deal of truth in the tradition, we do know that until comparatively recent years the now sand-choked estuary of the Gannel had a sufficient depth of water for fishing craft and coasting schooners; while old historians assure us that the channel could at one time be navigated by ships of large tonnage. It is quite possible that the "new quay" of the now fashionable watering-place owes its existence to the [Pg 59] silting-up of the estuary that gave access to the old quay at Crantock. ”

“ The result is that Newquay has boomed to such an extent that it is now the great centre of attraction on the north coast. Twenty years ago Newquay was little more than a cluster of cottages, but so rapid has been its development that we seem to be centuries away from the days when there was no fashionable hotel on the Headland, and when the place was reached along a jolting little mineral line from Par Junction. ”

“ The church of Pendeen occupies as bleak a site as could anywhere be found in England. It was designed and built by Robert Aitken the famous Cornish missioner. It was fashioned on the plan of the ancient cathedral of Iona, and was built almost entirely by the people themselves.
A little eastward of Pendeen is the church town of Morvah, "the place by the sea", which has traditions relating to mermaids. Northward is Porthmorna, or Porth Moina, the Monk's Port, formed on one side by the fine cliff of Bosigran, where the rocks of granite have a pale reddish tint ”

“ The road from Penzance to Land's End being rather dull and devoid of interest, the best way to reach the outlying promontory is by one of the G.W.R. motors that make the regular journey. A stay of a short time is usually made at the Logan Rock, perched on the summit of a pile of crags. To reach it involves rather a breakneck scramble down and stiff climb up, and it is doubtful if the satisfaction of having done the feat is equal to the amount of fatigue involved. ”

“ Columb district is rich in large tracts of wild and picturesque country, which include such heights as Denzell Downs, St. Issey Beacon, and St. Breock Downs, near which last stand the "Naw Mean", or, in modern English, the Nine Maidens. At the present time there are but [Pg 62] eight of these upright stones, which tradition asserts were originally maidens who were turned into stone for dancing on Sunday to the strains of a fiddler, who shared the same fate, as witness a tall pillar of rock near by called the "Fiddler". ”

“ There is much to be said for Mr. W. H. Hudson's plea for a [Pg 41] national fund that shall purchase the Land's End; but one fears much water will have flowed around the historic headland before a "Society for the Preservation of Noble Landscape" becomes an accomplished fact.
About a mile from the cliffs stands the rocky little islet of Carn Brâs, whereon is situated the Longships lighthouse. Although such a short distance away this lighthouse, and that on the Wolf Rock seven miles off, are frequently cut off from all communication with the mainland by stress of weather. ”

“ It is doubtful if we ought to admire such ill-ventilated and out-of-date dwelling houses, in this essentially scientific age. But the general effect of line, of light and shade produced by a mass of broken and highly unconventional contours—gables where there should be chimneys, and chimneys where one is accustomed to look for doorposts—is highly satisfactory and pleasing from the artist's point of view. ”

“ The name "Truro" is thought to be derived either from Tru-ru, the three streets, or Tre-rhiw, the village on the slope (of the river) . There is a general impression that Truro is on the river Fal, but the truth is that the triangular piece of land on which the city stands, is washed on the east by the river Allen, and on the west by the Kenwyn. Between these two streams lies modern Truro, with its stately cathedral rising high above [Pg 20] the houses that surround it. Truro's most eminent son, Samuel Foote, was born in 1720 at the town house of his father's family, the Footes of Lambesso. ”

“ Mullion Cove is considered by many people to be the most beautiful spot along the Cornish Riviera. It certainly has many attractions for the artist, and its caves and crags have been photographed, sketched, and painted ad nauseam. ”

“ Sir Richard Carew, the friend and contemporary of Raleigh and of Campden, assures us not only that proofs of the lost kingdom remained in his day, but that the fishermen's nets frequently brought up portions of "doors and windows" from the submerged houses.
At the same time there is probably a certain rough truth in the old legends, the details having been added from time to time. As Mr. Arthur Salmon says: "When we speak of a lost Lyonesse we are not dealing with absurdities. We must only be careful to date it far enough backward, or rather to leave it without date. ”

“ It is of course quite easy to understand how a once devout custom degenerated into mere superstition, how some wells came to be called "wishing wells", &c., in which the modern village maidens drop their pins, in much the same way as their pagan ancestors left offerings to invoke the aid of the tutelary saint. ”

“ For the yachting man Fowey is very attractive, although during the season the small harbour is rather too crowded with craft. The entrance presents difficulties to the unexperienced amateur, but once inside the headlands there is usually no difficulty in securing a safe and convenient berth. ”

“ On the drive from Newquay to Bedruthan Steps no one should fail to make a halt at Mawgan, or, to be strictly accurate, St. Mawgan in Pydar, either on the outward or the return journey. The village is a pretty one that lies in the centre of the beautiful Vale of Mawgan, or Lanherne, which stretches from St. Columb to the porth, or cove on the coast. Mawgan possesses an ancient parish church and a Roman Catholic convent and chapel. The church is a very fine Perpendicular building with a tower 70 feet in height. ”