The friendliest port

 The port of Amble in Northumberland, just up the road from our holiday cottage and the start of our exploration of this beautiful coastline. Amble is on the estuary of the River Coquet and is known as the 'friendliest port'. It's quite a small place but for a stroll to see harbour life I recommend stopping here if ever you are up in Northumberland. On one side there are views across to Warkworth Castle and in the other direction Coquet Island where the lighthouse and puffins reside.  A circular walk on the pier gave us excellent views and a breezy chance to create some space for the gorgeous ice creams we ate later from the harbour village where there are some cute food and gift shops in little wooden pods. A lovely mixture of new development and traditional fishing town. Fishermen were out repairing nets and we passed many crab pots - the dogs enjoying a good sniff and LB looking inquisitively.   One of those great places for photographing bits and bobs with lots of texture which pleased me.  Even the dogs had ice creams - vanilla whilst we had blackberry and licorice, strawberry cheesecake and tiramisu. Actually the best ice cream I've ever had (Spurreli's) and I wish we had been able to go back for another before going back to Cheshire. The town is pleasant with a tourism info/gift shop that I bought some nautical bargains from and the floral town square is a good place to sit and watch awhile.  Lots of interesting things to look at with LB and he was very enamoured with the cheeky seagulls following a couple eating their chips. We missed the Sunday market but I'm told it's a must do for its fresh food and vintage bargains. Fortunately just out of town by the marina was a brilliant antiques shop selling things for the home, books and toys that I recommend having a browse around and then buy scones from their cafe. So that's the first stop of the holiday and being blessed with blue skies was a bonus. Next stop will be Warkworth for the castle......

Tidal mills and mud flats

Restored and imposing on a river inlet stands a wonderful tidal mill at Carew, Pembrokeshire. After visiting the centuries old castle, take a short walk along the country lane picking up sticks and skipping if you are 5 years old. 

By mud flats that are a rich source of food for wading birds such as Redshank, is the mill and its causeway, a grand building that turned Pembrokeshire farmer's grain into flour ready for baking wonderful loaves of bread. Although no longer functioning, the mill is an interactive account of the process, rich in heritage and enough to keep youngsters interested. The noise of the water thundering through the mill is an exciting start and from there each level has a narrative that tells you about the millers and their daily lives.

Attention to detail here is fantastic and a table of crayons and colouring in sheets on every floor is a welcome break for a parent wishing to listen to more of the nitty gritty of mill life and its history. There is much to learn, from Medieval times to how railways in the 19th century brought with it an expanding market and a move to grinding animal feeds and bones to make fertilizer.

A popular element is a device where you can experience releasing water from the mill pond to turn the grindstone - everyone wants a go, cue much furious handle pumping. We loved the window overlooking the mudflats of the River Carew where a book is left to record any wildlife seen and a set of binoculars is left for you to use. A lovely touch.

Upon leaving, the gift shop is a treat - from nature identification cards to compasses and all types of toy bugs, it's a great place to buy some educational materials (good for our home education) and to put few things away for Christmas.

A top class attraction that was a surprise to our already great day at Carew Castle.

Mevagissey

 Down steep winding streets to the fishing port of Mevagissey. Saint Meva and Saint Issey combine with the word 'hag' which is 'and' in Cornish.....Meva hag Issey.....

The Gallery: Buildings (of the pea green variety)

Some buildings make me smile.  And how could this one not......?
Green, corrugated fun in a traditional Welsh barn.
PeaPod Junction, such a quirky name for a gift shop and you will find it in Cardigan Bay, Wales near Cwmtydu cove.

My Favourite Place

A little trailer parked up in the carpark at the stunning Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire. Amongst the campervans, a gem of a foodie heaven known as Cafe Môr, for the surfers and beach day trippers.

Local food and welsh seafood delicacies. Laverbread made from seaweed, gathered from the shore and dried, a popular product of South Wales.

A whole host of seaweed goodies, like Sea Black Butter or Laverbread Pesto that you can take a pot of home.

Or maybe a crab roll or a beach burger, washed down with home-made lemonade as you walk along the wide sandy beach and watch the surfers ride the waves.

A bookshop by the sea - Sunday Snap

A short walk away from the busy boat filled Tenby Harbour, leaving the pastel fronted terraces behind along with the screeching seagulls, is a secret little bookshop. Down a ginnel, past wooden doorways, an old rustic sign and down some steps by a Tudor house.

                                                                       BOOKS

Here are books of every type, stacked high and in no order, who knows what you will find.................?

Perranporth Beach

 The first stop of the holiday in Cornwall, Perranporth Beach. Just a few other people around and about, so really it felt like we had the broad expanse of sands to ourselves. Past Chapel Rock and the stream of water that runs across the sands we walked towards the shoreline and took in the wonderful coastal views.

The Old Post Office garden at Tintagel

The best gardens are those that you weren't expecting, those suddenly seen through secret doorways and in hidden parts of cities or quiet corners of villages. Pleasant snippets of lush green that catch your eye and lead you to push the gate open or sneak a peak over a wall.  We had been to Tintagel Castle and been half petrified by the sheer steps that you scale, which with two dogs and a child was pretty hair raising. Needless to say, back in the village of Tintagel we were looking for something less stressful. There stood the  Old Post Office which as a building was a gem. But then the doorway gave a glimpse of  a luscious garden on the other side. Under a wonky wavy slate roof I stepped and through a quaint passageway to a pretty cottage garden.

Cornwall travels

 Just back from an adventure around Cornwall and have so many places and photos to write about and share. Our base was at Perranporth but we literally travelled out to different places both around the coast and inland every day. Possibly need a good rest after it all now. Plenty of pretty harbours brimming with colourful boats, collecting shells and eating huge pasties whilst for the most part of the week the sun shone. A couple of rainy days had us in wellies still exploring castles and churches, driving from place to place and stopping at anything interesting looking.  No end of souvenir shopping and a haul of nautical items for the house and garden, a good dose of Medieval castle love and a new heap of books to read.  Smuggler's coves fired our imaginations as did climbing coastal paths and exploring garden with waterfalls and hidden beaches. Whilst I read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, I also found myself drifting around churchyards reading inscriptions of lives lost in tragic sea wrecks and talking to friendly church goers who enjoyed in sharing their wonderful houses of worship with me.  The cottages and gardens were also a highlight, especially in Port Isaac. Narrow cobbled streets lined with pretty buildings with cheery front doors and flowers in pots lined up and the sound of the sea gulls crying above. It was all so wonderful, now to go through the hundreds of photos.....!

Holiday preparations

So with Easter been and gone but chocolate still lingering I am now into holiday planning mode. Off to Cornwall very soon which is very exciting and I can't wait to explore a whole new area of the country to me.

I'll have a huge ticklist no doubt. Not being one to ever still still and I mean EVER, I'll have us rockpooling, exploring, scrambling down rocks, finding old churches and looking for quirky places like waterfalls and duck ponds with resident saxophone players. 

I also will have a list of items I have to collect, I'm such a magpie. Have to find a nice pebble or two, interesting shells, maybe a fossil or a pressed flower found on a coastal walk. Food goods too, local speciality treats (cake!) and bags of tat like flags and pirate/seaside related junk. Love it! I use the latter to create corners of the garden that T will like to play in. The secret passage in the garden is a bit of a pirates cove but it always needs adding to every year. I am absolutely going to be on the lookout for a St Piran's flag and a local folklore book, I have to immerse myself in places and soak every last drop up. The more knowledge the better.

Holiday planning

I am so excited as just after Easter we are off to Cornwall for a week. I have never been before and I can't wait to explore the quaint villages and beautiful coastline. Then  I decided that we had to also go back to Tenby and booked a week to South Wales for late summer, once the kids have gone back to school. One of the benefits of home education is cheaper holidays! Being able to go away when we please means we save a fortune on the cost of our family breaks and have money for our holiday wardrobe instead.

With that in mind, I started this week and bought Little Bird some gorgeous items for our Spring break - navy jacket, fun t-shirts, cute pumps and trousers. A good start and I will be keeping my eye out for some bright and practical items for him to wear whilst running along beaches, dipping into rock pools and exploring the Cornish ports and harbours.

For myself I like smart clothes with a practical element so will be looking at a new pair of shiny wellies, pretty sweaters and a posh new coat, maybe a classy Barbour jacket. A coat that looks so smart and will keep me dry when the rain pours, as I'm sure it will on our fabulous UK holiday.

We are staying in Perranporth which looks stunning and I'm putting together a list, as I always do of things we absolutely have to do. Have you been? Any recommendations? So far I have the boating lake and its surrounding gardens, the golden beach and smugglers caves and the sand dunes. Hopefully we will get to sample lots of local cafes and plenty of Cornish ice cream.

Rockpools, castles and a stack of pebbles

 Autumn breezes and soft sun rays for our exploration of the coastline near Tenby on the Pembrokeshire coast. Down a hill and past a Medieval castle, across dunes held together by Marram grass is a beach perfect for rock pooling. The best I have been to for looking under rocks for crabs and searching out tiny fish. Also the best for a little boy to collect pebbles and splish splosh them into the pools.
It is an unusual beach with all the slimy bright green seaweed. Most of the other beaches in this area are either mostly sandy or pebbly but this is a rock pooler's dream and we saw many a family wading in with nets and buckets. The terrier did not want to get his paws wet as per usual and skipped over the rocks whilst our collie plunged straight in.  LB had a good look into as many glassy pools as possible, holding on tight to our hands. You could see tiny creatures darting around and in a beam of late season sunshine was a little shore crab. Rock pools can be such treacherous environments but this little crab picked the right pool that wasn't going to dry out any time soon and in a couple of hours would be languishing under the waters of the bay. Pondering and day dreaming, T that is and not the crab, although who is to say that crabs don't dream.....of side scuttling on warm beaches and eating bacon.   Throwing pebbles with your dad up on the rocks. They reach up quite high so he was very brave climbing up them.   A dog friendly beach too so our pair enjoyed themselves with lots of doggy friends running about greeting each other. Love this beach so much, very inspirational and I have recently found out that this beach inspired Virginia Woolf to start writing in her early 20's. In fact, I think Manorbier Castle holds writing workshops and it must be a real treat to practise creative writing in such an atmospheric environment. 

We did not manage to visit the castle itself, just admired the amazing view of this prominent landmark but we will be returning next year  and will be sure to explore some more.