Back to the Grind

I've just spent a week in Cornwall with my darling wife. Offspring Junior was due to come with us but cried off having just spent some days camping in the area with friends. So - luxury of luxuries - a holiday on our own. Yes, just the two of us. The first for more than 20 years! Bliss!
Not that I would not have enjoyed the company of either of my two sons. In fact, it felt quite strange being able to say to my wife "What shall we do today?" knowing that whatever we decided only affected the two of us.
We rented a cottage near Looe, in south East Cornwall. Cottage comfortable with all the necessary amenities. Local village shop - in a village called, believe it or not, No Mans Land -catered for most of our immediate needs (including Cornish clotted cream to go on the blackberries we picked on the roadside near our cottage). About a mile from the cottage is a monkey sanctuary where they look after capuchin and woolly monkeys who have been rescued from private pet owners and from zoos. They have extremely large enclosures with trees and other interesting things to climb on and they can go from one area to another by a series of elevated walkways and bridges. Outside of their natural habitat (to which they could never return) they have the most idyllic surroundings man can give them. The keepers are so knowledgeable and caring. They obviously believe what they are doing is helping the quality of life of these primates. I was really moved by the visits I made there and came away feeling I had really learned something of the way of life of the monkeys and also something of the inhumanity of man.
Visits included the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Polperro, Polruan and Fowey (pronounced Foy). Only once did any rain affect us. That was on our last day when we were on a boat trip on the river at Fowey. The boat had no shelter. It suddenly pissed down and we got drenched. The boat skipper gave us a big umbrella but we still got soaked. We just couldn't stop laughing. And half an hour later the sun was out and the weather was dry and warm. Typical British weather!
Another memorable day was when we took the train from Looe to Liskeard. It was not so much a train as a railcar. As we got near Liskeard after a very slow and scenic route up the river side, the train came to a stop and the conductor got out to manually change the points so that we could reverse onto the branch line that led to Liskeard. After an enjoyable couple of hours in Liskeard we got back on the train and alighted at St Keyne. Just next to the station is a privately run museum of mechanical music. A gentleman by the name of Paul Corin owns and runs the place which is housed in old mill buildings which have been in his family for a long time. Paul is a real enthusiast. He drools over Pianolas, barrel organs and other mechanical means of music making, demonstrating each one in turn. He asks each visitor where they are from and is usually able to tell them where old cinema and theatre organs were in the particular locality. Finally he shows off his "Mighty Wurlitzer" which he has built into the structure. He is not a great virtuoso but his pure enthusiasm takes you past the music. By the time we had seen all the exhibits more than two hours had passed and we had to rush to flag down the next train to get back to Looe. A fantastic visit which I fully recommend every music lover to experience for themselves.
A really enjoyable holiday. Go to Cornwall if you want a good relaxing holiday. But take a good Ordnance Survey map so that you can find all the small coves and beaches to keep away from the holiday moron crowds in their "Kiss me quick" hats.
Ah well - back to work . . .