Polperro - feels like a lost world

My friend Keb mentioned to me that I had not visited his favorite town of Polperro... I can see what he likes about it.  Polperro is a village and fishing harbour in southeast Cornwall.  I am including some pictures of it I took myself from Google street view.  Seems very "quaint" and pretty.  The Polperro Festival is the 3rd week in June - stop by and enjoy if you are in the area! :)

** April 18, 2012 UPDATE

One of our favorite places we've discovered is this quaint chocolate shop in Polperro (thanks Keb!)

It's name is The Chocolate Dream Company.  We'd messaged them on Facebook and yesterday finally heard back from them! Since then we have befriended them and I have personally spoken with Maz - the owner - on Facebook and am anxiously looking forward to meeting her on my trip to the UK!  This will definitely be one of my stops!  

Ok... Commence drooling......

Be sure to go to their facebook page and LIKE them!  and stop in and buy some chocolate if you are in the area!  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Chocolate-Dream-Company/170328106329243

** Origional Blog ** 

Polperro's history is one of fishing and smuggling and now, tourism.  Here's what Wikipedia has to say about smuggling and Polperro:

Smuggling is understood to have prospered since Polperro developed as a port in the 12th century.^[9] It reached its zenith in the late 18th century when Britain's wars with America and France precipated the high taxation of many imported goods, making it worthwhile for the local fishermen to boost their income by the covert importation of spirits, tobacco and other goods from Guernsey. Much of the success of the smuggling trade through Polperro is ascribed to the influence of Zephaniah Job (1749–1822), a local merchant who became known as "The Smuggler's Banker". A more organised Coast Guard service was introduced in the 19th century along with stiff penalties, and led to much less smuggling. Part of the South West Coast Path was originally used by Revenue Officers as they patrolled the coast in search of smugglers. Whilst the Coast Path is maintained by the National Trust, the foreshore belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall.

I could see spending a weekend touring some of these shops, couldn't you?

This patio of this hotel looks so inviting!  A glass of wine and a good book while people watching would be so fun from here! 

Not sure what this house was but I was intrigued by it.

I liked the name of this shop :)

Wonders if the bakery is for sale or just the building? Maybe above it? You'd spend your entire time working hungry from all the amazing smells, I'm sure!

We all must stop and thank God for our blessings :)

If you happen to be there - send me a postcard!

I think the tram takes you down to the shore.

The town streets are so small they do not allow you to drive on them anymore (well not tourists at least).

Have you all seen an infatuation with me and ice cream lately?  Do we even have half of these flavors in the US?  Like Honeycombe?

Love ~ Peace ~ Happiness

Marianne

Back to Cornwall and Devon - Kinda Rocky Here (an info update on my rock obsession)

We've discovered I'm obsessed with rocks now, haven't we?  No sooner had I thought I moved on from the Cornwall area but then I get word that there's a show called British Countrysides that featured  - wait for it - yes! Rocks!

A lot of my questions were answered with this show.  So I wanted to share them with you!

Remember how I was so amazed at how the UK had so much rock and where it came from?  Ya well, this show answered that.  Can you imagine thousands of years ago, the magma under the earth forming volcanoes?  How about the land between Europe and the US being all dry and being able to walk between them?  Is it a  bit unfathomable?

This show started out with Wolf Rock.  Wolf Rock was a volcano that became extinct.  The molten rock inside solidified into igneous rock.  Millions of years and a succession of ice ages later, the last of the cone was washed away, leaving only the hard rock.  This Rock at this location was huge, causing ships to crash upon it.  So James Walker had a lighthouse built on top of it in 1861 and it was lit in 1870.  It wasn't automated until 1988.  Hard to believe!!!  Here's a picture of this amazing lighthouse.  See the very top of it?  That's a helicopter pad so they can go out and do maintenance on it.

 

Moors

A term that we, in America, do not use much is Moor.  According to the dictionary, a moor is a tract of open uncultivated upland; a heath.  We have words we use here for that like field, among others.  The show took us to Dartmoor which is in south Devon, covering 368 sq miles of land.  It's a savaged, untamed country covered in myths and stories of beasts, dogs and large cats.  Once covered in dense woodland.  People moved in the area and cut down the trees for building and fire, leaving the land empty except for the rocks.  The people moved out.  Rather an eerie feel for a land.  For someone not familiar with the land, wondering where the huge boulders of rock in the middle of nowhere would have come from.  

Thick layers of rock hid hot magma that tried to force itself upwards, but wouldn't allow the magma to come through the land since there were no volcanoes.  It was forced together in giant underground domes.  Then the magma cooled into giant pockets of granite.  Eventually, the land around them has eroded and they now have these huge granite boulders called TORS - which is another term we don't use very often in the US. Here's the definition according to WIKIPEDIA: A tor is a large, free-standing residual mass (rock outcrop) that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, where the term originated, it is also a word used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

(a representation of the hot magma that created the TORS above)

There was so much more than about the rocks than I can post here, but needless to say, I understand how the UK has so many rocks and sources of it, but I still don't understand how that area has so much more of it than the US.  Makes me smile and intrigues me enough to keep researching. 

Ponies

Although ponies clearly are not made of stone, these are from the same region we've been discussing and because of their cuteness, have earned a spot in my blog :)

Still in Dartmoor - PONIES!  I have become completely fascinated with these ponies!  Dartmoor ponies are this amazing hardy breed due to the extreme conditions they have to endure on the moors.  They have excellent stamina and are considered work ponies.  They used to work in the mines and quarries in the 1930 and had numbers in excess of 25,000.  Now, they are mostly just used for keeping the moors grazed and the numbers are down to 1,000 or less.  They have small heads featuring wide set eyes and alert ears.  I'm including some pictures of these amazing creatures but what I cannot find is a picture of one of their tongues.  Looking at the vegetation in the area that they are grazing on, I can imagine they have a very thick, tough tongue.  If anyone has a picture - please send it to me at itsthewriter@gmail.com and I'll be sure to update this :)

 (Aren't they pretty?)

Till Next time... I think it's time to move a bit more East....

Love ~ Peace ~ Happiness

~*~ Marianne ~*~