Day 13: Ancestral manouvres in the dark

We're still in St Austells, Cornwall, and this morning we took advantage of our proximity to McDonalds to have a hearty breakfast. Tempting as it was to have six cheesy bacon cheesy wraps with cheese, like other customers, we confined ourselves to a modest bagel each with jam and coffee.  Then we packed up our soiled bras and girdles and headed to a laundromat.  Washing done, we could resume our exploration!

First port of call was Wadebridge (about 30 kms away from St Austell) and birthplace of my ancestor Joseph Julian.  It's quite a big town but doesn't have much in the way of attractions - the bridge over the quaintly named river (the Camel) seems to be about it.  No wonder Joseph packed his port and moved to Cardiff in 1860.  We found the nearby hamlet of St Breock, and more specifically its church, rather more charming. 

I assume this is where the ancestors went to church, as St Breock gets a mention in some of the 1840s and 1850s census documentation I have seen.  It's surrounded by tombstones and I was lucky enough to find one of someone who I'm pretty sure would have been a great great  great uncle:

The other interesting thing we found in St Breock, and which we have seen all over the southern part of the UK, is masses of crows' nests all lobbed in together, with the crows squarking and squabbling among themselves about the lack of elbow room.  There are actually lots more nests in the lower branches in this pic below than can be seen.

  

 After all this excitement (and a very cheesy, pretty ordinary lunch in Wadebridge) we headed 15 kms north to Port Isaac where the TV series Doc Martin is filmed.  It's a delightful village and is just like it appears in the TV show. (Fancy that!) 

I imagine Port Isaac (Port Wenn in the show) would be horribly crowded with tourists during the summer months, but was quite bearable today with only a handful, including us. 

 The weather was horrible, so this pic isn't very postcardy, but that's Doc Martin's house in the dead centre.  We resisted the urge to walk up there, as it must be a major embuggerance for the residents to have great hordes of tourists peering in windows and snapping photographs out the front.    

As we were on our way back up the hill to the carpark we spotted this sign in a shop window, seeking people to appear as extras in the next series of Doc Martin which starts filming on 25 March.   Prospective extras, anxious to see themselves on the telly, were asked to come a community hall next Saturday so they could be assessed for suitability.  I'm sure the show's producers won't be short of takers!







Leaving Port Isaac, we were still quite stuffed from our cheesy cheese lunch with cheese at Wadebridge but when I spotted a Cornish pasty shop, I insisted on buying one and sharing it with Geoffy.  What a disappointment. Tasteless filling and dry, heavy pastry. The nicest bit was the tomato sauce on the top. But at least I can say I've had a genuine Cornish pasty even if I intend never having one again.

Next we were off to Tintagel and the famous castle ruins, purported to be the birth place of the legendary King Arthur.  Yawn!  A very tizzy village with every second business capitalising on the Arthurian legend and selling plastic swords, heaps of Merlin tea shops etc etc.  It's quite a hike to the ruins and they are impressive but the clifftop is dominated by a huge ugly hotel built to look like a castle - God it was tacky and I have to say diminished the impact of the actual ruins.  Very sad.

     
And another thing about Tintagel - we saw a bakery flogging pasties that were so big and heavy- looking they seemed like doorstops. They certainly did not look appetising.  The whole village could do with some lessons in taste and modest understatement!

Tomorrow: Somerset!  Geoffy is gaggin' for some coider!