Cornwall

A great day for me, some people may not like it though. The drive down from Bristol to Cornwall was much longer than expected but it was enjoyable – no traffic and great scenery through Dartmoor and then right on down almost as far south and west as you can go in England. Rather than going to Land’s End which is just a tourist trap with not much to see a friend had recommended I try out the Minack Open Air Theatre and I am so glad I did. It’s built into the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, I don’t think you will find a more dramatic backdrop for a theatre in the world. There was no actual performance today but rehearsals for Iolanthe were going on so we got to sit and listen for a while. While the rest of the country sound slike it was covered in cloud Cornwall seems to have escaped for the most part so once again the only reason to move on was sunburn.

The driving continued to another unique venue… the Eden Project. Again the photos are pretty amazing. It is two “biodomes” built in an old clay mine and just looks so alien. Quite astounding. Each of the domes contains a habitat, one is tropical jungle and is just staggeringly hot and humid, the other a more temperate Californian climate. The whole thing does teeter on the edge of going a bit “wierd-beard” on you but they just manage to get away from ramming eco-warrior ideas down your throat. Even if you don’t like the plants (which anyone who knows me can attest to) it’s worth a visit just for the architecture and engineering. I found I was just wandering around looking at how the whole thing was put together.

A cracking day.