(Cornwall Day 16) Godrevey Lighthouse

 Godrevey Light House, today

There are so many fun and interesting things we have been doing, that I don't really know what to tell you first. One item that stands out because it permeates everything else, is being able to walk within feet of the magnificent Celtic Sea. We do this every day, for hours. Whenever I leave Cornwall, it is this sea that I will miss the most. 

Today's walking took us near to the Godrevey Lighthouse. You can almost always see it floating out there in St Ives Bay, and what a splendid lighthouse it is, too. Seeing it in the bay makes you want to see it in person. We found out ages ago that a person cannot actually go out to it because it is on an island, and therefore you have to ride in a boat to get there (This would not be fun, though. The crashing waves would almost certainly deprive you of at least some of your parts).

A bus clerk told us how to reach the lighthouse by hopping on an open top bus from St Ives to Gwithian (isn't 'Gwithian' the sweetest name for a Cornish village?). We liked the idea of this, but open top buses here can be adventuresome. You feel as if you are flying low-level in a very slow airplane, with things like tree branches and sometimes telephone poles scraping the sides of the bus (well, maybe not telephone poles..). And you are just inches from it all.

The traveling took an hour each way, so we got a ton of talking done there and back. If Ted had been with us, he would have said we were "gassing". That is what he calls it when he can't get in a word edgewise.

Stepping from the bus, we turned and were met by the lovely St Gothians Church:

All the churches we see in Cornwall are spectacular, and this one instantly became one of my favorites. The beams in the ceiling! The pews! The tapestried kneelers made by wonderful women with servant's hearts! The gentle welcome we saw everywhere, which showed they wanted us there, sight unseen. It is open "24/7".

Pew kneelers

Well marked signs showed us the direction of Godrevey, and when we finally saw it looming above the waves, the three of us stood and stared while munching our Cornish pasties. The thing was sensational, its stark whiteness calling attention to itself day in and day out; the green green grasses surrounding it; the outbuildings crowding cozily around its base; the granite boulders waiting for an unwelcome fool to try and gain access.

The wind became 'fresh', giving the SconeLady a rather scarecrow-ish look. I wondered why my companions never seemed to look like scarecrows, and then realized that some things are just never going to be fair. 

"What is that bird there, Rosie?" asked Em.

"Which bird?"

"That one.."

These two sweet sisters are excited about birds and flowers, and lovely nature in general. No one asked me what the name of the bird was, because they (politely) knew I WOULD NEVER KNOW IT. I'd missed out on that particular gene. 

In a while, a group of large gray birds floated towards us, two grown ones in the lead, and 4 babies. I perked up. They looked familiar. They looked rather goosy, in fact. Goosy...goose...

"Canadian Geese!" I said. "Those birds are Canadian Geese!" 

Smiles all around. Maybe I still have a bird gene in there, somewhere.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

Cornish pasties along the way