A photo reveal will give you some idea of the path the SconeLady took, today. It was grey above me, but green below me and I found it quite nice, all things considered. Trekking up the hill to Carbis Bay I saw a phalanx of vehicles descending into the already crowded lanes of St Ives. But I knew something those cars did not: all of the car parks there were already FULL, and had signs suggesting another car park, which the cars then (I'm sure) drove hopefully toward, only to find the FULL sign up again. I continued walking.
It was then that I was met by the phalanx of pedestrians puffing their way down toward St Ives, grasping food, drinks, beach chairs, sun hats, prams, children, babies, sunscreen, and plastic beach toys. Once again, I knew something they did not: the beaches were already FULL! But why rain on anybody's parade? I was getting out of there, and that was just fine by me.
Coming up over the hill and into the smaller town of Carbis Bay, I found almost instant sanity; normal people, normal cars, normal prams with mothers heading toward Tesco, for normal groceries. I could see the waters of the magnificent bay below me, and how unpopulated that beach seemed to be. There were people there, but only a fraction of those currently tanning on the beaches of St Ives. St Ives sun-bathers are different from the Carbis Bay variety. They are much more agitated, which could be because it is hard to relax in a crowd where anything might happen. I turned left onto Church Lane where there were cows passively ruminating on their day, and a large bull was standing by. I decided to move on.
And there were the golf links of the West Cornwall Golf Club! Did you know, dear Readers, that golf links are terrifically hard to play golf on? I know this, because my Brotherly Traveler had invited me to be his caddy there - and although we started strong, we soon lost all sense of direction along with a number of our golf balls. In the end, he finished the round with a beautiful putt, and we went inside for a cream tea. It was lovely.Having now finished the 8 1/2 mile walk/hike/wander, I came back to the hustle and bustle of summer in St Ives, and was surprised to find that I had missed it. Sure, it is crowded here right now but I know what it really is beneath all the tourists. Their time is running out, and mine isn't. I can wait.
See you along the way!
the SconeLady
Oh Chris, I remember it so well!!! We must have missed at least six holes right in the middle of that links course! We called it 'The Burmuda Triangle' because everything wet strange...I couldn't figure out my directions when we entered that part of the course. So, we navigated to the outer ring of links, away from a few other golfers who were working their way through those inner links, and we had a glorious FINISH...winning a 'par' on the last hole as I recall!? And you were a great caddy, with your electric club carrier...that seemed to have its own mind at times! Well, I'm going golfing in King City Oregon USA today, but I'll have you and the "West Cornwall Golf Club" close to my heart.
ReplyDeleteAnd I remember how, as we walked back from Lelant and Carbis Bay, you took Lawrence, Isaac, and I to this same church... where there was a sign in the cemetery/church yard instructing golfers not to play any ball that had landed inside the sacred ground. And then, as we continued toward St. Ives, we got lost between the links! Up drove a firm faced gentleman in a golf cart and he scurried us off in the right direction. Evidently injury was mere moments away. Whew!
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