More Old Direction Signs
In 2008 Ian Thompson, the Cornish representative of the Milestone Society, started restoring Cornwall's milestones. He is clearing growth, limewashing the stone and blacking the lettering. There are around 700 in all and he plans to restore 70 a year in a rolling programme. It has been a delight to see those that he has already restored, looking much as they would have looked more than 100 years ago.
Lanivet from Reperry
Lostwithiel 1776
At Treslea Down on Bodmin Moor
Cornish
Photographs
More in Miscellanea
More Thrussell and Thrussell - and even more Thrussell
Thrussell and Thrussell - and even more Thrussell
Old Direction Signs and Milestones
Signs and Milestones
Parson Hawker
Robert Stephen Hawker was a graduate of Oxford where he won the Newdigate Poetry Prize. Vicar of Morwenstow for 40 years from 1834, he was a colourful, independent, charitable man. His relaxations were the cliff-top and poetry. The two were combined in a driftwood shack he built into a cliff near his church. Known to all as Parson Hawker, his poetry brought fame. Best known is 'Song of the Western Men', and its oft-quoted line "And shall Trelawney die?" became a Cornish anthem. His other works include an Arthurian saga 'Quest of the Sangraal'. He is also credited with introducing Harvest Festival to Britain (although Thanksgiving had long existed in the USA). From the west side of the churchyard, climb a stone stile and cross a field. Turn left to a National Trust plaque directing you down steps to Hawker's Hut. Built into the cliff, its roof covered with turf, the shack commands views of Vicarage Cliff to the north and of vicious looking Higher Sharpnose Point to the south. Walk out to Higher Sharpnose and you will understand why the 'Caledonia' was wrecked here; this part of the North Cornwall coast is a treacherous as any you will find. It is also true to say that the Cornish Coast Path around here is as tough as anywhere in its 312 miles or so.