Preaching Pits
Everyone knows about the famous preaching pit, Gwennap Pit at Busveal near St. Day. This was created from the circular hollow caused by a collapsed mine shaft and became famous when John Wesley preached there to thousands on eight occasions between 1762 and 1789. Not many know that there are three others (that I know of) in Cornwall, all of them in the general area between Newquay and St. Austell. I managed to visit all three on a day in early December 2017. It was a dull day so I hope to return in sun to get better photos. All three are impressive in their own ways. St. Newlyn East is on the western edge of that village, with a wrought iron entrance gate, a stone former tea hut, an informative storyboard and six rings of seating (or standing) with modern steps down. Indian Queens is the major site with car parking (signed only as "footpath to"), storyboard, six rings of seating and a "pulpit". Whitemoor, on the very edge of Clay Country, as you might guess from its name, is an oddity; here there are only quarter rings, five of them, with a large chapel occupying much of the rest of the site. There is one other similar structure, the concrete amphitheatre in Trebah Garden being inspired by the preaching pits.
Indian Queens Pit, pulpit on right
St. Newlyn East Pit with Tea Hut
Whitemoor Pit, just a quarter circle
Photographs
More in Miscellanea
Retallack
In late May 2016 we decided to have a look at, and try a meal at, the Pickwick Inn near St. Issey above the Camel Estuary upstream from Padstow. Just before noon we were greeted by a grumpy lady, mop and bucket in hand. We beat a hasty retreat and headed for Retallack Resort, just off the A39 at the Wynards Perch roundabout. This has changed radically since it was the American Wild West Theme Park, a slightly tawdry attraction. There is a lake with a wakeboarding set-up, entertaining but, compared with that at Sibleyback Lakenear Minions, quite unsophisticated. A snack-shack stands by the lake. More sophisticated is the restaurant and bar overlooking the Flow Rider (pictured left). The Flow Rider is an entertaining way of surfing without going anywhere. The rider stands on a simple board and rides the flow of water running fast up a slope. We enjoyed coffee in the restaurant, watching the activity on the Flow Rider. We haven't looked at the accommodation but, if Retallack's web site is to be believed, it appears to be of a high standard, with a variety of lodges available to purchase or for holiday rental. Retallack is owned by Galliard Homes who apparently plan much further development.
Richard Trevithick
Trevithick
Serpentine - The Lizard's Unique (to England) and Colourful Rock
To give it its full geological name, serpentinised mantle peridodites is found nowhere else in England, only on the east coast of the far-flung Lizard Peninsula between Landewadnack Church Cove and Coverack. It really shouldn't be here at all as it's part of the earth's mantle and ought to be some 10 miles below the surface. Be that as it may, it was once the source of a major Cornish industry and still flourishes on a small scale. It was a visit to Cornwall in 1846 by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert that started the craze for Serpentine. The dark green rock, with its blue and red veins, polishes like marble to a wonderful deep sheen. It was much used for architectural and decorative features and for monumental masonry. Sadly, it does not weather well and those uses have died out. However, it is still worked for small decorative objects - a favourite is the miniature lighthouse; half the shops in Lizard Town stock them. The biggest Serpentine Works was in Carleon Cove just below Poltesco. The old pilchard cellars there were extended and converted for the purpose. What remains now is a warehouse and the round pilchard boat capstan house. It is a charming and tranquil cove accessible only from Poltesco or from the coast path north of Cadgwith. Rocks on the beach are massive.