Breage & Sithney
I visited Breage, on the Marazion and Penzance road beyond Helston, in mid-May 2017. My purpose was to add to my collection of Cornish Crosses by finding the one in Breage. As it turned out, the first one I found wasn't in Breage at all but on the Helston to Marazion road, on the corner of a lane heading for Trevena, opposite the car park of a garden centre. Having photographed the cross, I continued on to Breage village where there was indeed a Cornish Cross in the churchyard, near the porch. The church its, as so often in Cornwall, stands on a high mound, suggesting an older pre-Christian site. On Shute Hill, leading up to the church, there are attractive cottages; beyond the church is the Queens Arms Inn. The church itself consists of nave, two aisles and a three-stage tower. The lych gate opposite the pub lacks roof and coffin rest but does have a coffen stile. Inside, the nave is impressive and the chancel is approached beneath an elaborate rood screen, complete with rood, beyond it an elaborate reredos. On north and south walls is a fine collection of frescoes, wall-paintings, unusual for Cornwall, and an inscribed "Roman" stone stands in a corner of the south aisle. A carved stone, possibly part of a headstone, with a Christ figure, flanked by two others, stands beneath a window.
Breage is off A394 Helston to Penzance road
Breage Church
More in Towns & Villages
Bude - a once run-down town which gets steadily better and better
Our original 2003 report - but please read also the 2009 update box below
Callestick
During a walk in November 2007 from Zelah to Chiverton Cross, as part of the Land's End Trail, I passed through a lot of places with the Callestick (or Callestock) name. Originally they would all have been the Callestoc recorded in Domesday Book. I counted Little Callestock, Callestick, Old Callestick Mine and Callestock Veor (Great) plus Callestick Vean (Little) which wasn't on my route. The present village of Callestick, the largest of the settlements, was presumably originally Callestock Veor. It is an attractive place in more senses than one. A handsome Georgian farmhouse, beautifully presented cottages, a former Methodist chapel converted to a home, a well kept Methodist graveyard, a small maker of quality ice cream and the Cornish Cyder Farm. I stopped at the latter for a coffee and cake when on the Land's End Trail in 2007. In September 2008 I was again walking the Land's End Trail - this time west to east - with my friend and neighbour Richard. It was a warm day and, feeling in need of refreshment, we stopped at Callestick Farm for a first-class ice cream. They also do bacon baps and cream teas. They are open all year (though in winter just Wed to Sat). I used to recommend Callestick Farm - until Jane and I were short-changed on a cream tea.
Callington
I was in Callington on a mid October 2016 day when I also looked at Merrymeet, St. Ive Churchtown, West Harrowbarrow and Dupath Holy Well. It is a very ordinary small town with a populatrion of around 5,000. I had hoped to see inside St. Mary's Church, fairly impressive from the outside, but it was locked so I had to content myself with views of a much-weathered lantern cross and the adjacent clink, once the town lock-up, now home to a small business. Opposite the church a lane leads to the Pannier Market. In Well Street s the old Pipe Well, once the town's water supply. The town holds a Honey Fair on the first Wednesday of October; it is a major street fair but I haven't been able to discover its origins. The two most noticeable features of Callington are the occasional view north to Kit Hill and a series of murals, three of which are seen below. The town hall has a mural trail leaflet.