Grampound
In early June 2016 I visited Creed Church, where my father's cousin Bertie - the Rev. Albert Edward Coulbeck - was rector for three years from 1947 before he moved to St. Just in Roseland. Creed is down a narrow country lane, a mile south of Grampound, so after looking around the church, I carried on to Grampound and parked by the Village Hall. I walked up one side of the long hill that is Grampound's Fore Street and back down the other, stopping for an excellent light lunch and coffee in the St. Austell Brewery's Dolphin Inn. A pleasant pub, with car park behind, with something of a gastro-menu but enough ordinary fare to appeal to me. I enjoyed an excellent, reasonably priced bacon butty. The name of the village is thought to derive from the Norman French Grand Pont, the great bridge over the little River Fal at the bottom end of the village. Grampound appears larger than its population of around 700 would suggest but, then, it is not much more than a one street village, climbing a moderate hill up from the river. For a village which lines a busy main road - the A390 from Truro to St. Austell - it is surprisingly attractive, filled with what appear to be 18th century houses and cottages but are probabaly, like the thatched Manor House, far older. But it can't be a lot of fun living on such a busy road. Grampound Revisited
Car parking by village hall, village shop and caf�
Grampound's clock tower and tiny church.
I was back in Grampound at the very end of September 2018, puspose to take a look at the former Grampound Mill. I parked in the public car park at the bottom of the village, crossed the road and headed up Mill Lane, an attractive residential street, parallel to, but unfortunately out of sight of, the little River Fal. At the end of the lane. after just under half-a-mile, the lane comes to a dead end at the former Town Mills. Unfortunately there is no access, the site being very securely gated so, for a description, I rely on its British Listed Buildings description. The mill is mid-19th century with later additions. It appears to be largely intact with several ancillary buildings in its compound. What you see in front of you, as you look through the gate, is the original building, with its hoist dormer still in place. Apparently the overshot waterwheel is still in place at the far end of the building but it is not visible. As a listed building, one of great importance to the village, it is a great shame that nothing appears to have been done to restore it, perhaps as a visitor attraction.
Abandoned Cottage near Grampound Mill
Grampound Mill - also abandoned
Photographs
More in Towns & Villages
Gulval
On New Year's Eve 2016 I headed down west to visit All Saints Church in Marazion to see an exhibition of works by a local artist - no sign of it. I didn't think much of the church either though I was impressed by a large collection of embroidered kneelers. I walked around Marazion and was tickled to see that three successive photos were all of buildings or shops with colours in their names - In the Pink, Out of the Blue and Silvermine! From there I went on to Gulval, an attractive late Victorian dormitory suburb of Penzance. I was there for the much older church of St. Gulval. It has an attractive painted chancel ceiling, two unusual reredos, a nicely carved wooden screen, a marble lectern, a carved pulpit on a marble plinth, and good memorials to members of the locsal Bolitho family. The particular interest to me, however was outside by the porch: an ancient Cornish Cross head and an inscribed stone. I wouild have liked to try the Coldstreamer Inn, named for a member of the Bolitho family killed serving in the Coldstream Guards, where Tom Franklin Pryce, formerly of Porthminster Beach Caf�, is a renowned chef, but time was pressing as I wanted to get on to Ludgvan.where the church has an attractive font and a wooden ceiling with carved bosses. In the churchyard are two Cornish Crosses. Adjacent is the simple but good White Hart Inn where I enjoyed a quiet coffee.
Gunnislake and Drakewalls
I was in these two villages, shortly before Christmas 2018, only by accident. My intention had been to visit the National Trust's Cotehele for the Christmas Garland and for the Chapel, favourably described by Pevsner. However, the queue for the Garland was 100 strong and not moving and the Chapel was firmly locked. So, I decided to take a look at St. Anne's Church in nearby Gunnislake. Frustrated again; this, too, was firmly locked. A pity because, to judge by Pevsner's description, St. Anne's is a good example of the work of of Victorian Cornish architect J P St. Aubyn. I had to make do with photos of the impressive exterior and the sight of three good examples of St. Aubyn's trademark boot-scraper. From the outside, the church is impressive, seeming to tower over you. There is a small tower at the north-east corner, by the road. The bell tower, at the north-west corner, has a circular stair turret. Slightly surprisingly there is a railway station, linking Gunislake, by the Tamar Valley branch line, with Plymouth, passing through the Bere peninsula and crossing the historic Calstock viaduct. Bealswood Road in Gunnislake leads towards the River Tamar where it meets the southern end of the Tamar Manure (really) Navigation Canal, constructed in the early 19th century as part of a plan, which never came to fruition, to link the Bristol Channel at Bude with the English Channel. Disused locks and a lock keepers cottage still stand. Drakewalls is the western continuation of Gunnislake. Just south of the main road through is the new Tamar Valley Centre, a modern building but of traditional local materials, acting as an information and research centre. To its north-east and south-east are remains of Drakewalls Mine, chimneys and parts of engine houses still standing. The mine produced tin, copper and arsenic there was also some lead, silver, wolfram and molybdenum mined.
Gunwalloe and Church Cove
I had an outing down west in mid-February 2017, primarily to visit Mullion but also to re-visit delightful Gunwalloe Church Cove on the west side of the Lizard peninsula, not to be confused with equally charming Landewednack Church Cove on the east coast of the Lizard. There is some name confusion here, too, as both are named for St. Winwaloe, also know as Wednack and commemorated elsewhere too: at Towednack near St. Ives and at Poundstock near Bude. I was last in Church Cove in 2010 in the course of walking the whole of the Cornish Coast Path. Things have changed a bit; there is now a large National Trust Car Park with space for 100 cars and, linked to that, the Cove is much busier than I remember it, even in February. Not surprising, with a sandy beach, all that parking and, in season, refreshments. Between the car park and the Cove is Winianton Farm, National Trust property but farmed by Roddas, famed for their clotted cream. On this occasion I also looked around Gunwalloe village, a most attractive and surprising place in that half the cottages are thatched, including Toy Cottage (pictured left) where Compton MacKenzie, author of Whisky Galore, lived in 1908. A mile or so north of Church Cove is Gunwalloe Fishing Cove, where the catch was hauled up to the pilchard cellars on the top of the cliff by winch, recently enough for one winch to have been petrol driven. At Chyanvounder, just south of Gunwalloe village is the Halzephron Inn, a bit gastro-pub for my tastes but not unreasonably priced.