Cornwall

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I took an overnight train to the small town of Penzance, Cornwall, in the far west corner of England. The overnight journey was far cheaper than day travel but made for a long, frigid night waiting for multiple transfers in unheated rail stations. But I arrived to more spectacular, sunny, but unusual weather for this time of year. The next farmstay I'd arranged was about 15 minutes north of Penzance. An older couple, Fred and Nell Mustill, own the farm which consists of several acres of land (some of which they rent to local cattle owners for grazing), a small organic veg garden, some managed woodlands, a stone farmhouse, an attached apartment in back where I stayed (by far the nicest WWOOF accomodations I've had!), and a workshop/shed. On the property were also some ancient stone circle ruins dating to the Iron Age. Many of these type of ruins, some of which would have been roundhouse foundations, dot the local landscape. Fred had recreated a hypothetical roundhouse by hand which along with the ruins were made available for school groups and others to come and see. I'd chosen this farm again hoping to get some building experience. I spent a few days helping Fred re-roof the tractor shed, but the rest of my time was spent doing basic "grounds" work; tree cutting, weed-wacking, and hauling piles of debris in the farm truck, an old rusted out 4WD Toyota Hilux (sweet!). I also did some work in the garden like harvesting a huge crop of Jerusalem Artichokes.

The peninsular sliver of land around Penzance is only about 10 miles across, and from their property, one can see the English Channel to the south and the Atlantic to the north. The coast here is wild and beautiful. I explored a lot of it on walks, runs, and bike rides, and I also discovered a few of the great surf spots in the area. The evening session I had at Gwynver Beach was pretty unforgettable; good size swell, offshore winds, a few guys out, crystal clear water, sun setting over an offshore lighthouse - doesn't get much better than that! Ben arrived during the week to stay at another farm about five miles away. We surfed together one day, and it was fun hanging out with him a few other times, going for bike rides, and catching up on our respective adventures over the past month.

Of all the farms I've visited, the Mustills probably live the least sustainably. Not bad at all - just doing things like driving into town for breakfast when they don't feel like cooking. That being said, they are quite forward thinking in a lot of ways too. They'd lived at the farm for over 30 years and in that time, grown the acres of forest that now exist - pine, coppice trees, and a large, young stand of oaks. Fred was interesting to work with - a real guy's guy - a bit rough around the edges, but really bright too. I learned a lot from him about British history as well as the Cornish heritage which people from Cornwall are very proud of - they practically consider themselves a different country from England. It was once a major mining center and ruins of the stone buildings housing the huge steam engines used in the mining process are scattered about. Some of the local traditions include building "Cornish Hedges," basically stone walls with dirt centers which are lined with grass, bushes, or trees, and used to mark property boundaries or fence animals; and eating Cornish "pasties," pita-like pastries with diced meat and vegetables sealed inside which the miners used to take for lunch because of their compact shape. Nell made me one for lunch one day, and it was great - they definitely beat meat pies!

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Photos

Fred's Roundhouse
He cut all the reeds for the roof by hand! He said they completed the whole project in one summer.

Surfers in St. Ives
We were so jealous when we happened upon this surf spot without our boards!