Chichester Interest Holidays and Accommodation in Cornwall

WELCOME TO NEWQUAY. I can't believe it is November 19th already. We really are retiring at the end of this financial year as we will both be 65 years old. It is time to have our own life. Despite just running the bed and breakfast side of our business we have been really busy. Yesterday Steve and I attended an archaeology symposium organised by the Cornwall Archaeological Society - there has been a dig down the end of Mount Wise at Tregunnel. The site is on the same ridge our house is. Mark Brett of Cotswold Archaeology talked about the site - really important with finds from the Early Neolithic up to a Romano British grave and medieval field use after that. It makes me wonder what is under our house. I have also found something to 'organise' instead of the guest house and our interest holidays - Newquay Old Cornwall Societ now has an archaeological group which I started up about two years ago. We keep an eye on local ancient monuments and clear them up when they get overgrown. I have the title of 'Warden of Local Ancient Monuments' for my sins...lots of jokes about me looking after old gentlemen.. I have also been doing a lot of local history research. Down on the River Gannel, Newquay side, along in the cliff face by Fern Pit - where you can get the ferry to Crantock are 4 sets of carvings where about 40 in total slate discs up to 20 inches in diameter have been removed. Newquay locals call them the 'Salt Pans'. They have been listed as prehistoric but I think they really date to the late 1800's. I was told they were carved out using a bucket for garden stepping stones! I decided to have a go myself with a bit of old slate a guest had left in our yard and a bean tin hence the photo above - I did discover that the Egyptians used copper cylinders to take cores of rock out of limestone when building ancient tombs so got the idea from that. Apart from the slate I used has the grain the wrong way from that on the Gannel I did manage to make a mini paving stone by rotating the bean tin on the slate until it cut through.

At one point I got a hammer out to speed the operation but went back to just turning my 'core cutter'. One bruised finger later and a messy kitchen table and I suceeded in my mission. Whether a bucket was used for the originals I cannot say - it would have been a very big bottomless bucket and would need handles either side to be able to turn it to cut into the slate. The slate dust formed on cutting into it binds and I had to keep rinsing my bit of rock. Steve and I also went down the Gannel to photograph the Salt Pans - this entails going to the other side of the Gannel and walking across the sand to the river running in front of the cliff where the carvings are and taking the picutres from there. Sometimes you can cross the river but not on the day we went. When the tide is in up the Gannel the sea covers the whole valley floor and stirs up the sand so in places it is a bit treacherous to stand on and Steve got one wellington booted foot stuck as we were walking over to the river. It took some time for us to pull his leg out and he moaned so much I thought of leaving him there!! I really enjoy research but it takes up a lot of time which is why I haven't done much to the 'Out and About' sections of this web site but I will eventually...promise.

Best Wishes, Sheila