Anniversary Run to Lands End

We awoke to a blue sky and the promise of a warm sunny day for the Anniversary Drive to Lands End.

We drove down to Treasure Park, near Portreath to await the convoy coming from up country to join us, and as the car park filled with one MX-5 after another, we snapped away with our cameras.

In the meantime, a friend from work, who is a semi-professional photographer, was clicking away with his 'real' camera. Szymon had agreed to follow us for the day and take pictures of us all at Lands End, and en-route if at all possible.
By the time the other cars arrived from the Liskeard and Fraddon convoys arrived, we had 40 cars. The question then became, do we have to travel with our lights on as we were a convoy of more than 25 cars?
To be on the safe side, most of us abided by the rules, and we all headed off on the 25 or so miles to Lands End, with Symon bringing up the rear to get any shots he could.

We stopped briefly for the rear of the convoy (20 or so cars, us included) that took a wrong turn and had to find the front group once more, to catch up.

Then it was Lands End all the way. Symon was left taking pictures of everyones cars in the enclosure that had been provided especially for our group, and we headed on down to the restaurant for the meal that we had booked.

Having eaten, we then enjoyed a cake cutting for the anniversary cake that was made especially for the day.

Having eaten, we headed off the the signpost where two of the cars were positioned an posed for our group picture.

Szymon and Barbara were being very patient, and getting plenty of wonderful shots for us, and we were thrilled when were were one of the chosen group to be able to take our car right onto Lands End for pictures.

We had a fantastic day, and some wonderful pictures were taken by Szymon, and placed onto a website especially for us, so that we could purchase the ones we liked. You can have a look on the following website here : http://www.szymon-dereg.com/Cornish5s/?forumid=163967

Venue and Accomodation Hunting

I have two days holiday booked, on a use them or loose them basis, and they have come in very handy.

Without going into detail, as it's all very hush, hush at present, I have been roped in to help a committee find a venue, entertainment and accommodation for a Dinner Dance for 100 people in 2012

I spend all day yesterday on the Internet, making telephone calls and doing costings. Eliminating some venues, adding others to the mix, and arranging appointments for today to visit and meet with the short listed possibles

I picked Sally-Ann up very early, and we headed off for the first appointment..... No I can't tell you where, or what for! This makes my post quite difficult to write LOL

Our first 3 stops were to look at accommodation in the form of camp sites and chalets, and also a barn conversion for the possible Dinner Dance

The camp site was fab! They have done the sort of thing we are needing before, and can accommodate a LOT of people and tents.

Next was the barn conversion - Oh dear! Very basic! Not to the standard we were expecting or wanted and an instant No!

Then onto the chalet/cottages. The people who ran this place were fantastic, and handed over the keys for an empty unit, and just left us to our own devices to explore and establish how appropriate it would be.

With 120 units, that hold between 2 and 6 people in each, we could fill the place without trouble.... did I mention that there would be possibly 1500 people minimum involved the day after the dinner dance!

Superb - not yet midday, and we have the camp site and chalets sorted already!

Our next destination was about 20 minutes away so we headed off, with the sun shining on our heads, and it was now warm enough for the lid to be down on the car, the blue skies sent our spirits soaring....

We had a very productive meeting at our favoured venue, and were able to talk menu's and seating arrangements. Now it was a case of going back to the committee and offering them a proposal for the evening and weekend as we saw it.

Before leaving the area we visited a local hotel, on spec, and had a show around and were able to see bedrooms to establish if we could also offer this as accommodation for an alternative.

I finally dropped Sally-Ann home just before 5pm, and despite the long day of meetings and driving, we were very happy with the outcome, and very excited with what we had arrived at.... fingers crossed that it would be approved of.....

More cryptic posts to come no doubt...

Restful Restormel

It's the AGM for the MX-5 Owners Club today. Everyone is going for a convoy drive and then stopping at the Jubilee Inn, Pelynt for Sunday Lunch, followed by the AGM in the garden at the rear of the Inn.

As Mike has not long had his eye surgery, and is still bothered by the sun, he did not want to risk doing the club run, but suggested a gentle drive up towards Lostwithiel, and a wander and picnic at Restormel Castle.

My dilemma? Paul had already arranged to go to watch a hill climb up at St Austell, and as this one has not taken place for the last two years, did not want to miss it.

For those of you that know me, you will be aware that I am not at all confident driving any distance, ever since a car side swiped us about 11 years ago. Travelling in a car is a very real fear for me, and I constantly send my poor husband do-lally with my screeches and cries whilst I am a passenger.

I declined the offer to join Mike and Sally-Ann, despite having wanted to go to Restormel for some time.

After a day of searching for craft stuff (for a secret project, that I can only tell you about once I have permission!) I decided that I really did not want to miss out on this opportunity, and in a moment of bravery, I texted Sally-Ann and said I would meet them the following morning at our usual spot, and follow them up country. OMG! Panic!

We got up early and when I came down from my shower, found that Paul had made me a lovely picnic to take with me. All I had to do now was to calm down and do the drive!

I met the others at North Country, and Sally-Ann reassured me by saying we would be driving all of the roads that I was very familiar with, if only as a passenger, so there should be no surprises for me.

And off we went....

... and as you can see from the piccies, I did it! I was so very proud of myself. I know that an hours drive up the road is nothing to any 'normal' person, but this was a huge, huge achievement for me, and I am so glad that I went.

The Castle is set up high, in beautiful Cornish countryside, and the whole place has a fantastic and calming atmosphere about it.

Sometime when you go to these sort of places, you can almost feel the fear of battle or tears of heartache that are held within the walls of the building, but this place is totally different.

The skies were a glorious blue, and the whole drive up was done with the lids down on our little sports cars, making the trip even more wonderful.

Having walked the upper walls and looked in on the rooms from above, we wandered back over the dry moat and sat at a picnic table to eat our lunch.

It was then time to look once more inside before a wander around the external walls of the Castle and some more pictures of this beautiful place.

From here we headed over to Pelynt for the AGM, and then back home.

I am so thrilled that I plucked up the courage to do this, and thoroughly enjoyed my day. I just hope that I can get the nerve up again soon to do something else, and keep the momentum going.

Thanks for inviting me to join you Sally-Ann and Mike.xx

Visiting Our Cornish Mining Heritage

The weather was glorious when we awoke, and we did not want the day to pass without doing something nice, for as little money as possible.

As we have 12 month passes for the National Trust, I checked out their website for some ideas, and having decided on Levant Mine at St Just, not far from the Lizard, and Cape Cornwall, we packed up a picnic and piled into the MX-5.

The lid down and Fred attached to the seat belt with his car harness on Paul's lap, we headed off down country with the sun beating down on us.

Yes, I did drive all the way! I was feeling very brave today! LOL!

We arrived and were advised that the whole of the mining heritage site was dog friendly and that Fred was welcome anywhere we wanted to go.... so many new sniffs for him, he was in his element!

The first building took us into a room with a mine shaft that went down, and down, and down....

the next room was a video DVD room with info on the site and its full history, as the film was already running, we took advantage of a huge table outside, and ate out picnic... we could go in once the film restarted.... unfortunately we had finished our tiger baps, fruit and crisps and the film was still playing, so we carried on to the next building with the intention of coming back later.

This really is the most breath taking place. The sun was shining and the sky and sea the most glorious blues, but we could imagine that the treacherous rocks and weather renowned for in this part of the world would make this quite an open and hostile environment in the winter time.

Having wandered around the main building, we headed out away from the steam engine and primary site, and walked back up the coast path, in the direction of the Pendeen Lighthouse, as there were more outbuilding to be looked at, and arsenic piles/slag heaps to be inspected.... all by products of the mining that took place here.

As we came to the last of the out building and relics, we could see the Geevor mine in the distance, and as it was only about a quarter of a mile away, decided to walk up to it and get a drink in their cafe before heading back to the final building at Levant.

By the time we had climbed (or crawled and puffed in my case) up the hill towards Geevor and this water wheel, both Fred and I were ready to collapse from heat exhaustion and dehydration!

Fred downed a complete bowl of his water, that thankfully we had left in the picnic bag that Paul was carrying.

I was able to sit at a picnic table in front of the above buildings, and down a large glass of fizzy pop, whilst Paul was very grown up with his cup of coffee..... Coffee in heat like this!!!!

The walk back from Geevor to Levant was a little easier, as it took a slightly higher coast path, that wasn't so hilly.

It bought us out just by the area where the car parks were, and we were able to then access the underground mine that was open to visitors.

It was wonderfully cool inside the granite walls, and as we followed the path down the tunnel, Fred panted away, appreciating the drop in temperature.

The little cubicles in the wall that you can see, were to house the miners helmets!

When we had finished looked around, we climbed back into the '5' and drove over the Pendeen Lighthouse, that we had been able to see from the mines.

We parked up and walked down to the Lighthouse, and, having set the camera on auto timer, and propped in precariously on a fence post, I managed to get a family picture of our day out.

Before heading back home, we bought an obligatory ice cream with chocolate flake and relaxed whilst taking in the beautiful view.

What a fantastic day! The journey home was just as good, this time with Paul driving, and we did the coast road all the way home, coming through St Ives, Carbis Bay, and Hayle before driving our favourite coast road from Hayle to Portreath.

We finished the day off by raiding out little red purse, or kitty as we like to call her, for some entertainment funds.

The day was finished off with a meal at the Portreath Arms, the only part of the day that cost us any money, other than the £2.50 for the ice cream, earlier in the afternoon.

Fantastic!

Wheels Of Wadebridge Car Show

We last saw our MX-5 mates back in May when we attended Sharon and Mikes Ruby Wedding Anniversary, so we were really looking forward to attending this car show.

I had checked the weather forecast for Wadebridge, and it did not look at all good for the day.

We headed up to the A30, and by the time we had fallen into convoy with Sally-Ann and Mike, and got a couple of miles up the road, the heaven's had opened.

Six or seven couples met up at the sports centre in Wadebridge so that we could enter the Showground together and make our way to the exhibitors spot set aside for our club, and a couple more cars joined us a short while later.

The MX-5 Cornwall flag got put up, but unfortunately it was so windy, we did not dare to erect the exhibition tent, for fear it would fly away!

Paul put the kettle on, and we settled down for a long and wet day

between showers we managed to get down to each stand and check out what was on offer, also managing to look at the steam engines and sales stands

Suddenly the clouds parted, the rain stopped and it got warmer. Although the wind kept up enough for us to want to use a brolly as a breaker, we were all able to get out our chairs and eat our picnics!

The place got very busy

and after more mooching around to see what was on offer, we returned to enjoy the company of our friends

It was soon time to head back home, and the sun shone down on us as we headed back down the A30, and homeward bound once more.

The Big Valet Job

It seems that lately, the only time my little 5 gets some TLC, is when there is a club event on that we are able to attend.

As tomorrow is an arena event, with full club stand and touting for new members so to speak, he wanted my little Betty Blue to gleam and sparkle with the joy of being there.

having washed her, he then clay barred her, and then finally polished and carnuba waxed her.

The wheels were polished and the tyres blacked, and you could see your face in her paintwork.

Role on Wheels of Wadebridge, Betty is ready for her close up!

Sunday Run

For the first time in a long time, we decided to join a 5 drive as there was a run in our local area with the MX-5 owners club.

We all met up at the Gold Centre, Treasure Park, in Portreath, and headed off up the coast road toward Hayle

and onwards, we made a loo stop in Marazion, overlooking St Michaels Mount, and took the chance of another chat and some photo's

and then it was on once more, through Penzance, and up to Zennor, finally stopping at the Tyringham Arms for lunch.

We had decided that we would only stay with the drive until lunchtime, to keep the cost of the fuel down, and so, along with Sally~Ann and Mike, headed back up the coast road towards Godrevy.

On arrival we finally found a couple of parking spots on the National Trust land and set our camp chairs up for a mini picnic of sandwiches and fruit, before heading our separate ways home, and back to let our dogs out for a wander in their gardens.

It was a lovely day, made even better by the glorious sunshine.

BBQ Night

Every other month the Cornish Fives (MX-5 Owners Club) meet at the Hawkins Arms in Zelah, for a catch up and an exchange of knowledge and info about our cars, and occasionally have a quiz night.

This month Peter and Rhona offered to have a BBQ at their home, near Truro. All we had to do was bring our own meat!

As I knew pretty much where we were going, we arranged to meet Sally-Ann and Mike in the normal place.

While we waited for them to arrive (we got there far to early) we watched a couple on horse back enjoy the lovely sunny evening.

The others arrived and we headed off up the by-pass with them in close succession.

Upon arrival, we got our burgers on the Barbi, and settled down with our drinkie poos (I wasn't driving!) and watched the men at work....

Poor Peter - I don't think he wanted his piccie taken LOL!

The evening drew on, and we filled our bellies, and had plenty of laughs

and yes.... That is me on the picture below with Gin bottle in hand.... It was only my second one of the night HONEST!

We had a wonderful evening, it made a great change to the pub night (which Paul goes to alone as I normally don't bother to attend!)

It made us realise how little we have been able to do with the club this year, especially if you look back over the past couple of years of blogging that I have done. What with Paul having short hours at work, and all of the DIY projects still being tackled, it will be a little while yet before we can do our next Sunday club drive, but I know that we shall look forward to it, whenever it may end up being.