Belated Ruby Birthday Celebrations

After having my big Ruby birthday back in July, we finally got to celebrate it as a family this autumn. Unavoidable 'stuff ' got in the way during the summer so the whole 40th had to be put on hold. My amazing and gorgeous husband and daughter got tickets for us to go and see ' The Proms at The Minack ' in Cornwall. It needed an early start to the day as we were only there for one day and planned to pack in as much as we could possibly squeeze in. Picnics, rugs, blankets, many many layers of warm clothes and hot flasks were bundled into the car and off we went. On our way down, we stopped off at Trerice House which is a national trust property.

Trerice is a small Elizabethan manor house, built in 1573 by Sir John Arundell. 

Olivia made herself right at home amongst the family portraits. I think she fitted in quite well as lady of the manor 

We spent a little over an hour here and although the house was nice and the staff were the friendliest and most knowledgeable we have seen this season, it wasn't a house we would probably re-visit to be honest. Glad we have seen it but there are other houses we would go back to first.

Our next stop is normally our first stop everytime we go to Cornwall and it is a little sad but we always stop for a coffee at Tesco overlooking Carbis Bay round to Hayle   ( I know it does sound sad but the view is fantastic and we are normally in need of a coffee) Where else can you drink your coffee with this view.

The photo really doesn't do it justice, it's taken through the glass with a not so good camera but a great view to drink coffee to !

 

 

 

Then off to Carbis Bay, where I forgot to take pictures. I'm afraid we just enjoyed the view and playing on the beach......how selfish lol. From here we moved on to St Ives for the regulatory ice cream and fighting with the Cornish seagulls, how is it they always win and get your ice cream ???  After we had been beaten severely by the St Ives seagulls, it was off to Penzance for a look around the town and to grab some supper before the show.

 

 

 

Then one of  our most favourite place in Cornwall, Porthcurno Beach. A trip to the beach with the Minack Theatre up above us on the cliffside. Never been disappointed ever with this beach, always clean and the waves are always there no matter what time of year you go and just fantastically roaring and gorgeous always. This is one place we never miss when we go down there.

If there is something to climb, Olivia will climb it 

 

 

 

After all the excitement of the day, it was time to join the rest of the 'Prommers' and take our seats at the theatre. Flags at the ready and slightly cold by this time, we waited for the band to start playing. The Minack Theatre is another place that everyone should visit at least once. If you get a chance to see a show as well, then take it. The atmosphere of watching a play or concert with the sea crashing over the rocks below is just amazing. Last of the boring photos now, I promise ;)

Dressed for the occasion !!

Thank you to my lovely family for the tickets and the trip, I had an amazing belated birthday and am looking forward to the other two celebration trips. The concert was really good, despite the short but very sharp shower that came through the second they started playing. The theatre even put a firework display on at the end of the show, which was jolly decent of them, must have known it was my Ruby birthday.

Off to the battlefields !

We were lucky enough to have to go to Hastings on business just as we were studying the Normans and the Battle of Hastings (amazing how we always seem to have a reason to visit the places we are studying) So after a very, very early start and quite a long trip, we arrived in the little town of Battle. I don't really know what any of us were expecting but it turned out to be very different than we imagined. It is such a beautiful little town, a lot smaller than I thought it would be.

The inside of this building was just amazing, we sat and had a coffee in here and it was amazing to think how many people had sat in this building and what it had seen over the centurys, the beams were original and the walls etc, if only walls could talk !

At the very top of the town is the entrance to Battle Abbey and the Battlefields.

The history of Battle Abbey falls into three phases. First, the site was a battlefield. On 14th October 1066 the hilltop on which the abbey now stands was crowded with King Harold's English army awaiting battle in an east-west line along the ridge. Across the valley to the south was Duke William's Norman army.  Later, after the battle of Hastings, the hillside was levelled for the abbey building. These were laid out on a conventional plan, with an inner court to the south of the abbey church and an outer court to the west. Finally, after the Suppression in 1538, the abbey became a country estate, and many of the surviving buildings date from this time.


Once you get through the usual regulatory shop etc and all the other stuff that these places seem to put in, you go through to the information centre where you can pick up the different shields and weapons they used in the battle, then it is on through to the battlefield.

Olivia standing at the point of battle on 14th October 1066

I would highly recommend a visit here, they supply you with so much information and it is a self led tour which is great as you can go at your own pace, and keep going back over everything without feeling you have to hurry up. We found it very strange that a place that saw so much violence all those years ago was such a peaceful  place to be. Olivia was able to visualise the history and places she had been studying and could see how difficult it was to make it up the hill with the enemy bearing down on them and why so many men didn't make it. It was amazing to think how this field was the location of one of the most important events in English history and yet it looked just like any other field.

We also looked around the ruins of the Abbey that was built at the top of the battlefield but this will be for a future blog !

Family firecraft day

Mark took the day off and the three of us went to the firecraft day held at Cockington in Torquay. It was a really good day with lots of other families there. We started off the day with a walk through the woods collecting different grades of twigs to get our fires going, then it was back to base to try to get the fire started. This proved to be more difficult than it looked !!

We started off with a bit of practise using the flint on a piece of cotton wool, the aim was to light it and let it melt. Some time later (quite a lot of time later) we finally managed to melt the little blighter so we could move onto the grown up stuff of starting a real life, proper fire !!  All I can say is that we would probably not be able to survive in the outback just yet lol.

Sorting the twigs into the various grades

 Finally the moment came.......it was time to light the fire !! 

After all the hard work, it was time to reap the rewards......marshmallows over the fire mmmmm

we had a really lovely family day and will definitely do more of the activities that the Coast and Countryside trust will be running.