Exploring England #9
On the southern coast of Cornwall there are two unique geographical markers. Land’s End, a barren rocky headland, is the most south-westerly point of mainland Great Britain while Lizard Point with its sheer, stony cliffs is the most southerly. The scenery at each location is wild and rugged; the surging ocean crashes onto rocks below the lookouts.
Like so many travellers through the centuries, we wanted to visit these special locations. Both have a colourful history of shipwrecks and lighthouses and both have cafés in remarkable positions, but that’s where the similarities end.
Land’s End, once part of the land gifted to Robert, Count of Mortain by William the Conqueror in 1066, is now owned by Heritage Attractions.
Along with beautiful views of the Cornish coast, there are several buildings dating from the 19th century to admire. The First and Last Cafe has been serving hungry travellers since 1854. Penwith House, established in 186o as a Temperance Hotel, sits alongside its counterpart, the Land’s End Hotel. The famous Land’s End sign, erected in 1957 and photographed countless times since, stands on the path to the headland.
Modern additions to the site include a family theme park with several attractions: an interactive quest led by King Arthur’s Merlin, a 4D cinema experience featuring a mythical land of dinosaurs and Greeb Farm, complete with cute baby animals.
For us, the highlight is the Shaun the Sheep Experience. We’re fans of Shaun and his fun loving flock, and it’s a thrill to visit Mossy Bottom Farm. In the Aardman exhibition, we learn about the skills and craftsmanship that go into the creation of the much loved show.
Lizard Point, managed by the National Trust, couldn’t be more different. There is a choice of walking tracks, with or without steps, although both follow the edge of the cliff around to the point.
Seals and sea gulls compete for attention in the waters below.
A tiny shop sells quirky beach themed gifts and a National Trust office has maps and brochures about the local flora and fauna.
A passionate staff member is ready and willing to chat with us and answers all our questions. Below the cliff on Polpeor Cove is the 1914 lifeboat station. It was abandoned in 1961 in favour of a new station in a more protected location further along the coast.
Perched on the edge of the point overlooking the cove is Polpeor Café, where the menu includes traditional Cornish food served on an outdoor deck. With the sparkling Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop, we order a Cornish Cream Tea – fluffy scones, homemade jam and rich clotted cream with a never ending supply of hot tea.
We enjoyed visiting both Land’s End and Lizard Point, but Lizard was our favourite – it was the scones that made the difference!
Join Jo for Monday Walks
I never got to Land’s End, ET – but now I feel as if I did! Wonderfully told and photographed. Happy Christmas to you and Mr ET!! 🙂
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I’m glad you enjoyed visiting with me, CC. Happy Christmas to you, too. Have a wonderful day.
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Oh, golly, Jo will be down here in a jiffy now you have shown her those scones. It’s been a while since I visited Lands End. Maybe January. And I swear that signpost used to have many more fingers!! Have a good festive season Carol if I haven’t already wished you one – yours has already begun!
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Hmmm, I don’t know about the signpost. We saw photos of it from the past and it looked like that I think. Best wishes to you and your family too, Jude. I suspect, like us, you’ll be skyping family members far away.
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I don’t actually like Skype, but we are expecting a phone call from Dubai!
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I think we’ll be using Messenger this year.
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Is that Apple? We don’t use Apple devices.
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No, Messenger is connected to Facebook. We don’t have anything Apple either.
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Ah, so just messages then, no video. We did manage to speak to the Aussies in Dubai yesterday on my daughter’s iPad. Lovely to see the grandsons.
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Messenger has video and so does Facebook chat. My daughter in Canada often calls on Whatsapp on the video chat too.
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I am obviously a technophobe despite having an IT degree! Although I do know Whatsapp – hadn’t realised it had video.
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You’re not the only one. I am always learning something new from my daughters. I didn’t know Whatsapp had video calling until my daughter called me on it. We chat a couple of times a week. In fact, I hear from her on the other side of the world more often that I speak to my other daughter who lives 120 km away in Brisbane!
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A very fitting entry to my walks, Carol. Jude’s right, I’m chucking a few bits in a bag and on my way 🙂 🙂 Much as I love Shaun the Sheep it’s a bit sad to see something like Land’s End turned into a theme park, and I much prefer the National Trust approach. That said, I’ve not visited either. Got to make it happen in 2017. Very best wishes to you and the family. Enjoy all the magic moments 🙂
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We felt that it was all a bit commercial and tacky. It could have been up the road a little and still have the same number of visitors. It was also noisy, while Lizard Point was so peaceful. I’m sure the scones would meet your expectations.
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We had so much fun at Land’s End a few years back and enjoyed our touristy photo by the signs! It’s a shame the Shaun the Sheep experience wasn’t there! Monkey would have gone mad for it!
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We enjoyed it too, Ting. Monkey would enjoy the Shaun the Sheep experience. There are lots of interactive things for children to do. Maybe you should go back. 🙂
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Beautiful seacoast, humorous road sign, and delicious looking scones – all good things. 🙂
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It is a beautiful part of the coast, Judy. Even on an overcast day it just looks stunning.
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Merry Christmas! ^_^
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MMm I’m so glad that you had scones-I can’t think of anything more perfect! 😀 Merry Christmas lovely Carol!! 😀
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They were perfect, Lorraine. Happy Christmas to you, Mr NQN and gorgeous Mochi!
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A few years ago, we went there on Holiday! It is fabuleus, cool &’lovely over there. The seafood is delicious!
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It is a beautiful place to visit and we had delicious seafood too.
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Both Land’s End and Lizard Point look very alluring, but I like the more secluded aspect of Lizard Point. Those scones are the perfect top-off to the day! 🙂
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We preferred Lizard too, without all the razzamatazz. The scones were divine.
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More great photos. I love these posts about England! Happy Holidays
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So glad you’re enoying them because I’m only just into week two of a five week trip. There’s plenty more to come. 🙂
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Great. Your posts are very enlightening to me. I know very little about England. 5 weeks is a terrific vacation.
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We always go for a minimum of five weeks. It takes a long time to get there so we want to make the most of it.
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Perfect. Have a t shirt from first trip to Australia. Says, “Australia. A bloody long way”. You do have a really long flight and we think it is wonderful you can go for 5 weeks, or more. Makes me a little envious though.
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Yes it is, and even to travel in Australia is a long way. It’s worth the effort though.
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I’ve never been to Land’s End. The photos are lovely!!
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Thank you Maria. Both Land’s End and Lizard are well worth visiting.
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I can see that in your photos 🙂 Have a wonderful day!
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The scones with butter at last… Just perfect day for outing at the beach. love the pictures, inspires one to visit the wonderful place.
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It is a great place to visit and the scones are delicious.
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my mouth is watering.. hehe
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Corwall is on my bucket list, and I am jealous of you!
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We’ve always wanted to go but now we need to go back because we didn’t see everything.
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We visited Land’s End a couple of years ago and I was quite shocked by how it has changed since my previous visit about 30 years before – it is very commercialised now compared to the signpost and possible tea room/post office that stood there before. I can’t quite remember what there was, but it was very little. We missed the Shaun the Sheep experience – I think I might have like that!
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My parents were there a few years ago and there was just the signpost and the little shop. Shaun was good but the rest was a little tacky.
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I like a little bit of commercialization – just enough to have a place to sit down and eat a scone and look out at the beautiful scenery. 🙂
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Your pictures are beautiful.
You should check out my blog. Everyone can relate to it if your a traveler
Traveling the world by escalator
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Thank you.
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