Day 197 - Rames Head and Queen Adelaide's Grotto (and London III)

Pier Cellars

The other day we referred to the Southwest Coast Path when we were walking to Cremyll. This walking route runs for 630 miles from the town of Minehead in Somerset to Poole Harbour in Dorset. It's a charitable trust that maintains the path and it traverses along the coast of southwest England.  Today it was time to walk west along the part of the path that takes us around the Rame Peninsula toward Whitsand Bay.

The path runs uphill from Cawsand and traverses above what was once the cellars that fisherman used to store their catch. It was built during the reign of Elizabeth I and it had its own pier and harbour along with what was known as the Pier Cottage.  This cottage was famous during the war with France in the late 1700s as a place where the Navy would come and get their grog (a mixture of water and rum). In 1889, the property was purchased by the Navy to be used for torpedo testing. When they developed the property to allow for storage of the weapons, they unearthed a number of bodies but were unable to determine if they had been put there as result of natural causes or perhaps not so natural causes. Today the Navy uses it as an adventure training centre.

Queen Adelaide's Grotto

The path continues upward to Penlee Point where there is stone structure built into the side of the cliff. It's known as Queen Adelaide's Grotto.  Built in 1827, it was constructed to coincide with the arrival of Queen Adelaide who was married to King William IV.  Her full name was Adelaide Louise Theresa Caroline Amelia of Saxe-Meiningen, and  was German, as was William IV who was also the King of Hanover.  He was the last in the Hanover line to be King of England (no legitimate heirs, but 8 of 10 illegitimate children did survive him) when he was replaced by his neice, Victoria.

Easterly view from Rames Head 

From the grotto, you can see up the coast to the Rame Head. The modern and the old are both located here. The modern is a Life Guard station that at one time was operated by the Coast Guard, but when Margaret Thatcher cut government expenditures, stations such as this were closed down. Local residents formed a Charitable Trust to run and maintain the station. It is manned by volunteers, two at a time, who use the existing technology to monitor ships that pass by the Rame Head as well as keep an eye out for any boats or ships that might be in trouble.  They stay in contact with the Coast Guard and can have a rescue helicopter sent out from Newquay on the north Cornish coast to their location in about 20 minutes. They can also have special rescue boats sent from either Plymouth or Looe.

Climbing to meet the
wild ponies.

Rames Head gets its name because it resembled the head of a ram and it has a chapel located on its highest point. Dedicated to St. Michael, it had been a place of worship from 1397 and has served several purposes including as a beacon to send messages about the arrival of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Today only the shell of the chapel remains and some days the wild ponies that roam the headland can be found eating the long grass along the slopes adjacent to the chapel. From this spot one can look back toward Penlee Point and onward to the wide expanse of Whitsand Bay. We did not continue on, but returned back to Cawsand by way of the Rame Head road.

Ale of the Day: Prophecy Pale Ale, Bath Ales, Hare Brewery, Warmley, Bristol.

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Out of town update

Back in London, Amanda and Ange are preparing for another big day of walking and sightseeing.

Amanda had two things on her list of must-sees: The Churchill War Rooms and The London Eye. Of course, neither of those came to pass, although officially we did get to each spot. The problem: the queues. The recent movie about Churchill has caused a surge in interest in the War Rooms so tickets have to booked at least a day in advance. As for the London Eye, Amanda wasn't about to share a pod with "tourists" so that was out.

We started the walk at The Green Park, one of eight Royal Parks in the city. It is next to Buckingham Palace. There is a long-standing story that in the 1600s, Catherine of Braganza, had all the flower beds removed from the park after catching Charles picking flowers for one of his many mistresses (she bore him no children, but he had 12 illegitimate children by the time he died). The park still doesn't have any formal flowerbeds. With that many mistresses, perhaps Chuck actually picked them all.

Next up, ringing the doorbell at Buckingham Palace and then running away giggling into St. James Park, which runs in front of the palace and is another of the eight Royal Parks. Now, this park makes up for the flower beds missing from The Green Park. Charles II comes back into the story here as it is said that he received a pelican as a gift from the Russian Ambassador, and pelicans have been in the park ever since...along with a host of other beautiful birds.

We then walked to Westminster Abbey to join the long queue of people wanting to overindulge in the history that rests (quite literally) inside this place of worship. We entered, and as we were putting on our headsets with the self-directed tour (necessary in order to keep the great unwashed masses moving), we looked down only to realize we were walking over the grave of Charles Darwin (and that wasn't even mentioned in the tour). The people buried here are a veritable who's who of English history and culture. If you're interest in knowing who they are, check out this site: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/famous-people. Needless to say, we left the place almost overwhelmed with the beauty of the place and the thought that we were touching the tombs of, or trodding on top of, so many who have shaped who we are and how we think.

Next up, a walk around the Houses of Parliament (sadly it is covered in a lot of scaffolding at the moment) then a walk across Westminster Bridge. On the south bank of the river Thames, we passed County Hall and checked out The London Eye, before realizing it was time for lunch. Our choice: Fishquoteque, a fish and chip shop located under one of the arches of the railway line leading into Waterloo Station.

We made our way back across the river and through Charing Cross station, emerging at Trafalgar Square. We had about an hour before our afternoon musical was to start, so we went into the National Gallery to see if they had anything for sale. Unfortunately, Amanda (who I've discovered is actually difficult to please when it comes to art for above the fireplace) couldn't find a Monet, Cezanne, Gainsborough, Rubens, Rembrant, van Gogh, Caravaggio, or Leondardo that she felt would work over her mantle.

Our treat for the afternoon was Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Our jaws dropped at the opening number and never really closed after, particularly when we learned that the women we had watch transform herself into Tina was actually the understudy for the role. Fabulous! And yes, we were dancing and clapping by the end.

Well rested, despite the dancing, we decided we were good for a bit more walking. We went up to Covent Garden Market, then walked through the side streets to Chinatown and SoHo. We stopped into Waterstones, the London bookstore that is a must-visit if you are looking for, well, anything. Knowing we'd have to carry them, we resisted the urge to leave with any purchases.

To end the day, we walked up Regent Street to Oxford Circus, and then took the tube from Bond Street back to the hotel...and free food and wine, which is how every day should end...and here, at least, seemingly does.