Flora Patterns Blog

Spring is in the air

Often, I meet up with my daughter by meeting halfway between Falmouth and Plymouth(where she lives). This weekend we walked around Caradon Hill, near Liskeard. This walk is at the start of the Copper Trail and on the edge of Bodmin Moor. It was an amazing walk over moorland, through the old copper mine workings and along old tracks that once were used to transport the Copper out of the mines. It was atmospheric, educational and absolutely fascinating. The South Caradon Mine is especially photogenic with its stark shape protruding out of the scarred hillside. Areas reminded me of Sherlock Holmes, Hound of the Baskerville classic drama. I found this YouTube video made by CornishMining which gives you an idea of the hard life these miners must have had.

On our walk, we saw many sheep, wild and domesticated ponies, frogs spawn in puddles, donkeys and Alpacas on a guided walk. At the top, you could see both the south coast and over to the Cornish Alps (China clay hills near St Austell). The sun was shining and the air was clear apart from a little bit of mist caught on the tip of the mobile mast at the summit.  I came home with the first sun burnt nose of the year.

The walking was easy for the majority of the route, until Minions village when we lost our way a little bit (It all adds to the adventure). Halfway around we stopped at Minion Shop and Tearoom and had a brew before walking on. At the end we had a lovely Sunday roast at the Wheal Tor Hotel, sitting outside and looking over the countryside. It was an amazing day and I slept well that night. We hope to continue to explore the Copper Trail and walk further into Bodmin Moor in our next walks. However, I must get a new pair of walking boots before then as my existing boots are ready for the bin as my toes hurt.