A Blog about Cornwall's Hidden Places & Untold Stories
Sightings of UFOs in Cornwall are roughly 30% higher than the national average. I have found references to unexplained events, such as strange balls of fire and craft-shaped lights in the skies, as early as the 1880s. And over the years there have been several flurries of UFO activity in Cornwall, in the 1950s, again […]
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Droskyn Point towers above Perranporth beach. The crashing waves of the Atlantic beat its rocky cliffs. But this spectacular headland hides an ancient secret. Hidden down a steep, narrow path is thought to be the earliest known evidence of mining in Cornwall. Beginnings . . . The origins of tin mining in Cornwall are hazy […]
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“The seashore seems to be a potent spot for ghosts. Fishermen dread to walk anywhere near where a ship has foundered. The souls of drowned sailors are said to haunt such places and the ‘calling of the dead’ has frequently been heard . . .” James Turner, The Stone Peninsula, 1975. Fishermen and sailors are […]
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The tiny fort known as Little Dennis is probably the oldest building in the Falmouth area, apart from the ruin of Arwenack Manor perhaps, it was constructed by the Tudors nearly 500 years ago. Little Dennis was built straight onto the bedrock, close to the highwater line, looking out across the sweep of Falmouth Bay […]
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For Daphne du Maurier the house known as Menabilly was a home she treasured for more than 26 years. From the first moment she saw it until the day she died the house fascinated, inspired and captivated her. After years of planning and dreaming Menabilly near Gribbin Head in Cornwall finally became Du Maurier’s family […]
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“Cornwall is hollow. Centuries of mining has created a honeycomb network of tunnels that criss-cross beneath the beautiful Cornish landscape . . .” The evocative opening lines of Claire Wilson‘s book Hidden in Plain Sight hint at the strange subterranean world which her new collection of photographs reveals. A world hidden from view but one […]
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“Nare Head is over three hundred feet high and it’s cliffs bristle with slaty fangs . . .” AG Folliott-Stokes, 1928 Nare Head, the northern headland which guards the entrance to Gerrans Bay, is pretty imposing and the panoramic view from it’s rocky battlements remains one of my absolute favourites. Owned by the National Trust […]
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The scars left on the Cornish countryside by hundreds of years of mining were devastating. But fortunately in most places nature has reclaimed and revitalised the damaged often poisoned ground, miraculously creating some of our most peaceful and iconic landscapes. The transformation really can be astonishing. Sometimes, however, even nature can struggle to recover what’s […]
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“The moor was a mountain seething with magma; the magma cooled and hardened and its name was granite.” William Atkins, The Moor, 2014 The eastern side of Bodmin Moor has a fine collection of spectacular tors. High ridges of undulating, castellated rocks or jutting outcrops of weatherworn granite rise abruptly above the horizon. Hawk’s, Kilmar, […]
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Hi everyone! This is a very different post for my blog, not only because I didn’t actually write it but because it covers a period of Cornwall’s history which I feel few people, including myself, know well. But that, combined with the anniversary of the battle at Braddock Down coming up, is why I decided […]
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