I recently visited Cornwall and enjoyed my time there. The mix of villages, towns, and coastal/rural paths gave the county character which is unmatched by countless other counties. And I have plenty of blogposts to share with you, along with photos I took with my camera - maybe we could reach a consensus on whether my phone or camera are better or not. Anyways...
Penzance
This is the southernmost point on the British railways. The station opened in 1852 and services to London started seven years later, and to this day you can catch a train for Aberdeen, which would take about thirteen hours in all. Otherwise, it's quite unremarkable - there's little flaunting outside that this is the southernmost point, aside from the PZ sign outside the station and the pavement, a mosaic of Cornish town names which form a Cornish flag. And the large welcome rock, of course.
Then again, the more impressive aspect is its port which is the first port boats will encounter from the Atlantic Ocean. I did spot a jellyfish, I believe, lurking in the port's waters and perfectly blending in, or at least it was similar to one. On that note, there is sea life here, and fishing still occurs here to this day. Many centuries ago, the port also saw the exporting of many goods such as tin, coal, timber and cement. These trades have died down since, indeed a large portion of Penzance's economy is reliant on tourism. On a clear day, you can spot one such nearby attraction, St Michael's Mount, from afar. Some were swimming in the waters, which I found unusual considering it was the afternoon on a mostly drab day, though I'd imagine there were far more earlier in the day.
Otherwise, Penzance is an ordinary town. The high street's much like every other high street, though with a few more tourism shops than usual. It's Market Jew Street, its name derived from the Cornish for "Thursday Market", and is most interesting halfway through. The Market Building was originally part guildhall, part market, part prison when it opened in 1838, and over time has been a Corn Exchange and theatre. Eventually it took up it's current role as partially a Lloyd's Bank branch, though it's been hidden by scaffolding for a year now. The architects would like to see "the creation of a world-class inspired community and food hub", whatever that means, though I'm sure it looks nicer when it's not being obscured.
Just in front of the building is a statue of Sir Humphry Davy. Initially I was surprised to discover this, though it's more obvious when you realise he was born in Cornwall. His work as a chemist saw him use electrolysis to discover various elements such as calcium, sodium, potassium and boron, though that's also not forgetting his work with laughing gas and the Davy lamp, which enabled miners to light coal safely. His work might be the subject of a future blogpost.
Another interesting structure is that of the former post office; there is one bundled with a WHSmith down the road, but the one near the Market Building is far grander than the current one ever could be. A small plaque reveals John and Catherine Sampson lived nearby, and their great-grandson Robert Menzies later became Prime Minister of Australia in two separate spells, totalling nineteen years. It's a tenuous link, but legitimate either way.
One of the walls of a building in Penzance is taken up with paintings and photographs revealing what Penzance was once like, up to the 20th century. One such building that was around back then was the Ritz, which opened in 1936 as a cinema. It's just off Market Jew Street, and this article depicts a side of cinema I'd struggle to imagine today, what with the audience in formal dress, the workers in "smart semi-military uniforms", the ability to smoke indoors. Nowadays all you get is an overpriced ticket with popcorn costing a fortune, and most of the films are sequels; back then, they had Hitchcock to look forward to.
There is a cinema nearby, it's called the Savoy, but alas the Ritz isn't like it anymore. It became a bingo hall in 1965 and was closed for good in 2008, since left unused and resembling more a curiosity than anything. It's unfortunate because not too far away are some betting shops, and I personally think a glamorous cinema would benefit Penzance far more than they ever would. Maybe I'm misguided.
I'd also like to mention the nearby park, Morrab Gardens, what with its lovely bandstand and variety of flowers and trees. It's quite pleasant and offers a different side of Cornwall, and it's not too far away from the coast.
This wasn't the first time I've been in Penzance, however, albeit I don't think my photos have lasted until this day. Some places I now lack photos of include the promenade which extends down the coast, the Battery Rocks which used to serve as a military defence from French attacks, and the golden postbox honouring Helen Glover's gold medal in rowing at the 2012 Olympics. The photos my family took are less suitable because they often include me in them.
Should you be willing to catch a ferry, you may end up by the Isles of Scilly, which I didn't end up doing because we had other places to visit that day. More on them in future blogposts. But regardless, Penzance is a nice little town along the coast, one that would make a rather good distant day out (or maybe it's not distant if you live nearby) for anyone.
Fantastic!!!!
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