I love the landscapes of Kurt Jackson. Of the above painting he notes “Evening and two choughs fly over the sea squeaking excitedly – my first Cornish choughs” from his exhibition The Cornish Crows. populated with jackdaws, magpies, choughs, ravens and crows.
More on Wikipedia on Kurt Jackson.
The purple double decker broke free of the housing estate and we were riding high above the hedgerows, surrounded by frozen white fields. We’d crossed the River Tamar on the Plymouth Torpoint ferry, watching from the top of the bus as Cornwall draw imperceptibly closer. And now the world suddenly opened out, with a dizzying vision of long rolling white waves. This was Whitsand, where we planned to connect with the South West Coastal path and walk the Rame Peninsula.
The driver stopped for us and we stood dazzled, listening to the roar of the sea, and watched two tiny silhouettes walk in unison across the hard sand, each carrying a surf board. Off in the distance was the tip of the peninsula, crowned by the small silhouette of St. Michael’s chapel, our first destination. The view reminded me of winter travels in the Mediterranean. True, here there was frost on the grass, but the dazzling light engulfed us just the same.
The Landmark Trust describe the location of their secluded granite cottage in strangely compelling terms – it’s for “those who worship the woods and the water and are prepared to be dominated by them.” It sounds like a challenge, but suggests that those who allow themselves to be submerged in the exuberant Cornish nature will be richly rewarded. Frenchman’s Creek, made famous by Daphne Du Maurier, is a side creek of the Helford river, and its tidal ebb and flow are a constant reminder of the proximity of the sea. More information
A group of eight Portuguese Man O’ War were found strewn on Tregantle beach near Whitsand Bay. Experts say they expect more to be brought in by prevailing winds. Daily Telegraph. These creatures, which are not actually jellyfish but a species called siphonophores, live in warmer waters than those around the UK but global warming is believed to be pushing them further north – ever closer towards Britain. They can in extreme cases provoke a cardiac arrest and death in particularly sensitive persons.
It is also interesting note that Portuguese Man O’ War have also been seen increasingly more often on the coasts of Spain.
Note the English and Spanish etymology comes from the creature’s air bladder, which looks similar to the triangular sails of the 15th.century Portuguese man-of-war Caravela latina.
Exercises by the Navy may have led to the stranding of 26 dolphins on the Cornish coast last year according to a scientific report published today.
The Independent