Travelog for: Cekelat

OK, as promised, the stories of how Mousehole got its name, the Mousehole Cat (see pic for a real-life Mowzer) and Tom Bawcock.

Mousehole's harbour is small, and the entrance between its great stone walls are so narrow that fishermen called it the 'mousehole'.  It became the name of the village for people grew fond of the name, pronounced 'Mowzel', remember?   

Tom Bawcock's Eve is celebrated on 23rd December each year.

Tom Bawcock, according to legend, was an old Cornish fisherman who lived in Mousehole.

The harbour was very important to the people of Mousehole and their main food was fish, fresh from the sea.

One year, a terrible winter came, and brought with it ferocious storms.  The strong walls of Mousehole harbour kept the village and the villagers' fishing boats safe from harm, but the fishermen couldn't get out to fish.

There was no fresh fish.  And when the villagers' stores of food ran out, there was no food at all.  Soon there was nothing left to eat.

Every day the fisherman would gather, and some would try to steer their boats through the narrow gap in the harbour, but always the storm and the sea beat them back into the harbour.  They were lucky to escape with their lives.

Tom Bawcock was old, and had no family.  He decided to go out in his boat, come what may, and try to bring back fish for the people of Mousehole. 

He left a single lantern burning in his window so that he could find his way back home on his return.

He fished all day in the stormy seas, and when he came to haul in his nets they were full to bursting with all types of fish.

As night fell, Tom steered his little boat - full of fish - back to the narrow entrance to Mousehole harbour.  It was dark and it would have been easy, in the storm-tossed sea, to miss the harbour entirely and be pitched into the ocean.

But as he came into view of the village, a strange sight greeted him:  the harbour walls were bright with lines of lights!

When they had woken that morning, and found his house empty and his lantern burning in the window, the people of Mousehole knew that he had gone out to catch fish, and risk dying in the attempt.

And when night fell, all the women of the village placed lit candles in their windows, and all the men took their bright lanterns down to the harbour walls so that he could find his way home.

That night, every house in Mousehole was filled with the noises and smells of cooking, and the hunger of past weeks and months became a memory.

The Starry Gazey Pie is baked in Mousehole to this day, it is a huge pastry pie full of pilchards and five other types of fish, where the tails of the fish meet in the middle, and the heads poke upwards out of the pastry, as if they are looking towards the sky.

And the cat?  The Mousehole Cat is a children's story that tells the tale of Tom Bawcock through the eyes of his pet cat, Mowzer, who, it's claimed, calmed the storm (the great Storm Cat) by singing and purring to it.

(The full story is by Antonia Barber, here it is on Amazon)

Last glimpses of Mousehole:  the little harbour beach, and a ToyVoyagerBear-style illumination - we couldn't resist! 

Land's End:  the very edge of England and the UK.

Here I am with the famous Land's End signpost behind me.

As you can see, we're about 280 miles away from ToyVoyagerCentral, and hundreds more away from John O'Groats or New York!

It was extremely windy and cold.  If only I'd had more than just my little Lucky T shirt to wrap up in! 

And this is almost at the edge of England.

You can see this little white building in the background of the last photo:  it's The First and Last.

The first tourists, flocking to Cornwall with the arrival of the Railway, came to Land's End, as they still do, because it's the furthest southerly point of mainland UK. 

The First and Last provided a place to buy refreshments and souvenirs of their outing.

Now, if you so choose, you can do all sorts of things at Land's End (have your picture taken for example    ) like visit a Doctor Who exhibition, go on rides, do some shopping, etc etc.

A cynic might find it disappointing, but it was great to be out there with the fierce winds ruffling my fur, and thinking about how many miles away lies my homeland of Malaysia ... 

We continued our travels along the coast, stopping at Porthcurno (about 4 miles from Land's End) and home to the very fabulous Minack Theatre.  Built out of the cliff face - virtually single-handedly - by one very determined lady, Rowena Cade, the Minack is a theatre space with a difference, its seating is hewn from the rocks of the cliff, and the backdrop to every performance is the ever-changing, dramatic seascape of the Atlantic Ocean.

Here you can see the steps cut out of the cliff, and some of the spectacular sea views ...

The bottom pic shows the stage area - imagine being an actor here!

Not only 'Rowena Cade created this theatre', but, she continued building and improving Minack well into her eighties, and it's not just functional, but beautiful.  You can see that lots of the stones and carvings are carved into, with celtic knotwork designs and other patterns, and even the seat backs are engraved - each bears the name of a play (lots of Shakespeare, but other plays too), and when it was performed at Minack.

A visit to Stratford, and here I am, posing outside the sign for Shakespeare's birthplace.

And here's the Birthplace itself.

I was lucky and managed to get a quick picture without lots of other Birthplace hungry visitors getting in on my shot! 

February in England wasn't what I was expecting - the warmest February on record, virtually no rain, and sunsets like you wouldn't believe!

Late afternoon at ToyVoyagersCentral ...

A visit to Chatsworth (home of the Dukes of Devonshire) and a quick trip to their Farm Shop in nearby Pilsley ...

And this is the view from the restaurant there.  Glorious Derbyshire countryside.

Helped Isobel's mum celebrate her birthday today (two days early!) by blowing out the candles on her Clown cake.

Who says birthdays are just for kids??!!

Note:  The number of candles in this picture are not *necessarily* representative of Isobel's Mum's age ...

It's Mothers' Day in the UK.

Happy Mothers' Day to all mothers, and grandmothers!

Isobel's choice of outing today, and it's Stratford-Upon-Avon again.

Isobel loves Stratford, and likes to mooch around looking at where Shakespeare lived - you would have thought, with the number of times she's been here (even the number of times I'VE been here!) she'd have seen everywhere he'd ever walked, let alone lived!

However, here we are again, and more sights to be seen of 'Ye Olde Stratford' ...

Starting with .... You guessed it!  The Birthplace!!!

And here is the Shakespeare Centre (next door to the Birthplace) where you can learn all about Shakespeare.

I'm beginning to think he must have done something quite good, this bloke, to have so many buildings named after him ... 

Aha!  A change from Shakespeare!

It's the Museum of Witchcraft and Wizardry 

First mentioned in records from 1541, the Museum building is all that remains of a famous public house/ inn called The White Lion, and is reputed to be one of the most haunted buildings in the country. 

OK, back to Shakespeare ...

The town is littered with quotations from Shakespeare's plays ...

Here's one from 'Hamlet' regarding a certain famous skull he finds ...