Another bit of British trivia. It turns out that England does not have a national anthem. Scotland and Wales each has its own national song. England currently uses God Save the Queen which is really the national anthem for all of Great Britain.  There is a feeling that at sporting and other events in England it would be nice to have a specific song for England. There has been some discussion that either the song:  “Land of Hope and Glory” or “Jerusalem” have been suggested to be adopted as the national anthem for England. Nothing has happened so far. 

We arrived in last night in Cornwall and are staying at the St. Mellion Golf and Spa Resort (a Jack Nicklaus designed course) near the city of Plymouth on the Cornwall peninsula. Cornwall is a very separate part of the country- it is a peninsula on the west coast of England. Like the Welsh, the people of Cornwall are also descendants of the Celts. They have their own separate language. They are now considered and recognized as a national minority in the country.

The Cornwall national flag is a white cross on a black background which almost looks like a pirate flag. It actually is the cost of arms of their patron saint, St. Piran, a Cornish abbot.  Cornwall was mined for tin and copper in the past. The area is not particularly affluent these days. Tourism is the big thing here now as their weather is often better than the rest of England because of their location and the Gulf Stream off their shore. Cornwall is noted for its Cornish pasties. A bit of trivia: Jack and the Bean Stalk had its origins in Cornwall.

Each morning when we start our day on the bus John plays the Coldplay song, “Viva la Vida”, to get us in the proper state of mind for the day. It is another cool, cloudy morning with an occasional light shower. We are off to visit the seashore and the Dartmoor National Park which are nearby.

We first stopped for 1.5 hours in the seaside (English Channel) town of Looe, a popular destination for tourists. We were given time to explore the town, walking along a narrow street past shops, tea rooms and bakers selling the very popular Cornish pasties, available in small, medium and large sizes. The town is situated on a lake/river which empties into the English Channel. We walked the sandy beach and I was able to collect some more cells for my collection. I have bowls full of shells I have gathered around the world. I can not identify them but they make a nice bookshelf attraction.

The brief visit turned into a food tasting event as we first tried another Pastel de Nata (the Portuguese custard tart), then clotted cream with strawberries ice cream, followed by some still warm steak/potato/onion/swede(turnip) pasty and sharing a Belgium bun (gooey frosting on a yeasty roll-lovely) with Gerry.

Our next stop, Plymouth, is probably the most important harbor in UK and a lot of history that dates back to the 12th century. In 1588 Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada off its shores; James Cook sailed for Australia; Charles Darwin and his boat, the Beagle, visited and the pilgrims sailed to America from here on the Mayflower. It is also the home of the British Royal Navy.  As a result the city was heavily bombed during WWII and it had to be rebuilt, unfortunately in a more modern style, so it now lacks old world charm.

About half the group had chosen to take the one hour boat ride down the Tamar River to the landing in Plymouth. The others rode the bus and ultimately met us in Plymouth. The boat trip passed the naval ship yards where we saw some present day war ships and the wharfs from which famous voyagers departed Plymouth. We docked in Plymouth near the location the Mayflower left for America. The steps are still there as is a small memorial to the event.

We then had one plus hours on our own with some people having lunch, some went shopping and others simply went sightseeing. We ended up in a little French restaurant for a bowl of soup and a glass of wine. Gerry and Sue, who had gone shopping, walked by. We waved and they came in to join us, saying there was no shopping in the area. They had found a gin tour in a local distillery and were very excited to try different gins. They tried to take the tour, but was told it was sold out for the entire day! I wonder why it is so popular?

Our return to the hotel was via Dartmoor National Park where the roadway goes through an area called  “the moors”. There are no fences and animals (mostly sheep but we did see a few cows) roam freely in the area so you have to drive carefully. The moors are markedly different from the surrounding area. There is not a tree or shrub in sight. The ground is peaty as it gets a lot of rain each year. At the highest point (600 ft) you have virtually a 360 degree view of the countryside that lies below you. It is a beautiful sight.

Leaving the National park the narrow roadway took us through Tavistock, a market town that grew when tin was mined in the area. It  is the birthplace of Sir Francis Drake and they have a large statue of him in the main town roundabout.

Tonight was the farewell dinner and Insight chose to take us to a small local “farm to table” restaurant (Heskyn Mill) housed in a century old mill that used water and gears to grind the grain.