We've enjoyed the balmy days and spent our spare hours exploring some of Cornwall's wildest beaches! We’ve made the most of our autumn exploring the unspoilt beach of West Cornwall and The Lizard and there are so many more to see but alas on a farm as the days close in.  The couple of hours we had to spare in the afternoons is swallowed up now, along with the day light, until the nights draw out again but until then here are some memories from those last magical days that still hint of summer days. Mind you there is always the consolation of a freshly baked croissant for lazy Sunday breakfast! Gunwalloe, Poldhu and Dollar Coves have made a great finish to our autumn exploring the sandy beaches of Cornwall. One of my personal favourites has to be Portheras and Boat Cove for sheer unadulterated beauty. Kennegy for is contrasting appeal and local history beside Prussia Cove and our walk along the spectacular Godrevy and Gwinear beach will stay in my memory for a long time. Porth Chapel for a blissful sunday afternoon and Risney at high tide for moments lent from a busy day. And we even found time to walk down to the local beach in Perranuthnoe!

Porthcurno beach

To follow Ednovean Farm's weekly blog why not visit http://ednoveanfarm.co.uk/blog/

Summer plans and winter jobs in Cornwall

St Michael's Mount at dusk

I think people often wonder what happens in a B&B in winter - do we hibernate to wait for the return of Summer perhaps. Well the answer is  we keep pretty busy - it's amazing how the amount of work expands to fill the space - in the traditional manner.

Here at Ednovean Farm we take the opportunity to start the education of some of the young horses that we have bred, in the quieter winter months.

Charles with Toffee a young Holstein gelding this very wet Sunday

Each week the young horses learn to perform more tasks and gain in strength and suppleness, until eventually they will be ready to ride.....with negotiation of course!

Magic one of  our spanish stallion Danilon's sons

Occasionally we venture away from the farm - My husband Charles surprised me with supper at our local pub the other night - it could have been because I offered to make my "Famous beef casserole" of course!!

We we walked down across the fields in the twilight to the Victoria Inn down in the Perranuthnoe and spent the evening tucked up beside the log burning stove enjoying a delicious supper by candle light. As we walked home again in the darkness, under a velvety black sky studded with stars, I thought how  strange it was that our feet could feel the well trodden grove of the footpath in the darkness from the passage of feet, over the year by some inner instinct. I stopped at the top of the hill to admire the ring of lights around Mounts Bay a saw the moon on its back above St Michael's Mount.

Supper at the Victoria inn

Still my thoughts have started to turn towards summer accommodation and this week I put together a blog for my guests to help them plan their days out. I spent quite a few evening
researching some of the dates ( about which I must admit to having a hopeless memory!) and turned up some surprising facts - Penzance was raided by the Spanish who burnt most of the Medieval houses before holding a mass and setting sail again or that Turkish pirates were still capturing slaves as late as the 17c. Dear, dear, what a wild and dangerous place it was. if you would like to check out my first suggestions for a visit to Cornwall, try my Penwith Tour Part one!

St Michael's Mount - one of the first stops on my tour it has been in turn a place
of pilgrimage, an Abbey, a fortress and a home

Coves to explore on summers fading days

A ruined boat shed on a deserted Cornish cove

We stole away last week to walk from Ednovean Farm across the fields towards the coastal path as the last days of Summer slowly faded but still gave  a promise of sunshine and perhaps a dip in the cool silent seas. The coastal footpath near us passes so many deserted coves, maybe it is the pebbly beaches or the walk from the car parks that stops so many people from exploring the hidden places along the cliffs but I know I can always find a silent deserted cove all to my self, away from the thronged sandy beaches.

The tide stealing silently in to a deserted spot - well apart
 from us of course!

There are quiet sandy beaches too of course the walk to  Rinsey beach from the National Trust car park springs to mind. Reached by zig zagging down the cliff and finally sliding down through a little gully to the vast expanse of sand exposed at low tide it is best to take anything you would like to eat or drink for the day with you as this is not the place with a beach cafe and post card selection. Or maybe Portheras Cove - about a miles walk along the coastal path from Pendeen lighthouse in the St Ives direction, again it is a rare treat of unspoilt beauty carefully cared for by a dedicated band of locals to keep it in a pristine condition. But again they are not unpaid refuse collectors so do leave not a trace of your day there.

Trevean Cove

This September has been an unexpected treat and we realises nearly  too late that we had not even swum in the sea this year and so we set off with a picnic and  a flask of hot sweet tea to bask in the sunshine one afternoon and finally swim in the sea warmed as it slid quietly back into a deserted cove - just bliss! Oh and no sand in the sandwiches either!! Did you see my post about our adventure in our new wordpress blog?

Charles demonstrating hardly a ripple in the sea

We walked home stopping to turn to admire the view back to Cudden Point and the imposing facade of Acton Castle

Acton Castle

Cudden Point