In the hot summer of 2022 I’m reblogging the cooler summer of 2019, especially the churches I visited on my End to End. We take up the route at Truro Cathedral, where this sign urged me onwards.
Probus Parish Church was not far further on and you can see my boots reflected in the figures of the Remembrance Campaign for 2018: There but not there. The thing we most remember about Probus is the fish and chip shop (of course). They gave a generous donation to Hannah’s walk ten years ago when we walked through in the rain. The chips are also good.
St Mewan Parish church, the next day, was also very welcoming with free drinks and chocolate biscuits. It’s not far from the great cathedral-like bio-domes of the Eden Project. You do get a reduction on the entrance price at the Eden Project for arriving on foot.
Next it was up and over Bodmin Moor. The Doniert Stone is worth a look. Thought to date from the 9th century it commemorates Doniert, the last king of Cornwall. There are many stone monuments, from the Neolithic onwards, on Bodmin Moor.
Walking onto Launceston where the Parish Church is quite large and dedicated to Mary Magdalene, seen here sleeping on the back wall. She is remembered in a poem by Charles Causley, Cornish poet from the town. He recalls an old custom of flipping a penny onto her back as you pass by.
On the way out of Launceston, this well house is one of several I visited on the End to End. Water holds a special place in our lives and is often celebrated in our landscape. This is to be particularly remembered in times of drought like the current one in 2022.
That’s it from Cornwall – next episode I get to Devon!
From my remembered bible: Look for the road that leads to life.
Mary, Mary Magdalene
lying on the wall,
I throw a pebble on your back,
Will it lie or fall?
Words by Charles Causley.
Janet Lees, in Longdendale, 14.08.2022