It wasn’t intentional. We drove past this lovely looking church on our way to the Tremenheere Sculpture garden where we had intended to have lunch. As we reached our destination we saw the sign: Closed Saturday June 4th for a private wedding party. Garden and nursery open as usual. Typical. This is not the first time this has happened to me, and probably won’t be the last. Undeterred we went in to the nursery where I parted with the best part of £30 for some succulents for my newly discovered stone sink, once hidden under brambles in the car parking area of my new garden and now languishing on the patio, ready to be filled.
As we didn’t feel like driving around too far (it was hot and now we had a boot full of plants to consider) we drove back home via Ludgvan as we had noticed a traditional looking pub next door to the church on passing through. People in the nursery hadn’t recommended this particular pub, The White Hart, but we will try anything once and we weren’t especially wanting a bistro pub, just good tasty inexpensive pub food and we didn’t particularly want to go into Penzance.
Which is what we got. Thick slabs of ham, orange-yolked free range eggs and hand cut and cooked chips for me, Cheesy mash topped fish pie and salad leaves for OH (I let him have some of my chips) and a small glass of decent SB wine. Good, tasty pub food. We even sat outside under the parasol and enjoyed the view of the road lined with trees and shrubs and the impressive church in front of us.
It seemed rude not to visit the church, so we climbed up the rather steep, worn and uneven granite steps and entered a delightful, old, churchyard. Gravestones beckoning me as they always do amidst wild flowers, cow parsley, fuchsias, aromatic choisya and a lawn scattered with daisies.
Weep not for me my Friends so dear,
Because I’m gone so soon,
The finest flowers that do appear
They oft times fade at noon.
I do like a good look around a churchyard, in particular an old churchyard where nature has reclaimed the land and headstones rise through the wild flowers as if they have always belonged there. Ancient stone covered in moss and lichens, crumbling away. No-one to put flowers on the plot any more. But flowers abound and not only natural ones. Carved by hand, lilies, roses and daisies decorate the headstones, none of those horrid modern rectangular blocks of shiny black marble that hold no appeal for me.
The pathway is a mown strip and draws me down to the end where some headstones are almost lost in the wilderness.
Looking back towards the church you can see the tower now, which looks disproportionately large compared with the rest of the building.
Some of the headstones stop me in my tracks and make me wonder about the lives of the people who once lived around here. Why did these children ‘fall asleep’, how many were there, how old? I almost sense the desperation of the parents who no doubt spent much of their time in this churchyard and church.
In another part of the churchyard are more headstones, these seem to be even older and much of the writing on them has worn away. Thickly coated in lichens.
And hidden at the far back, in the gloom of the trees is an angel.
My one and only angel.
Strictly speaking this is more of a stroll than a walk, but it has been a long time since I linked up to Jo’s Monday Walks so I hope she doesn’t mind.
If you enjoy a walk, long or short, then have a look at Jo’s site where you are welcome to join in.
Cornwall in Colours 
I have a general post on the Necropolis but the angel doesn’t feature in this one.
However, she sneaks into the gallery here. I’m up there 2 or 3 times a year guiding walks and the flower is always there.
I shall pop over for a look 🙂
Your links didn’t work, but I tracked the post and the angel down anyway. Your necropolis has some very large monuments in it!
Oops, sorry about that! Yes, built at the time that Glasgow was known as the Second City of the Empire. For the most part, only the great and good up there.
You will love the Edinburgh one, Jude! Callow Hill? Bit unsure of the name but Anabel will keep you right 🙂
Hill? Why do all these places have to built on a hill…
Good with a toboggan 🙂 🙂
Edinburgh? Don’t know – I’m a tourist there too! Only graveyard I’ve been to there is Greyfriars, of Greyfriars Bobby fame. Edinburgh has more statues of dogs than of women.
Really? It’s opposite Arthur’s Seat. No worries- I’ll take Jude, if we get there simultaneously 🙂
I love exploring churchyards too especially when on your side of the pond. So much history. I’m also quite fond of pubs and would love to have soaked it all in as you describe Jude. What a marvelous day.
It was not the day we had planned, but it worked out even better I think.
So you did! What a kind lady 🙂 I can just about keep my eyes open. It was 2 in the morning when I got home and I was up again at 7. I love the licheny shot and your angel. You’ve reminded me of a walk I did the day before we went to Tavira. It all seems so distant now. Thanks, Jude 🙂
Gosh you are a glutton for punishment! Arriving home at 2 am? Ouch. Just emailed you re: Edinburgh. I await your response…. 🙂
Got it! No Edinburgh expert but I can get you lost most places. 🙂 I don’t envy you the drive. Thinking head on when I get caught up here. Hysterical laughter…. 🙂 🙂
No hurry…
I just boasted to Viveka that you can better the Macro shot for this week’s WP challenge. You’d better be good. It’s fabulous 🙂 🙂 And I know you have nothing better to do 🙂
I haven’t seen the challenge yet, but I shall do my best 😀
Thanks for a lovely stroll, Jude! 🙂
It seems that whenever you go for a walk or a drive, you end up actually going back in time. It certainly felt like it on this one. So much age and history that appears to have been forgotten and nature is slowly reclaiming it.
It makes me want to know the stories of these people.
… but the angel made me think of Dr Who {shiver}
I do enjoy a good stroll through a graveyard. Ours don’t seem to have any lush wildflowers, which is a pity. And another reason to not like those shiny, black marble stones, is that they are too shiny to get a good photo without a reflection.
I miss those graveyards of my English childhood and wonder what tales are buried in the moss-covered fissures of the weathered crosses and beautifully embossed reminders of a byegone era. There really is a kind of beauty in them compared to modern day marble slabs. The angel seems to be watching over the rest of the graves. And although the wildflowers are beautiful, I’m saddend by how neglected many graveyards are these days.
A lot of these older parts are kept as wildlife habitats so although it looks overgrown it is done so on purpose and the more aggressive weeds are removed. Seems more natural than those manicured cemeteries.
I love an old graveyard and also wonder about the stories behind the headstones, particularly the sad ones. And like Joanne, unfortunately Steven Moffat has tainted stone angels for me for life. 😀
I think we have had the stone angels discussion before, maybe not with you, when I posted the wonderful angels in the Waverley cemetery in Bronte nr Sydney. Now that’s a place to avoid for you DW fans… 🙂
It’s good to see you’re such a fan of old cemeteries. Those dense little white flowers are especially appealing. And of course, as you said, the inscriptions are sometimes fascinating and mysterious.
Common daisies. I have a’lawn’ like that!