In advance I would like to state that this day had nothing to do with me, it was all Miss Vica's idea :)This was our pre-history day which sounds wonderful so we went stone hunting in Zennor. We were assisted by a very nice man as to wear the rocks are and off we went walking around Zennor headland which was all very civilised passing nice hills of purple health and following the coastal path in sandles and skirt (one guess who was in a skirt).
The next stop was to Zennor Quoits which was up a wacking great big hill but miss vica want to go so we did, complete with OS map and water. Its started well on the road and then on a footpath, very nice until we had to go on a track, a track of pricklies which started quite small and grew to be bigger than my head. The pricklies were gorse and very very very prickly as we waded through them. Half way up we considered going back for trousers but neither of us relished the thought of going back so onward and upward. The pain was numbed before the top due to severe pain and Miss Vica being very allergic to them and her legs looking like they have been put int he fire. But we got to the top and looked around the stones. Then it was time to go back, 2 options - a footpath in a minefield or to go back the way we came so we headed to the minefield before the path stopped so it was back the way we came. Back through the pricklies that have caused us so much pain, back through the pricklies with a curious white spit on the top of them, back through the pricklies in a skirt and I fell in them hand first! YAY, pricklies in my hand!!!!!!!
We eventually got to the bottom through gritting our teeth but miss vica had to do the first lot of surgery on my hand to remove pricklies which entailed hacking at my hand with a knife and me wanting to pass out. This was the first of 3 operations on my hand involving penknife we use for cheese, pins and needles. I must really trust my forensic friend!
After such a fun time it was my turn to lead us and I lead us through a minefield again!!!!! But in the end we found what we were looking for - 9 maidens which were actually 11 but oh well. We also found an inscirbed stone in a cow field. By this time it was tipping down and how Miss Vica got my coat i really don't know but i wore the tent. Imagine this, ms keela in a waterproof tent, wearing a gambian skirt, cows walking towards her and then standing behind a standing stone hiding from them!!!!
But not pricklies on my trip!
2 comments:
yes, hereby i take the responsibility for the day. and for it being one damn good "team building" day as ms keela put it. it all began about 8 years ago when i fell in love with celtic and pre-celtic heritage, especially the outdoorsy ones: quoits, tombs, menhirs, dolmens, stone circles, standing stones, inscribed stones, etc. now this was the time to go out and hike out to them in pretty cornish pastures, with a brownie leader who knows her onions and maps too. so we just did what we are soo good at: she read the map, and i did the enthusiastic pep talk about what we were gonna see. now how would i have known that a path is 20cm wide only if no man or sheep would ever consider walking it. possibly because the gorse would take the pants or the wool off of them (respectively). now i know, will remember it for a while too.
further minor intervening factors, such as a soft early autumn drizzle, a pea-soup category fog gently rolling in, invisible old tin mines cheerfully dotting the landscape, and the playful young calf that was so intent on making friends with ms-keela-in-dzsini's-tent, should nevertheless not overshadow the visual experience we had: standing, lying, balancing and inscribed, stones, stone circles (with a few extra stones admittedly, possibly two extra lads to cheer up the 9 maidens), and finally a spooky wishing well and a blair witch remake chapel in the middle of an errm quite spooky soaking wet forest. now werent we having fun that day! (i honestly was -- besides the stones being able to hack at ms keelas palm was certainly counterbalancing having my legs skinned and flayed by the prickles... :))
Calf my a****, its was a cow, a fully grown, wacking great big cow!!!! and it was coming towards me so I decided to hide behind the standing stone. Quite what I would have done if the cow had figured out where i was, i'm not sure. But the point was that i couldn't see it :) All the while Miss Vica took pictures and laughed (isn't she a heroin)
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