Port Gaverne, Cornwall UK

Port Gaverne is the next harbor over from Port Isaac. It has a very nice beach and is a launching point for boats. 

You can walk there from Port Isaac, along the coastal path. The path is paved from Port Isaac all the way there. A portion of the path is a sidewalk alongside the road.

The path heading down to the Port Gaverne harbor using the coastal path from Port Isaac.

Heading back towards Port Isaac from Port Gaverne.

Once down at the harbor in Port Gaverne this building caught our attention because of the sign on it saying "Radio Port Wenn". This must have been the location of the radio station during the filming of series 7 Doc Martin tv show.  The filming concluded about a week before we got there.

In an earlier series of Doc Martin the radio station was located in a grand hotel on the headland overlooking Port Gaverne harbor. It is now all boarded up and who knows its fate.

Speaking of Doc Martin, there have been some scenes shot down at Port Gaverne beach that were used in the tv show.

You can walk on the headlands overlooking the Port Gaverne harbor. The views are amazing. Be sure to find the one bench that looks over the water. You won't want to get up once you have sat down!

Here are the headlands from the coastal path beyond Port Gaverne harbor.

Off in the distance you can see Tintagel. The coastal path continues on past Port Gaverne all the way there.

As we wandered along the headlands of Port Gaverne, we discovered a path and a bridge overlooking the harbor. Look closely at the photo below the old hotel used as Radio Port Wenn in Doc Martin. See the bridge? We stopped and took a look from there towards the Port Gaverne harbor.

Here is the view from the bridge.

The coastal path beyond Port Gaverne towards Tintagel is beautiful. I have only gone a little ways on it. The path was pretty close to the edge of the cliff. At times there were barriers (fences, hedges) to minimize the chance of falling off the cliff. Often there was no protection. Be really careful and don't not attempt when the path is muddy. Some day I would like to continue on the path all the way to Tintagel.

Here is a view from the path. You can see the shadow of a fence on the grass. 

On the walk back to Port Isaac on the coastal path we saw gulls.  They are abundant here.

Port Gaverne was an old fishing village. There are a few buildings down by the harbor that look like they were fish cellars at one point (a place to store fish and dry it). 

Hungry? Tired? The Port Gaverne Hotel is a nice resting spot. There is outdoor seating at the restaurant with a partial view of the harbor. The food and drink are tasty. Watch out for the fish pie.

It is good, except for the abundance of peas (in my opinion)!

Coastal Path Walk from Cornwall's Port Quin to Port Isaac - a pictorial guide from 2015

This summer we hiked along the coastal path from Port Quin to Port Isaac. This blog entry will show you some of the views along the way. The path is quite steep at times. 

Here is our starting point at Port Quin harbor.

Follow the signs by the cottages on the right and you will be pointed in the right direction to the coastal path, direction Port Isaac.

This is an example of the winding coastal path on the way towards Port Isaac. 

Steep stairs going up,such are these, you will encounter.

And these going down

On the way you will see views like these:

A nice bench to sit on and take in the view.

This view... of Port Isaac below.

More of Port Isaac.

Definitely worth all the effort to get to Port Isaac along the coastal path.

Especially worthwhile if this is waiting for you in the local pub in Port Isaac.

And this...(what's a few calories after a long hike?)

Yum!

St. Endellion 57th Summer Festival of Music, St. Endellion North Cornwall

Once again I had an absolutely fantastic time playing in the orchestra at the St. Endellion Festival this summer. Located near Port Isaac, this classical music festival takes place in the Collegiate Church of St. Endellion for 2 weeks in July and August. 

Here is a picture of the church on a stormy night.

Surrounding the church is a cemetery where parishioners (recently and not so recently deceased) are buried. Among the notable is a former music director of the music festival, Richard Hickox. I did not have the opportunity to meet him, but his presence is still very much felt amongst festival goers who knew him.

This year the festival orchestra was conducted by a beloved guest of the festival, Martyn Brabbins. 

His fame is legendary at the festival as he was able to secure the bass-baritone services of Sir John Tomlinson on short notice for performances of the opera Die Walküre by Wagner about 5 years ago. I was not there to witness those performances, but I heard they were amazing. Everyone at the festival in 2014 was excited to hear that Martyn Brabbins was returning along with Sir John Tomlinson for the opera in 2015. More on the opera later. Martyn Brabbins is an excellent conductor and musician in his own right and deserves much credit for helping the orchestra play at a very high level this year. His attitude was one of "playful seriousness". He certainly demanded a high level of playing. He was enjoying himself at the same time. That is contagious amongst the musicians. On a side note this conductor approached my husband during the break of a rehearsal and asked him who he was and where he was from. My husband was listening to the rehearsal. The conductor was surprised that we came all the way from the U.S. to attend the festival.

The featured works on the festival concerts included performances of Rossini's Petite Messe Solenelle,Haydn's Creation and the opera Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky (all for chorus, orchestra and vocal soloists). The orchestra also performed Beethoven's piano concerto #5 with pianist Charles Owen, Dvorak's Symphony #8 and Elgar's Sea Pictures with baritone Roderick Williams.

The festival chorus did a terrific job this year, especially with tackling the Russian language in the opera. Not many were fluent in Russian. With the help of a native Russian speaker/diction coach they were able to pull it off. Likewise hats off to the children in the opera chorus who sung in Russian as well.

The vocal soloists who come to this festival are amazing. As our artistic director told us where else are you going to find the high quality of singing of so many singers on the same stage? No opera house could afford to pay all these singers on stage at the same time. The incredible thing is that no one in the festival is paid. It is an all volunteer group of musicians who come and sing/play for the love of music.

Here was the list of vocal soloists this year. All are from the U.K. 

Pamela Helen Stephen, David Butt Philip, Mark Padmore, Rachel Nicholls, Alison Rose, Matthew Brook, Roderick (Roddy) Williams, Brindley Sherratt, Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts and Sir John Tomlinson.

As you can imagine, the opera Boris Godunov was unbelievable. First class vocal soloists all around. I have never ever seen so realistic acting by Sir John. When the character Boris was going mad or having a panic attack you really thought he was having a real medical emergency. His heart rate increased, he looked pale and looked like he was going to collapse. Even though he would replicate that in rehearsals, we were still all holding our breath at those moments in the opera. You can imagine the shock of the audience too at the realism.

In addition to the orchestra concerts there were chamber music concerts performed by many of the principals in the orchestra, plus pianists and singers. The highlight for me was a piece for 3 percussionists by Nebojša Jovan Živković, a Serbian composer, called Trio per Uno. Each movement of the piece featured different sets of percussion instruments. Sometimes the 3 players played on one instrument. The piece showcased the talents of our percussion section. It contained many different emotions and was a very visual piece. The coordination required amongst the players was well timed.

This performance was particularly moving as it was in memory of our percussion colleague Pete who died tragically last Fall. He was a young fellow in his 20s. We all miss him a lot.

Another highlight amongst the chamber music concerts was a performance by Port Isaac's Fîsherman's Friends. They are known for their singing of sea shanties. This was their second appearance at the festival. I wrote about this group in my blog post on Port Isaac. See that entry for more info on this fantastic group of singers.

One concert of the festival is always performed at the cathedral in Truro, Cornwall. This summer we took Haydn's Creation on the road. Here are some photos from the event.

Above - at the sound check before the performance.

Above - the cathedral. Taken from a side street called St. Mary's Street Mew. Note the ice cream sign in foreground. That is "Angelato", a gelato store. Highly recommended.

Right around the corner of the gelato place is a Polish grocery store called "Janosik". It is on New Bridge Street.  A great place to buy Polish food.

Above- downtown Truro with cathedral spires peeking up in the sky. 

The cathedral from the back.

The rose window in the back of the cathedral.

View towards altar, choir stalls.

If you have the opportunity to catch a concert at the St. Endellion Festival during the summer, I would recommend it. Tickets can be ordered by phone or mail. See the festival website for more info on ordering tickets. www.endellionfestivals.org.uk

There is also a week long festival there before Easter.

Concerts sell out quickly, so be on alert when tickets go on sale to the public (in the Spring for the summer concerts). You will not want to miss the concerts in the intimate setting of the St. Endellion Church, especially the opera.