the year turns...

I love the 21st, the Winter Solstice, the turning point; It may be utterly freezing right now and daylight hours scarce but the sun is coming back, it WILL get warmer and the are days getting longer!

let it snow...

Generally, as you will read in many holiday brochures for the far west, we enjoy milder winters than anywhere else in the UK. And 'generally' that is true, but this year...

The roads were thick with snow so not worth the risk of driving, and after getting the mountainbike out to do a Tesco run I decided it was actually quite nice out so took a ride up onto the high moors of Penwith.

This area is really one of the hidden gems of West Cornwall, its amazing how few people, even locals, venture up there. Even at the height of summer you can be up there, with panoramic views of ocean on three sides, all about the ancient stones, circles and quoits that are the remains of a once hugely ceremonial and significant landscape, and not see another person. Just you, the wind and the bird song. Utterly lovely and incredibly atmospheric. 

The stone circle you can just about see in the bottom shot is Boskednan or Nine Maidens as it is also called. Most visitors head over to Men an Tol or the Merry Maidens on the south coast, but this one from the late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age period sat on its windswept hill is well worth exploring. It has great energy and a really nice feel, even though a well intentioned but possibly incorrect restoration a few years back changed the feel a little. You can even take a short walk down the hill to the Iron Age village of Bodrifty in the valley below, which odd to think when originally settled the stones were already there looking down and had been so for a very long time already!

PLEASE HELP SURF ACTION BY VOTING TOMORROW (25TH NOV)

PLEASE HELP SURFACTION TOMORROW!

please check out www.surfaction.co.uk and their bid to win a grant from the ITV Peoples Millions Big Lottery Fund this coming thursday (tomorrow). 

the guys who run it are all really good blokes who work incredibly hard with limited resources to make a real difference, through surfing, to the lives of lads who have been wounded (both physically and mentally) whilst serving this country. 

so please take a minute to get on the phone on thurs to cast your vote and help them because if they can get the grant it will make a huge difference to the work they will be able to do. 

the number will be posted on surfaction tomorrow. 

check out the stories at www.combatsurfers.blogspot.com to read about some of the stories they have achieved.

Is Kirsty peeking through the window?

Tuesday night comes around and that can only mean one thing... Kirsty's Home Made Home on Channel 4.

Not something I would generally watch (although she did get huge respect from me for placing an original 'Never Mind the Boll@cks' shop poster in her Devon house - wish I could find one at a sensible price, been looking for years!), but the wife likes to take a look, not for inspiration but more to see what Kirsty has come up with now because scarily, like some crazy style stalker, quite a few of Kirsty's recent top tips are very close to home.

It started innocently enough with Kirsty suggesting wrapping presents in brown parcel paper, which we've done for years. Next thing we knew it was hanging memories (old photo's etc) from strings with small pegs, something you will find on our kitchen dresser, but then it got worse...


For one couple she recommended putting old maps on the walls for decoration, just like we had done in the Beach House's small bedroom! They are great and so much more fun than wallpaper, they are 1950's National Geographic maps to be exact.

Above the top bunk headbard 'The World' (very interesting to see how territories have changed both in terms of control and in many cases name in 60 years), and at the foot my favourite 'The Pacific'. Always loved looking at those small island chains in a mass of blue and wondering what waves are out there breaking unridden.

Then there was the hooks. Kirsty's advice was not to clutter up smaller rooms with wardrobes but to use hooks...


Cast iron reproductions of a classic Edwardian design, with natural wax finish, hand made by a forge in the North of England (we also bought from the same place some lovely twisted cup hooks, window latches and door bolts) was our call.

So Kirsty, if you want some ideas/inspiration for the new series don't look through the window of The Little Beach House. Give us a call and we'll gladly make you a cuppa and let you in, and if you are really quick you can even check out the Christmas decorations that the wife is sat downstairs making for the beach house for some lucky people to enjoy this year!  : )

a grand day out take 2...

The Lizard is ever present in West Cornwall, pretty much anywhere on the South Coast look east and you can't miss it... but i've hardly ever been there! So last Sunday we loaded up the VW with kids and dogs, quick latte stop at Jordan's Cafe in Marazion, and with the promise of a magical mystery tour to a destination involving two things my kid's love very much (although my youngest was convinced we were going to Toys R Us as apparently his two favourite things are looking at toys and buying toys) , we drove off.

In some ways The Lizard epitomizes the real variety of West Cornwall and why I would argue its the best bit of the County. In just a few short miles you go from bare Atlantic bashed granite cliffs, across treeless high moors (lovely this time of year) and the next thing you are driving through tree tunnels made all the more lovely with the splendidly vivid red and gold foliage of late autumn. Head over the the Helford side and it's even thicker with glorious deciduous trees . I'd imagine a sunny day paddle in a kayak, in quiet creeks where the dense ancient woods cascade right down to the waters edge, would be stunning this time of year!

Anyway our main aim, met with screams of joy from the back, when we passed the tourist direction sign that gave the game away, was non other than the ice cream Mecca that is Roskillys.

Its one of those places that you mean to go to for ages, and when you do wonder why you hadn't come sooner. Even though a lot of the farm attractions were closed for the day there was still plenty to see and some lovely walks around the lakes and meadows. That you could also take the dogs was a huge bonus. Definitely a 'must do' for the spring!

And whilst I am aware this blog is becoming a bit Pasty obsessed (the famous Ann's pasty shop in Lizard is closed on Sun so I'll have to get back on that subject) I can recommend the food in the Croust tea room which offers a menus that is homemade, tasty and reasonably priced.

The review of the pasty... slightly differing views I am afraid! Overall very nice, nicely seasoned, good amount of tender steak (they use a lot of locally reared produce, the kids chose hot dogs and sausage rolls which both featured delicious local pork) and a decent size - not too much, not too little.

The controversy is the pastry, or rather that they made it with a slightly roughpuff variety. I quite liked the little bit of flakiness it offered but my wife is straight down the line traditional with short crust pastry on a Pasty and nothing else.

So there you have it, maybe a 40mins drive from our Little Beach House at Sennen takes you to another world and well worthy of a grand day out!

the best pasty (! or ?)

Saturday night came and went, but bless my mother-in-law once again for the weekly pasty (she bakes them religiously on a Friday for lunch, as her mother did, and her mother's mother and so on way back to before the family can remember).

And I have to say as good as Phelps are, they do not compare to the real thing (must post my father-in-law's pasty story one day, its a cracker).

But what prompted me to make this post was a mention on the pasties and cream blog of of a redruth based blog, http://theonlinepastyguide.blogspot.com/ that I found really amusing (do check out 1st sept post 'The Future').

Within his posts he mentions quite a few I've never heard of. and intriguingly in the post listing his dad's favourites by location for Hayle its Hanson's and not Phelps. Might have to wander over to Hayle sometime soon and see for myself.

Of course though its your own palate that will always be the bottom line as i note that pasties and cream highlights that the onlinepatyguide isn't too keen of Lavenders in Penzance, unlike his dad, which whilst I'll admit I haven't tried a Lavenders myself, I've heard very good things of their food and excellent reports of their scotch eggs.

OCTOBER HALF TERM SPECIAL - and it looks like sun!

For those that can drop everything and get away we have a late availability opportunity for next week (Oct half term) beginning Fri 22nd (arrival and departure can be flexible) and can do a very good rate if you contact us direct (as against our agency in this instance).

The very best bit is that according to the 14day forecast for Sennen on  Metcheck its looking like the recent run of dry weather and sun will continue, so come on down and enjoy the last of the summer.

To contact us for a special price please email info@littlebeachhouse.co.uk