St Ives and The Tate

Seagull at St Ives
Seagull at St Ives

We had a really goods night sleep, but woke up to a rainy day, then Helen realised that she had bought 2 bottles of shampoo rather than one of shampoo and one of conditioner, it meant a trip to the shops. Not such a bad thing when it is a rainy day, we could take the opportunity to to take a drive out and visit an I outdoor venue whilst the could see emptied themselves. We decided that we would take a look at St Ives at least for the morning.

It did not take long to get to St Ives and we took a chance on the parking, we passed a parking at the top of the town but decided to try for one in the town it self. Luckily for us there were two spaces in the small car park almost opposite the Tate St Ives. We head straight for Sid gallery paid our £11 entrance each and headed up to the cafe for a coffee. The view from the cafe is great it is just about above all the roof tops and you can see both sites of the St Ives peninsula. After a coffee we heard down the stairs to the galleries. As you expect from The Tate the art is modern which I find difficult to understand, but we liked some of it and even saw a scheme that might work as a feature wall for our kitchen. Interestingly we got a book in the gift shop with the title “WHY YOUR FIVE YEAR OLD COULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT – modern art explained”.

St Ives viewed from the Tate Gallery

Suitably cultured we headed into town which was easier said than done as the streets are narrow and despite restrictions there is quite a lot of traffic vying for space. We did eventually make to the quay side which was heaving, with people out shopping, or just aimlessly walking about like we were. Helen made a couple of purchase and I bought and artisan loaf of bread for sandwiches at lunch time. It went well with the Cornish blue I purchased on the way down.

We stopped off at M&S on the way back for a couple of evening meals, had a sandwich then headed out for a local walk. There was a sea fret moving in so even though I took my camera I did not have much hope of many pictures. We headed across the black to the far end then headed inland following the Red River, then around a small nature reserve, until we arrived at the village of Gwithian. We had a look around a art exhibition in the village hall, then a quick look at the village church. One thing I notice about the churches is that the bricks are not worn because they are made of granite rather than the chalk around Buckinghamshire, it seemed rude not to have a half at the Red River inn. I had the local summer ale which was Devine.

It was a short walk back to the hut for some more relaxing and dolphin watching. The sunset was stunning.