Friday, January 30, 2009

SKYWATCH FRIDAY (Back to Cornwall)


As the skies of Chicago have been rather grey and uninspiring this week I have decided to take you on a whistle-stop tour of Cornwall for something a little more cheery, and considerably warmer!


When we visited last June the weather was glorious and all the wild flowers were blooming.


Being a fairly exposed peninsula of land, there are some pretty serious winds that blow at various times of the year which are strong enough to influence the shapes of the trees.


Once the centre of tin mining for the world, these ancient stone mine buildings are dotted all along the coastline as reminders of an earlier industrial age.


With the exception of a small region of serpentine, virtually the entire peninsula is comprised of predominantly granite with very shallow top soil. Not many plants can thrive in these conditions but one that is successful is heather. Pictured here at Cape Cornwall as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.


Even after the sun has set the scenery is still dramatic and starkly beautiful.

Travel the worlds skies at Skywatch Friday.

Photo Credits - CJT & Dominick V

11 comments:

bass said...

I love these last two photos. thanks for sharing. Happy Skywatching!

Walker said...

Beautiful pictures, thanks so much for sharing.

Louise said...

Don't mind your detour one bit! I love the windswept tree!

imac said...

Beautiful contrast in colour in all pics, they are so beautiful.

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

beautiful set. The last shot with the moon is my favorite.

Anonymous said...

The detour was good for me..Beautiful scenery and not one bit of snow...

gtyyup said...

Great photos...love the trip to a warmer place!! Really enjoyed the stone mine buildings; they remind me of castle ruins...very magical~~

Unknown said...

Sometimes you have to pull from the archives. Isn't that like memories in general -- they keep us buoyant when the day in and day out sinks us down.

Celeste said...

Skies - thank you, glad you liked them. Happy skywatch to you too.

Walker - thanks for dropping by, have a great weekend.

Louise - There are many trees like that in Cornwall, they have to work real hard to grow at all!

Imac - Thanks. Are you planning on visiting Cornwall again any time soon?

Celeste said...

Secret Mom Thoughts - thanks, I think that is probably my favorite too.

Ramblingwoods - I think we all need a few detours at this time of year :)

Gtyyup - The old mine buildings are very evocative and there are loads of them around.

Robert V Sobczak - You are quite right about the memories Robert, they do keep us going through those long winter evenings.

eyanharve said...

great information sharing and blog is very nice. i like it.
- St Austell