Materials Man

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Just had a great week in Cornwall with our friends. Cornwall for those who have not visited the county, is different, different in speech, different in topography, different in many subtle ways. Building for instance, the older roofs are built differently, no sarking, but across the roof joists  are purlions (i’m guessing here) and the slates (from Cornwall) are lime mortared on. It would appear to be a measure of coping with the different slate depths, the mortar evens it out, least they don’t rattle as mine do in a storm.

It was the walls I wanted to bring to your attention and the narrow streets with houses jammed together. There must be an abundance of stone, flat and long, (granite aside) for all the field walls that would be dry stane dykes in Scotland are earth filled double walls, replicated on the a new section of the A 30 where you can see from my pics the end of the wall and the new plants in the earth in the wall. There is a pic of a typical lane off the main road, you can see where the vegetation has been cut back and the wall is now completely obscured by the plant growth. Driving in these lanes, is like being in a forest, you cannot fix the horizon and after a few turns you have no idea which way you are facing, my ebay tom tom one came into it’s own. If you want to explore the Cornwall countryside without a sat nav best of luck! These walls/hedgerows must be linear nature reserves, and there are many, many miles of them, see the pic looking out to sea on the West coast, showing the landscape by fields. Magpies abound.

For you roadbuilders note the drainage detail in the picture of the planted wall, no filter drains to block up and (not) maintain, water is schooshed away in the concrete vee channel to presumably a suds pond.

Now the narrow streets and jumbled together houses, not sure of why, but I suspect lack of planning, thank goodness as it is now quaint, plus a hard life making a living, from the sea and the land. We visited the towns of Wadebridge, St Ives, Truro and Falmouth on this visit and I have to say the people are very welcoming, warm and eager to help, it makes such a difference. For the foodies, I have to say you don’t have to pay Rick Stein twice the price for very good sea food, we had excellent food wherever we lunched, and I had seafood by preference.

Cornwall in speech is as advertised, different, it has gender like French, I heard “liked that he” , and when working with fibreboard that was a tight fit my younger accomplice said “he fits now” as we crammed it in. Wish I could remember more but a cask strength Laphroaig, as a gift, seems to have reduced my memory.

The news by my radio brought information that two girls had jumped of Erskine bridge, and died, if you do that mid span it is a long drop. A certain death plunge. As my mind contemplated this tragedy, and I wondered, what did they think, contemplate, discuss on that hours walk from their care home to the bridge?

Did these young vulnerable kids discuss the prospect of a hereafter? did their minds baulk at what if I can’t do it? did they think of the thoughts of those connected to them and left behind? and was it “told you so” or what? I have so many questions from this news item, nae tragedy that I am left in bewilderment , determined to die, what were those last hours like as they walked to the bridge?

For whatever they discussed it was no deterrent.