6th March 2010
Plastic People [Frank Zappa]
The
estuarine birds seemed to spend all night calling to each other and it came as
a big surprise when I opened the flap of the tent to have a sprinkling of ice
come down on me. It had not seemed that cold. I phoned my parents and laughed
as my worrying mother warned me about the incoming tide. “Don't let it wash you
away.”
To Truro Cathedral I went and sat for a while listening to the organist practicing his pieces for evensong.
Later in the afternoon I met the warden of Stithian's reservoir, Simon Taylor
and Daniel Eva, a Cornish birder. I also saw a Water Rail in a place where they
should not be, walking down the side of the road!
I cycled to Marazion with the country road giving great views to the north and south Cornish coast. Along the road past St Michael's Mount, as wonderful and continental looking as ever.
Looking over Marazion RSPB Reserve from the coast road, I could see fields of polythene massed on the gentle hills behind and I wondered how long it would be before this area began to look like Almeria in Spain? Have a look on the satellite image for Almeria by using Google Maps and then realise that the white that you are looking at, that extends for miles in all directions from the Spanish city centre, is actually made of thousands of plastic greenhouses. It would be appalling to see the same sort of thing happen here. I have always wondered as we, whilst I'm on the subject, how much of the plastic sheeting covering fields gets left to pollute the land.
In the dark of the evening I reach Penzance Youth Hostel, which turned out to be the most luxurious yet with deep pile carpets and refurbished rooms.
36.3 miles
2,287 feet up 2,149 feet down
