Soon after the Tunbridge event was the trip to Cornwall. Spending a week near the coast and having a week away in May photographing cows used to be an annual event until Borneo. One of the optimum times to visit Borneo was in July making both events too close together. However, it's now been reinstated and even next year's venue has been provisionally booked.
Cornwall was chosen as it was the only county in England which I hadn't visited before and I was suitably impressed. I've got quite a bit of new reference material now and so the Cornish cows will be appearing in a painting sometime soon. I photographed a dairy herd, mainly Holstein Friesian on a coastal path from Mullion to Gunwalloe. They had a great view out to the Atlantic and I kept well away from from the cliff edge. If I'd plunged to my almost certain death on the rocks below, people would probably have said "ah well, it's how she would have wanted to go..photographing cows". For the record, no it isn't actually. When I shuffle off my mortal coil my choice would be something painless, quick and preferably without my prior knowledge which certainly rules out hurtling from jagged rocks into deep water.
But I digress..let me turn my attention to the local hostelry close to where I was staying - The Smugglers Den Inn www.thesmugglersden.co.uk (pictured above) which was close enough when approached via footpaths across three fields, one of which contained cows with calves (marvellous..who could ask for more?) the pub was just behind the trees in the far right of the field in the photo below and I really needed to stay another week to get a little further down the menu and specials board.
I'd pre booked Sunday lunch (ah, gotta love the Internet) and so spent a pleasant hour or so with the weekend papers before enjoying a decent Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding dinner. I have to say I was impressed by the quality of food in Cornwall and this was especially true of another restaurant which was also close by. Odds Restaurant www.oddstherestaurant.co.uk is owned and created by local farmer Adam Coad by using natural materials, turfed roof and carved into the Cubert hillside to give superb views across the Atlantic Ocean. It also had the cleanest carpets I've ever seen (I am my mother's daughter) and one of the waitresses did confide that Adam vacuums them himself!
His brother owns the Limousin cross herd near The Smuggler's Den Inn I photographed earlier in the week (see photo top) and Adam himself (stood on the right in the photo immediately above) owns Pedigree Herefords, some of whom find themselves on the menu. There is a large photograph of his prize bull, "Ellenglaze 1 Fearless" on the wall by the stairs down to the restaurant.
I did try the Ellenglaze Beef two ways, with a fillet and filled suet pudding which was lovely although not for the smaller appetite so I couldn't manage a pudding. I did, however, have a starter of pan seared wood pigeon on beetroot with a red wine reduction and jus with a parsnip crisp. It was excellent served pink and cooked to perfection although I initially thought I'd lost a filling which on closer inspection turned out to be a bit of lead shot!
A return visit the next night foregoing the starter and choosing the confit of duck as a mains (no lead shot) it was superb and meant I could enjoy a pudding of chocolate mousse and a hazelnut biscuit.
All of which was in great contrast to the stay at the newly opened Ibis on an industrial estate in Gloucester to break the long journey home. The chef had phoned in sick at short notice so apart from what the staff could manage themselves with a microwave meant there was no food. The receptionist recommended a local pub as an alternative which she estimated was a half mile walk away. A mile and a quarter later brought me within sight of a bouncy castle and a pub from the Hungry Horse chain.
All I can say is a warm bottle of plonk and an enormous plate of fried food where I was aware of a smear of pea from a previous diner on the bottom of the plate as it was lowered towards me whilst bare footed savages ran amok high on fizzy drinks and E numbers did not make for the best "last meal of the holiday"
Still, it filled a gap at the time and I'm back home with batteries recharged and ready to paint again.
