After a rough sleep and lots of walking the last few days I was having some trouble getting motivated for my last day on the coast. So I decided to have an easy day wandering Penzance as I pleased. I headed down the hill to the promenade and had a lovely walk. It was a bit dreary too, but no rain. I started out having a cup of tea and a croissant from a little trailer set up on the promenade.
Next I walked down to the Jubilee Pool. When packing for this trip I had debating bringing a swim suit, but I could not remember why I thought it was a good idea. While Cornwall has beautiful beaches, it was not going to be very seasonal for swimming. None of my hotels had pools. So I shrugged it off and didn’t bother.
Well, the answer was the Jubilee Pool. It started out with the town piling rocks to create a swimming area. In 1935 the Jubliee Pool was opened for King George V’s Silver Jubilee. It is a triangular shaped pool that is managed, but is filled by seawater and has a small children’s section. And the reason for my need of a swim suit was the recent edition of a geothermal heated pool. The hot pool was filled with people, and a few taking laps in the main pool as well.
My stroll then continued to the Yacht Inn where I had lunch and a pint of local lager. Further along I stopped at a building that was the oldest lifeboat house in Cornwall, and is now a little cafe. The family that runs it also has a meadery. So with my tea I sampled a flight of six meads. They were not quite to my taste, but I enjoyed the peach flavour quite a bit.
My slow meander through town took me back up the hills now, where I stopped at 45 Queen St, a small fancy little restaurant for an early dinner. I relaxed there for a bit with a glass of wine and my book before heading back to my inn.
I had seen a sign that it was a trivia night, and they collect money for a charity in hour of the landlords nephew who passed from cancer recent. The funds go to support cancer treatment with the NHS. I slipped into the main pub and ordered a pint. It can be hard being on a trivia team of one - I was dead last at one in Australia! They are still fun none the less. But the lovely people of the Fountain Tavern had none of that. One of the locals asked if I was playing and I was encouraged to join one of the teams.
It was lots of fun getting to know the locals, and I did provide a bit of an edge with some questions. Though not too many! My best was being able to name five famous Jennifer’s from film and television. To some hilarity when I was asked where I was staying, I replied that I was staying at the inn there. With some laughter I discovered two of my teammates owned the establishment! They and their friends had quite a good night and were very welcoming. I had an excellent stay and was glad I decided to join the trivia challenge.
In the morning was check out, not a rush as it was just a one hour train ride to my next destination. I’m staying in Bodmin near the beautiful Bodmin Moor. I am also very excited to be treating myself to a very posh hotel that was once the Bodmin Jail. Built in 1779 it was a remarkably modern jail for its time, inmates had individual cells, women had a separate area and there was even hot water! The room are comprised of three cells to make them very spacious, and I think my bed is actually in what was an extra fire place in the women’s section so the pregnant and nursing mothers could have some extra heat. So kind of them. That wing was eventually given over to the Navy and used to house prisoners from the military.
The restaurant is in the old chapel, and the bar is the Chaplin’s office. From here he could see the executions in the public yard from the comfort of his own chair. I’m quite excited to stay here, both the luxury and the history. There is an eerie silence in my rooms though with the think stone walls. As well as a plaque on the wall that says the cell was used by Benjamin Ellison who was executed in 1845.
Tonight I will be doing a ghost tour of the museum that is on the site. I’m really looking forward to a nice sleep in the plush comfort of my room. So I hope I won’t regret the tour!
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