Zennor and Mermaids

Ohhhh!! gorgeous little villages with their local myths, based on truths lost in time. Zennor is a perfect example of this. The village is easily missed if you are on the road to St Just. A goat track hidden in the grass going straight down toward the sea is all the warning you have that there might be something there. I'd read a little about it, so knew what I was looking for. We went straight to the church, which had been built around the 1000s. Solid and a very different feeling than many of the other churches we have visited this week. A very old feeling - beyond Christianity. St Sarara founded a church in the area 1400 years ago. She came from the sea ( probably came in a boat.. but don't spoil a good story) and impressed the cornish people so much they converted to Christianity.

Mermaids have a very strong link to this part of the coast and there are alot of stories of sightings.

The local story goes that a local lad sang beautifully in the church every week. His voice carried down into the cove and entranced a mermaid. Gradually, every week, she ventured closer until finally she managed to slither her way to the church ( not quite sure how.. but lets not get in the way of a story). She covered her tail with a long dress and "it came to pass' that the two fell in love.  She revealed that she was a mermaid and invited him back into her domain. He was so in love with her that he followed her into the sea and was never seen again.

In the church there is a chair with carved ends of a mermaid. It is interesting to note all the symbology of a mermaid as being included into the medieval church teachings and was often included in the mystery plays they performed to introduce the bible stories to locals. The maid coming from the sea symbolised the two natures of Christ. It was explained that she was both human and fish - just as Christ was seen as both human and as God. She often carries a mirror and comb - which are reminders of vanity for womenkind.(hmmm)

The church also boasts bell ringing - it was so tempting to go and pull on the long cords.. but don't fear.. I didn't!  Beautiful stained glass windows and carved wooden pews.. breathtaking.. again.

We shot across after teh church visit into the Tinners Arms - an extremely old pub, built by the stonemasons who were building the church in the 1000s. The story goes that they built the pub first, before starting on the church.  Once again - its tiny, the low beams making you duck in places.  Super cozy and cute. We chatted with the barmaid Amy for a long while, striking up a friendship I hope continues though facebook.  They have a 'real ale' called the Zennor Mermaid. I wish I liked ale.. and know some people who'd I'd LOVE to havejoined me here.. and would have enjoyed tasting all these boutique ales.

Geevor Tin Mine

On a pretty dreary day, on our way to St Just, we passed a sign about a tin mine. I'd been in mines before, but knew the kids hadn't, so after a quick vote, we turned round and headed into the Geevor Tin Mine Museum.

I hadn't expected much and was so pleasantly surprised and delighted with the displays and experience we had. The Geevor was a huge mine, running tunnels under the sea from and  through the cliffs. It ran from the very early 1900s and closed in 1986 after the price of tin fell through the bottom of the market.

I was incredibly impressed at the level of detail the museum staff who set up each area had gone to. We were able to go into the dry dock - where the minors changed out of their civies and into their mining gear, get showered etc. The lockers have dirty clothes flung inside them, the showers have soap and flannels hanging there as if the miners are about to turn up from a shift at any moment.

Throughout the displays there were points you could see or hear old minors giving their versions of events or stories. There really were no detail left unexplored. There was tea still in pots, the time cards in the machine and half eaten pasties on desks in the supervisors table.

There was plenty of hands on experiments to explain the methods used to separate the tin from the rocks and even dress ups in a little area.  I had to laugh at the kids as they did the smell test - smells from different parts of the mine had been recreated - they both said the dry dock ( where the men showered) was the stinkiest.. no comment..

We had three other people on our tour down into the mine closest to the cliffs. They were hand hewn tunnels and very wet.  the head guide was brilliant at explaining how to tell the difference between hand and machine based tunnelling and how to tell which way the tunnel had been made.  All such simple little things - but unless explained and demonstrated, you wouldn't pick it up.

I hope the kids took in alot - there really was an overload of information both in the museum and on the tour.  For a little side trip I thought would be a bit naff.. it was well worth the effort and entrance price..Oh  and better yet - I have a year long pass.. so may actually come back in the summer... grin.