st ives wiv me bruvva… (and lesley+moira!)

Moira+I absolutely adore St Ives. We didn’t think we’d be able to get there in 2012 (we were last there in 2009) but then, a few weeks ago, received an invitation from my lovely brother Alan (and Lesley!) to join them for a couple of days. We’ve just got back – after a really relaxing time: walking, talking, eating, drinking, reading, chilling (you get the general idea)… so good to be able to have an opportunity for the four of us to “hang out” together. The excellent place we stayed is owned by one of my brother’s friends and is in a very different location to our former “holiday homes” in the town (which have been on Porthmeor Beach) – on one of the hillsides at the “station end” of the town (about a 5 minute walk to Porthminster Beach), with views across St Ives Bay. The weather was pretty kind to us. As well as the excellent company(!), I particularly enjoyed mooching from beach to beach; the dawn walk along Porthminster Beach on a bright, sunny morning; our usual coastal walk towards Zenner; wandering through the largely deserted streets; and, of course, The Tate Café – although the exhibition itself was somewhat disappointing.
A magical time.
Photo: wooden tables on Porthminster Beach (I love the colour combinations).
PS: A real bonus was lunch with Jean-Anne and John in Truro on our homeward journey – they’d been neighbours from Percy Street, Oxford days (and went on to have three daughters too). Bizarrely, although we’d exchanged Christmas letters, we hadn’t actually seen them for something like 30 years!! It was lovely to meet up again.