March 1997 - Boscastle

After a very rough and windy day walking today (Sunday), I've managed to make it to Boscastle. I'm staying with a lovely artist and her partner called Helen and Andy. Together they run a little gallery called the Old Forge, in which they display and sell all of Helen's original paintings of the Cornish coastline which are just stunning. I really recommend you check out their website by clicking here - The Old Forge Gallery. I had great fun in the Gallery trying to indetify the coasts I had seen already on my walk, whist Andy pointed out some of the coastline yet to come. I soon also met their lovely Jack Russell Stella who is always by their side.

The days walking to Boscastle, was at times extremely windy, I found myself often having to stop and hunker down, just to avoid being blown clean from the cliff! This fearsome wind, combined with the indescribable brutality of the sea by my side led to an often scary walk. This linked itself well with perhaps my earliest memory of nerves or fear on the morning I was due to start Nursery school in January 1997. It was a feeling that as far as I know I had never felt before in my short life. A fear on the unknown. A fear of what's to come. Ultimately, a fear of the path ahead; something which certainly embodied itself in my walk today. However I am pleased to say, just like my arrival at nursery school, the scary and unknown path, eventually led me to an unforgettable place. As I dropped down into Boscastle from the cliffs, my eyes embraced that childlike gaze they held when arriving at Nursary all those years ago. I sat an ate my lunch on a bench whilst I observed the countless tourists going out to view the at times 50 ft waves. Again that fear of the unknown, the untraceable, uncharted, uncontrollable ocean staring back at me. Adding itself to the unknown and fearsome path ahead, is this rumour of great storm arriving on the North Coast tonight. the few walkers I passed today all warned me, to make sure I wasn't camping tonight!  

So here I am, in my warm bed next to a wood burner in Andy, Helen and Stella's little cottage in Boscastle, bracing myself for this so called "Great Storm". The plan is to head to Tintagel tomorrow, although if the weather throws a tantrum I may have to shelter here for another day. Only time will tell, you have to go to Nursery before you find out how scary it actually is.