A weekend in Cornwall

We've had some good friends to stay for the weekend and we took the opportunity to do a little local sight-seeing. Day 1 took in the Bude Canal and Crackington Haven and Day 2, Padstow, Wadebridge and Daymer Bay. Here are a few photographs as a record of a couple of very enjoyable days.

Bude Canal: Grey Heron

Bude Canal: a gaggle of Canada Geese.

Bude Canal: something we'd never seen before - a Grass Snake in the water

Bude Canal: something else we've never seen before - a Kingfisher. This one was extremely accommodating and stayed in a bush for many minutes as we all enjoyed seeing it. It proved to be quite an attraction and there was a crowd of us peering at it for a long time.

Bude Canal: we haven't seen one of these before either

Bude Canal: just one more of the one hundred shots I took of the Kingfisher

Crackington Haven: a welcome swim at the end of a hot day. Mrs P beat me into the waves

Padstow: harbour view

St Enedoc's church (Daymer Bay): twelfth century. At one time it was buried by the neighbouring sand dunes and the priest had to climb in through the roof to give services to maintain its consecration

St Enedoc's church (Daymer Bay): flowers from a wedding adorned the entrance

St Enedoc's church (Daymer Bay): a slate plaque from the wall of a side chapel. The captain of the brig was found guilty of manslaughter at a trial after the tragic event. He had taken a route into Padstow harbour which was known to be dangerous and certainly not recommended by the Admiralty

 

St Enedoc's church (Daymer Bay): In keeping with my usual skulking around graveyards for WW1 graves, here's one with an intriguing story. Hooray for the internet.

 

The SS Armenian (originally SS India but renamed SS Armenian in commemoration of the genocidal actions of the Ottoman Empire) began her final and fateful voyage in early June 1915 with 175 men onboard. She was chartered to carry a cargo of 1,422 mules from the United States to Bristol in England. The animals, offspring of male donkeys and female horses, were intended as replacements for the horses that had been lost in fighting in France. At around 6:30pm on the 28th of June, while heading northeast off Trevose Head, Cornwall, a watchman on the Armenian sighted a German submarine. In what proved to be a hugely erroneous decision, Captain James Trickey ordered full steam in an attempt to outrun
the U-boat, which turned out to be the U-24. He was signaled to stop and surrender after two shots were fired across his bow, but he refused. The U-boat's commander, Rudolf Schneider, then opened fire with the deck gun, scoring several hits on the Armenian, one shot taking out the Marconi room.

 

After more than a dozen men lay dead or injured on the deck, Trickey finally agreed to surrender. Much to his surprise, he and the crew were treated well by the Germans from that point on. With several lifeboats damaged from the shelling, they were allowed to take the remaining boats and make for the Cornish coast. The Armenian was then sunk by two torpedoes fired into her stern. She went down in a matter of minutes.

The survivors were picked up the following day by the Belgian steam trawler President Stevens. Four of the injured died before they could be rescued. Twenty-nine men in total lost their lives, including nineteen Americans. The Armenian needed hands to tend to the mules, so many of the 175 men on board were muleteers who had been hired at Newport News, Virginia, before sailing. Of the twenty-nine fatalities, twelve were muleteers who refused to abandon
the animals for which they had developed sincere affection and respect, and preferred to go down with the ship. Most of them were African-Americans.

St Enedoc's church (Daymer Bay): Another intriguing memorial, this one to Christopher Runnalls of the 10th Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry. A little rooting around reveals that he was 34 when he died 'of wounds at home'. His medal roll suggests that he did not serve abroad and I assume that he was killed in some sort of military accident.

St Enedoc's church (Daymer Bay): an interior view of the church. It had a nice friendly feel.

St Enedoc's church (Daymer Bay): a vignette from an earlier time. A grant for extra seating with the proviso that they are all free. But subject to assignment by the Church Wardens.