Sun on Saturday: Padstow, Cornwall

This is the first in a new series of posts where I'll be sharing some sun. There's two reasons for this new series, the first is who doesn't need a glimpse of the sun at this time of year and the second is that it'll give me a chance to share posts from our trip to Cornwall last September and even further back, our trip to Portugal in June. I suspect I'll find some other places with sun too along the way, so slap on some Factor 50 and enjoy some sun...

Padstow is where Rick Stein has his restaurant and many other businesses including a cafè, fish and chip shop, deli, gift shop, patisserie and accommodation. So there's a lot of Rick about, and no doubt his businesses have helped this small town thrive. We first visited about five years ago and that time we did the Rick thing, staying in accommodation above the cafè and eating in the Seafood restaurant before heading off to South Devon by train to visit relatives. And very nice it was too. 

This time though, our visit was a short one as we passed by on our way back to our accommodation in Newquay - well, we couldn't be in Cornwall and so close and not stop in to say hello.  We sensibly parked up by Rick's deli and walked the short distance into town.  The car park closer to town was busy and this seagull appeared to be directing operations...

It was late afternoon and the town was still bustling, with the majority of people focussed around the harbour admiring the boats and enjoying the last of the day's sun. And the boats, just look at the bright colours and the shimmer on the water, as well as the boat's reflections. 

We decided that our visit needed chips, so with chips in hand we sat on the quayside watching the world go by and becoming increasingly popular with the local bird population.

After a stroll around the lanes and the shops, which were now shutting and a random flip flop purchase by MOH we headed back towards the car. 

This chap seemed to be enjoying the view just as much as us.  We'd finished our chips when we spent some time with this gull who quite happily posed for a few photos, perhaps he thought we'd stowed some chips to reward him. He didn't really know us very well...

Almost back at the car and I was drawn to these lobster pots and their working setting. 

And then we did a very British thing, we sat in the car at the seaside! We spent probably longer than we should have watching a digger unload unknown quantities of sand on the far dock and load it for its onward transportation. We were both, sadly mesmerised by this - can you tell we're City types?

Anyway, with our Padstow reserves topped up until our next visit we headed back to Newquay and a large gin and tonic on the balcony. A perfect way to end the day. 

I'm linking this post to #wkendtravelinspiration and #PoCoLo

Discovering some of Bloomsbury's Squares

Shortly before Christmas I was in the Tottenham Court Road area of London and with some time to wander I decided against heading west to the bright lights of Oxford Street and its shops.  Instead I headed east and spent some time wandering through and photographing just some of Bloomsbury's Squares. 

While Bloomsbury has no official borders it's roughly defined as the square between Tottenham Court Road, Euston Road, Grays Inn Road and High Holborn and it has a high number of green spaces and squares. Sadly not all of them are open to the public, like Bedford Square which was the first I encountered. So I just had to make do with the railings (no complaints from me there) and glimpses into the garden. 

I spy a Stumpery...

Continuing east I was soon at Russell Square which has a largely symmetrical quadrant design. Despite the weather there were still plenty of people about, some scurrying through the green space, others taking things a bit more leisurely.  As well as the formal beds there was also a Lime Tree Cloister, which I suspect looks better in the summer when its flowers and scent fill the space. (Mental note: I must go back and visit in the summer)

There were a couple of other things that caught my eye, the first being the strange shape trunk of this tree:

And the dedication on this bench, like Robin I hope I never tire of London. 

Leaving Russell Square this time I headed north towards Tavistock Square, the home of the British Medical Association. I was surprised by the number of memorials in this square among the leafy walkways and twisting trees. 

The first I saw was of Virginia Woolf who lived in a house on the south side of the square between 1924 and 1939 where she wrote most of her great novels.  On Instagram today I'll share my first shot of this statue which made me giggle once I'd realised how it turned out, pop over there and take a look (or take a look at the social feeds page here on my site) and let me know if you smiled too. 

In the centre of the garden was this statue commemorating the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandi. 

The other memorials I saw were a cherry tree planted in August 1967 in memory of the victims of Hiroshima, a friendship tree - a ginkgo biloba - dedicated to the poetic genius of W B Yeats and a large boulder dedicated to all conscientious objectors to military service.

Having made these discoveries and with a glimpse over my shoulder I headed towards Gordon Square which was just a row of houses away. It's the same size as Tavistock Square and is owned by the University of London but is open to the public. 

This square has a more modern feel to it, which is not surprising as restoration work completed in 2007. It was the buildings around this square though that most fascinated me. 

Note the fatball hanging from the lower branches

Before I move on, here's a few shots of the Church of Christ the King that dominated the square. 

I was reaching Square overload, but I squeezed in one more - Woburn Square, which is the smallest square in Bloomsbury. It was named after Woburn Abbey, the main country seat of the Duke of Bedford who developed much of the area. The houses surrounding this square are different, smaller, less ornate and are classed as "second rate" and so had lower rates. Well I don't know about you, but I'd be happy to have one of these second rate homes!

And then hidden in the greenery there was this statue, which seemed a fitting end to my Squares walk. In a short amount of time and even less distance I'd managed to walk through several green spaces all in the centre of London. Amazing. 

The Green Man by Lydia Kapinska

"My roots go down to the depths of the world, through earth dry brick
and damp earth, through veins of lead and silver. I am all fibre."
Virginia Woolf, The Waves 1931

Nordic Christmas Markets in London

Each November the Norwegian and Finnish churches in Rotherhithe, South East London hold a Christmas Market - I didn't know these churches were even there until I read about the event in Time Out. I guess not being Nordic is part of the reason for not knowing, but I was surprised to find not one, but two Nordic churches in the same London street. So with a free afternoon, and looking forward to discover some Moomin goodies I went along to visit.

With a bus and tube ride to Canada Water I set off in what I thought was the right direction. Unfortunately I missed the turning I needed so had a detour around some of the residential streets around Canada Water tube.  A very nice walk, but it wasn't the Christmas Markets I'd come for...

With the help (and later hindrance) of google maps I was back on track before it decided to take me on a three-sided-loop-of-the-building-I-wanted detour, but I made it and reached St Olav's Square and the Norwegian church. There's been a Norwegian church in London since the 17th century and this church was consecrated in 1927. And in case you're wondering St Olav's Square was named in 1990.

Moving inside the church I was hit with Christmas, which was odd as it was early for me but I soon got caught up with it all as I wandered around the church admiring the views and goods available on each stall. 

I was very tempted by the felted Father Christmases above, along with the angels I shared for Sunday's black and white photo. These spatulas also caught my eye and raised a smile. 

And then I had angel confusion.  I couldn't decide between these knitted singing angels or the blushing smiling angels, and sadly I came away with neither. I should have applied my usual approach and bought both, next year maybe...

There was, as you'd expect a lot of red around. It was a Christmas market after all and a Norwegian one at that and this extended to the outdoor part of the market set up as stalls and in a large marquee in Albion Road.  But it wasn't all Christmas decorations...

There were plenty of food stalls, and yes... well, it would have been rude not to! It was huge though and I struggled (but just about managed) to finish this before moving onto the Finnish church. 

I'm sure their beards were growing as I watched them...

The Finnish church is much different to the Norwegian one down the road and this church building was opened in 1958. It's distinctive architecture has earnt it Grade II listed building status - it even has its own sauna - and on their website they sum up their Christmas market as

"9200 customers, 3000 sausages, 1500 cinnamon buns, 1300 carelian pies, 30 reindeer hides, 460 jars of plum jam, 50 hours of Christmas songs and much more..."

And the church definitely had a friendly and welcoming feel, and was a hive of activity. 

And there were plenty of Moomin products, in fact everything you could ever want Moomin!

And these gorgeous rugs.

Back outside and I spotted these giant snowflakes and the reindeer hide covered chair and I was oh so tempted to try it out!

I had a great afternoon wandering around the two markets and their churches discovering more about London which had remained undiscovered to me until now. And maybe just maybe, I was starting to feel little of that Christmas magic...  

What and when does the Christmas magic start for you?