Travelling to Plymouth and Cornwall is beginning to turn into a regular event each year. Aunt Joan, my mothers sister, lives near Plymouth. She will be 99 on 21st December and we need to call in there to catch up on all the worlds news! We stay at cousin Cathy, her daughters home nearby.
The ferry from Roscoff was leaving at 8.30am. We had to be there an hour early and it is almost a 2 hour drive from Guemene so we decided to spend the previous night at the Ibis hotel in Roscoff.
ROSCOFF 1st August 2017
They were having a Festival of "The Onion Johnnies".
After the war these people would take onions from Brittany to the UK where they sold them from bicycles.
Walkway to ferry for local island.
Mary, Queen of Scots, pretender to the throne of England and Scotland, aged 5 1/2 years, was landed in a rowboat at this inconspicuous corner of a beach. Elizabeth 1st many years later had her executed.
Hotel named after Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots.
Flower displays everywhere.
In stark contrast this is the wharf which greets you on arrival in Plymouth!
Cars waiting to get off ferry.
Aunt Joan with Cathy.
We took a ride up onto the moors behind Plymouth. Sheep roam freely here'
Can't keep a good rambler down, even at 99! Walking at Newton Ferrers a tidal estuary near Plymouth.
Newton Ferrers.
TREVAUNANCE BEACH, ST AGNES, CORNWALL
L to R: James, Eilise, Gail, Archie, Elise and Cathy. The three young ones were planning on going into the ocean but since the Irish cousins James and Eilise can't swim, the tide was in and a bit rough they were not allowed. Pity, they had just bought second hand wet suits for the occasion. Elise is over from Ireland with the two children staying with her sister Gail up the road. They flew into the recently opened Newquay Airport from Cork, just 2 hours door to door. She and Gail are daughters of Cathys sister Elsie who passed away last November.
Disappointed!
Later that evening we attended the St Agnes Festival and Parade. Held every year people come from all over to descend on this small village.
This float represents the time of Rasputin in Russia.
Renovations under way at ODELAY, Gails place. A wall has been removed in the foreground and a laminated wooden beam installed to hold up the roof.
A shower has been installed out the back to rinse off after being at the beach.
View over the top of the house looking South.
Close up of the Engine House on the Hill. This housed a pump to remove water from the tin mines underneath.
The beach at Low Tide.
Gails daughter, Iona, fourth from the left, who is on beach patrol as part of her training to be a life guard.
There was a fishing competition that day. Here James has a close up look at a mackerel.
... and Eilise.
I bought four mackerel from the owner of this boat obscured on the right. I was told he is from an old family round here and owns the entire beach at Trevaunance Cove above the high tide mark.
Part of the catch from the competition. One of the prizes is for the greatest variety of fish species.
The competitors all conveniently lined up for me!
Cornish Pasty shop.
Gails oversized Rhodesian Ridgeback bred to flush out lions for hunters. Completely under control here. NOT!
Beautiful face. Can't imagine a lion being bothered by one of these. This one in particular!
Wildflowers a bit past their best.
Elise and Gail.
PLYMOUTH
The "Mayflower" sailed for America and "The Bounty" for Australia from this opening at Plymouth,
Setting off from Plymouth to a chorus of car alarms caused by ship vibrations. (Despite signs to turn them off!)
Goodbye England.
We purchased a property in France 15 years ago so we are sensitive to this issue. The British vote was almost 50 - 50 and according to polls 80% of people under 25 would have voted against it but only 20% bothered to get out of bed to do so.
This is hardly a mandate to steam roller Brexit through.
British people are notoriously lazy at learning other languages but if they did they would find it's like a parallel universe in European countries. People do and think exactly the same way, with exceptions of course but that makes it so much more interesting
I have spoken to quite a few people, read newspapers and listened to the news in France and Britain and am still open minded about Brexit though it does seem to me like a "Garry Owen" (Rugby Union parlance for a kick and hope!)
The arguments for leaving though understandable, particularly with the older generation, to me are unconvincing.
1. Loss of Sovereignty:
British Courts are making judgements which are then being reversed, on appeal, by the European Court.
They must have thought about this when entering in the first place. Not sure how often this has occurred, would like to see the stats. Presumably some of this is justified.
Britain has only one voice out of 27 so gets outvoted when trying to make changes to the way things are run.
Again this must have been taken in to account at the beginning. Why don't they do what I'm told the French do, ignore or refuse to participate in decisions they don't like? That way they put the onus on the EU to kick them out which they would be unlikely to do. Not pick up their bat and ball and stalk off across the channel, which is only 25 miles (40 kms) wide!
Seems a bit limp wristed to me.
2. Being overwhelmed by immigrants:
Britain was never a party to the Schengen Agreement which allows free passage of people between EU members. You have to have a passport to enter so they do have a great deal of control over who enters the country now.
As for refugees and opportunists seeking asylum. Brexit will have no effect on that, they'll still keep coming if they can.
One argument given to me was there are 3 million Europeans living and working in Britain and only 1.5 million in the opposite direction. Seems to me that's a good thing. Wealth is a product of motivation. Those people must be happy in Britain and prepared to work to stay there. Most will be paying tax. There will be bludgers, of course, it's up to the Welfare system to keep a lid on that.
3.More opportunities by being able to negotiate their own trade agreements:
Pretty dubious assertion I would think. What has Britain got to offer the world? Whisky, Cheddar cheese (there must be others?!) Certainly not cheap labour! The average worker in Britain is going to have to accept a big cut in salary in order for companies to be competitive, which will cause a lot of distress.
The Chinese and Asian invasion is yet to fully hit home. Since I went to Australia 50 years ago the manufacturing sector there has been decimated. I was in the thick of it during my working life as a contract Engineer / Draughtsman. Just about every company I worked for and there were many, big and small, was back peddling and soon to close down or go overseas as they couldn't compete.
4. Finance:
Britain prides itself on being a major financial centre. Money follows action. Take away the flow of cheap, skilled labour from Eastern Europe and this will start to diminish. The Financial Institutions will start to move off shore.
Britain became Great from the exploitation of cheap labour and resources overseas.
They also got lucky. After the American war of independence Britain was down on its uppers when someone discovered that lining the bottom of ships with copper allowed them to move much faster as it deterred marine growths which also prolonged the life of tired old ships. With this new asset they were able to clear the French out of the Caribbean and profit from sugar.
Hopefully someone will shine a light on where Britain is going. There will be a sector of the community which benefits from this change of course and the country will still be here no matter what.
Hey, it will probably be a lot quieter because people won't be able to afford to get around so it will be more enjoyable to visit. Tourism!
Having been happily brought up in the UK I desperately hope it will work out OK so will be keeping an eye open for the positives.
