Leaving Cornwall, on My Way to Bath, then Birmingham

Saturday:  my last day in Cornwall.  I drove to Falmouth and went to see Pendennis Castle and the town of Falmouth.  There was a walk around inside the old moat of the castle and it was amazing!  Pendennis Castle is one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, also know as Henrician Castles, in Cornwall.  These are artillery fortifications.  It was built between 1539-1545 for King Henry, to guard the entrance to the River Fal near Falmouth, to defend the country from French and Spanish threats of attack.

Looking up at the castle from inside the moat

Near Falmouth, I visited Glendurgan Gardens.  It is literally in the middle of nowhere, but was spectacular and well worth the visit.

 Huge trunk

 Plants growing on an old fallen tree

Lots and lots of bluebells

Rhododendron

Further north of Falmouth is The Lost Gardens of Heligan.  Very interesting place.  A little bit eerie and whimsical at the same time!  It depends on the time of year what is growing on the sculptures.  

Today, Sunday, I am driving from lovely Cornwall to the city of Bath, England.  My sister-in-law, Sharon Massey is flying in from San Diego and we will get to spend 10 days together!  I'm excited to see her and spend some time with her.  I am meeting her in Bath.  We will travel from Bath to Birmingham, England in the West Midlands Regions where we will stay in another B&B.

While I waited for Sharon to arrive on the train from London, I went to the Jane Austen Centre.  It was great and I loved learning all about her life.  I had no idea that she started writing at the age of 11 and died at the age of 42.  Also, she re-wrote several of her books, sometimes a few years after she had finished them!  Her most famous books were first published anonymously and were very popular, but brought her little personal fame and only a few positive reviews during her lifetime, but after the publication by her nephew, A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public, by the 1940s she had become widely accepted in academia as a great English writer.  Persuasion and Northhanger Abbey were published after her death.

Sharon and I are staying with a wonderful couple, Alan and Kathryn Holland in the city of Birmingham, England in a little area named Moseley.  They live in a 3 story lovely Victorian home and are empty nesters, so they decided to use their extra rooms as a B&B.  

Tomorrow, Sharon and I will go exploring around the Midlands!