by Susan | Jan 20, 2020 | History, Out & About
If you have stayed regularly enough at our wild and beautiful Lizard, there’s a good chance you will have heard the haunting cry of a foghorn piercing the air on foggy nights. Guiding vessels through the waters surrounding the Peninsula, the sound is a familiar chorus to locals and a crucial warning for those at sea. But where does the noise come from?
Standing loud and proud at the most southerly point in mainland Britain, the Lizard Lighthouse and Visitor Centre is a must-visit if you are staying with us at Penmenner B&B. Only a 15-minute walk from your private accommodation, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of the village, its maritime connection and also affords spectacular views of the coast throughout the year.
Dating back to the 18th Century, the lighthouse that you see today sits on the site of a former tower that was built in the 1600s. The efforts of Sir John Killigrew, a philanthropic Cornishman, the original tower was constructed to help ships pass safely through the treacherous waters of the Lizard – waters that all too regularly claimed lives with swollen waves and hidden obstacles.
A major project that incurred a huge amount of costs, the tower was finished around Christmas 1619 and a fee was imposed by James I on all passing vessels of one halfpenny a ton. Met with too great resistance though by those who didn’t want to pay, the light was eventually extinguished and the tower destroyed – only to be later resurrected in the form of a lighthouse in 1752 by Thomas Fonnereau.
This time met with support, the future of the lighthouse was sealed and it has been an important landmark and beacon for passing ships and boats ever since. Standing an impressive 70m above the water, it is a cherished symbol and guide and boasts a huge amount of fascinating tales within its walls – tales that are just waiting to be shared with you.
While you can wander down to visit the lighthouse all year, the visitor centre is open from February to October and is home to a whole host of interesting displays and exhibits. Sign up for a guided tour and explore the centre and grounds, before climbing up to the top of the lighthouse and taking in the incredible views from a whole new perspective.
Amongst the exhibitions, you can learn all about the workings of the lighthouse and accounts from the keepers who worked there – from great white sharks to raging storms – as well as finding out all about the engineering behind the structure and the intriguing technologies used. You can even see a pair of huge 12ft lightvessel optics, the solid bronze entrance doors from the Bishop Rock Lighthouse destroyed by enormous waves and the original hand-operated fire truck used by the keepers!
If you are interested, you can find out more information about the Lizard lighthouse, the centre and their opening hours on their website.
by Susan | Nov 13, 2019 | History
A network of budding intellects as unique in character as sharp in mind, Cambridge’s Bloomsbury Group gained a wide-spread reputation in the years leading up to the First World War. Including such figures as G.E. Moore, John Maynard Keynes, Leonard Woolf, Bertrand Russell, Rupert Brooke, Lytton Strachey and his brother James, this group of English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists believed:
“one’s prime objects in life were love, the creation and enjoyment of aesthetic experience and the pursuit of knowledge.”
Centred around what S.P. Rosenbaum described as “a limited yet pure religion of love, beauty and truth”, this collective of minds was an eccentric, modernist, brilliant force to be reckoned with. Touring the country together, they sought space to create and debate in equal measure; a journey which would lead them to our very own Penmenner House.
In April 1909, the Apostles gathered at the Lizard, lured by the views and the temperate climate. Using Penmenner as their base, they sought inspiration from the incredible location, scenery and revitalising sea air – something that still draws visitors and roots locals to this day. In his book Forever England, Mike Read describes how:
“The eight-bedroom dwelling [Penmenner] afforded panoramic sea views in all directions and views of the Lizard Lighthouse, as well as access to the path across the cliffs. This idyllic setting proved to be a great attraction to writers. It is said that Oscar Wilde came here to read to the locals, but the members of G.E. Moore’s reading party offered no such public declamations, keeping their philosophies, poetry and readings within the confines of their own circle.”
Despite being secretive with outsiders, members of the group were quick to share sentiments with friends and family. So inspired was the handsome Rupert Brooke in particular, that he stated in a letter to Geoffrey Keynes: ‘I have written nothing for months, till I came here” – and we like to think that he may have written some of his finest works from this very place!
Continuing his enthusiasm for our beautiful corner of Cornwall, Brooke went onto enthuse to Jacques Raverat that he had gone “luggageless, and strange, and free, to the Lizard; and stayed some days. Cornwall was full of heat and tropical flowers: and all day I bathed in great creamy breakers of surf, or lay out in the sun to dry (in April!); and all night argued with a philosopher, an economist, and a writer. Ho, we put the world to rights!”
Penned by Lytton Strachey to be “nose to nose with the sea”, it is fantastic to think of the tales encapsulated between Penmenner’s walls and the conversations this young group of men would have had by candlelight here. Still a magnet for both nature-lovers and inspiration-seekers, it’s not hard to understand why it had such an effect on them.
To follow in the footsteps of this remarkable group and glean inspiration of your from this wild and untamed stretch, have a look at our luxury B&B suites and write the pages of your own adventures – nose to nose with the sea.
