Views

Check out this latest video, part of a video project just underway here at the Lizard and Penrose to capture your faviourite views and share them with us. If you've got any suggestions or want to get involved please contact us through the blog.



Let us know what you think!

Big Cat Sightings

In the last couple of weeks we've had two reported big cat sighting here at Penrose and further south on the Lizard. Unfortunately as none of our team has seen these big cats and we've no evidence to suggest these sightings were accurate we aren’t really in the position to comment on the presence of big cats here at Penrose or on the Lizard.

“Lots of people say they see big cats, especially here in Cornwall, and it’s hard to know if it’s just peoples' imaginations running away with them or not. As we’ve not had reports of simultaneous sightings in one place it’s hard for us to take it too seriously at the moment” says Layla Astley, Visitor Services Manager. “Our rangers are out there everyday working for the local wildlife so even if you don’t see a big cat there are lots of other fantastic wildlife sights to see instead.”

Although we can’t be complacent that big cats do exist here in the UK there is no evidence to suggest that there is any real threat to people. Big cats are known to do their up most to avoid contact with people so it’s highly unlikely that visitors to our properties will come across one.

Layla Astley

Easter Fun on the Lizard and at Penrose

Here are just some of the great events around Easter.

For more events throughout the summer please pick up one of our events leaflets from a National Trust car park or by the National Trust office at Penrose.


Easter Egg Hunt
Wednesday 11 April 11am - 1pm
Come and explore Degibna
Woods on an
Easter nature trail with our
Ranger Team from Penrose.
Meet at Degibna car park.
Booking Essential.
£1 per child.
Call 01326 554715 for details and booking


Remembering
the Titanic
Sunday 15 April
Commemorate the
centenary of the sinking of
the Titanic at Poldhu
Marconi Centre. Discover
the importance of The
Marconi Wireless Station's
research into the Titanic's
voyage.
Free activities throughout
the day for the whole family .
Call 01326 291174 for more information


Springtime
Woodland Art
Saturday 21 April 11am - 4pm
A fun day out exploring the
woods at Penrose using
nature's palette to make
works of art to take home
and a storyteller will inspire
you with springtime tales.
Meet at Penrose Hill car
park.
Booking Essential.
£4 per adult and £2 per child.
Call 01326 554716 for details and booking

southwestcornwall@nationaltrust.org.uk

Volunteers turn out in force for Clean Cornwall Week

The beaches at Gunwalloe and Loe Bar are the cleanest they've ever been thanks to dedicated volunteers. On Wednesday Keep Britain Tidy and the staff from Classic Cottages were out in force at Church Cove. The day started off with a litter survey to record the types of rubbish found on the beach, such as plastic or fishing related. After lunch the team moved down to Fishing Cove, which is notorious for plastic rubbish, but the beauty of the place makes it a fantastic spot for walking.

Our regular local volunteer team from Penrose blitzed the beach at Loe Bar on Thursday, collecting every bit of rubbish in our path. The majority of litter collected was washed in on the tide and consisted of small pieces of plastic, tiny bits of polystyrene and lots of fishing net and line. The most interesting find of the day was unfortunately a dead dolphin washed in by the tide. It had already been recorded and tagged by Cornwall Wildlife Trust Volunteers, who keep all records of marine mammls stranded on the coast.

If you'd like to join our local volunteer team helping to look after Penrose then please get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.

Laura

Under the boardwalk...

Poldhu had a "south of France" feel to it as the sun began to set on Saturday. Thanks to our trusty team of Volunteers and Poldhu Beach Cafe we (almost) built a boardwalk in a day.

Every year the main access route onto Poldhu beach fills up with 10ft or more of sand as the dunes either side try to stabilise. This makes access onto the beach over the steep mound rather difficult for all who use it. We normally hire a digger in pre-season to scrape the mountain of sand back onto the beach to expose the path beneath, a timely and costly exercise. So this year we have taken a different, long term approach. We have decided to stop fighting nature and allow the dunes to stabilise whilst providing easier access for pushchairs and wheelchair users over the dune via a boardwalk onto the beach and cafe.

We chose this particular design of boardwalk as it is not anchored to the ground in any way and literally sits on top of the sand like a big roll out carpet. This means that in the coming years as the dune stabilises we will be able to move the boardwalk with it. The design has a low impact on the landscape and will soon blend in with the surroundings as the marram grass grows up to the edges. The overall cost was kept to a minimum, using a local supplier of timber, reusing redundent winch cable and cutting up alcathene pipe as spacers.

The sun shone on our backs as we lay the boardwalk on saturday and it felt like a summers day, we even needed an ice cream by the end of it! We went back on Monday to complete the final section and were pleased to see pushchairs using it with ease. Feel free to comment if you have any questions or feedback about the boardwalk.

Elle

Build a boardwalk in a day!

Local Leap Day

What a lovely day to take a local leap into the community!





We started at Helston Children's Centre and dug over their vegetable plots and made some new wooden surrounds for the herb and vegetable beds.

We also had great fun making an insect hotel with the expert help of Karen from Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change, using just a few old wooden pallets filled with twigs and straw. This provided a great place for bugs and beetles to live, as well as giving the children the opportunity to discover more about the creepy crawlies in their garden.

We then went onto Sithney Primary School to dig up an invasive bush in the corner of their onsite garden. This has cleared a space for the children to do some digging and planting, and was good exercise for us!

It was brilliant to be out and about in the sunshine and a good excuse to get nice and muddy!

Rosie

Half-term cycle at Penrose

Last week a small  group of us gathered for a cycle round Loe Pool.

 


The event was promoted and led by the Trust, in partnership with Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change (CN4C), with whom we combine on projects in the Helston area.

 
There were five adults and five children present and we cycled from Helston amenity area, stopping frequently along the way to catch our breath.

The ride was a pleasure for all participants who mixed well in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.


We lunched at the stables and rode back to the amenity area for 3pm and a good time was had by all.

We will be holding more rides and other events throughout the year - please call the National Trust on 01326 561407 for a leaflet.

Also there will be a whole week devoted to cycling, in and around Penrose, on a National Trust holiday in September. Follow the link below to find out more.

Nick




http://old.nationaltrust.org.uk/ntweb/workingholidays/Details.aspx?HolidayCodeID=12DTX038&scrollToTop=1

A Local Leap

All 5,000 of the National Trust’s staff were given Leap Day off work to spend a day volunteering in their local community. 2012 marks a century since the death of one of the charity’s founders, Octavia Hill, who was passionate about the difference volunteering could make in society. Here on the Lizard peninsula we asked the local community what they would most like from our services around the Parish.



Tidying up Cury Village Hall car park



We set out yesterday along with our full time volunteers and armed with brushcutters, chainsaws and pitchforks to tackle some of these requests. Our day begain at Cury village hall where we cleared around the car park and building to keep fire routes clear and removed some unsightly rubbish. We stopped for a gratefully recieved cuppa and biscuit from Mike at the village hall before moving on to our next task.





The cleared bridleway



The rest of our day was taken up with cutting back bridleway 4 from Predannack airfield gates towards Mullion pasrt Hayle Kimbro Pool. This should make navigating the more muddy sections on foot or on horse a lot easier.

And still some energy left for a leap!

Elle

Mega Scrub Bash



Cutting our way through tall blackthorn



Lunch around the fire



A hardy group of volunteers from the local community and Falmouth University joined us last Saturday despite the weather to help the Ranger's with heathland and access management. Each year during the winter months we cut and burn scrub on our heathland sites across the Lizard Peninsula. This is done to improve the heathland habitats for local wildlife such as the Cornish Cough and rare flora, but also to improve access and enable effective conservation grazing.





Now thats how to toast a marshmallow, or 8!



This time we were tackling an area of tall blackthorn along the bridleway adge at Predannack Wollas near Mullion. The rain didn't manage to dampen our spirits, or fire thankfully otherwise we would of had an upsetting lunch of raw potatoes and sausages! Although the scrub cutting season is drawing to an end now due to nesting birds and mammals, stay tuned for other ways to get involved with us throughout the summer. Our next scrub bash will be at Chynhalls Point near Coverack on September 23.

Elle