Another Kynance stunner.

Another blue sky day at Kynance. A great day for sign painting, which is exactly what one of our invaluable volunteers based at Poltesco was doing today at Kynance. Here is some of her handy work. I heard a passing visitor remark what a good job she'd done and she did........

If you every wind your way down the road to Kynance to the car park you'll see something like this...........

....don't be put off by the dusty car park and turn around, you are only minutes away from one of the prettiest coves in the country.

Andrew - Car Park Ranger -Kynance Cove.

Stunning day at Kynance Cove.

One of the best days so far this year at Kynance...........

A walk out to the cliff produced this lovely contrasted view of the vibrant yellow gorse and the azure blue of the water in the cove. Taken as the tide dropped to it's lowest point of the day (low water today 14:45). Low tide is of course a great time to come to Kynance in order to be able to get onto the sand and safely view the beautiful Serpentine caves. Arm yourself with tide tables to avoid disappointment.

Whilst out at the view point I had the pleasure of engaging 4 visitors to the cove from Lancashire in conversation. I mentioned that it was a perfect day to see Adders at Kynance. They had never seen one, having visited the cove for 26 years. On my return to the car park, I took a brief detour into the narrow paths through the gorse and had the considerable pleasure of asking them to join me two minutes later to see their first Adder. Here he is, warming himself in the sunshine............

If you are fortunate enough to see one, leave them be and do not allow a dog to approach. Our advice at this time of year in particular is keep your dog on a lead and keep to well used paths when walking them. As demonstated by my Lancashire visitors, keeping to the main paths will rarely produce encounters. Heavy footed adults will cause the Adder the slip back into the undergrowth usually unseen, but a dog surprising one could result in it striking. They are particularly venomous at this time of year as they come out of hibernation.

As a footnote, the beautiful sight of the cove and the first sight of an Adder resulted in one of my visitors coming back to the Kynance Information Hut and joining the National Trust. By joining at Kynance, his subscription will help us keep Kynance as beautiful and unsploilt as it was today.

Andrew - Car Park Ranger - Kynance Cove.

Putting in a later than normal appearance at Kynance this year, Spring Squill. Pictured today at the bottom of the valley, just above Kynance Cove, on my return from the safety equipment check in the cove. The Squill on the top of the cliff is still struggling to get fully out, having only started to bravely put it's head up last week. Coming soon to a cliff top at Kynance ......Early Purple Orchids.

Andrew - Car Park Ranger - Kynance Cove.

Porthleven Food Festival 2013

Fantastic food, fun and festivities!


A great sunny day at Porthleven was had by all and the link between the festival and Penrose meant that growing your own food was the fore front of our stand.


Polly our lovely trainee ranger helped lots of children make a newspaper plant pots that can be planted straight into the soil and also organised a broad bean competition! "How many broad beans are in a jar?" the winners were a couple on holiday in Porthleven, who won a bunch of Penrose daffodils, well done!
(and the answer for anyone wanting to know was 686!)


 

We also had...

 National Trust membership

and face painting/badge making

  

At Penrose there is a group of volunteers in the process of restoring the walled garden, growing vegetables, uncovering paths and creating a place to come and enjoy the tranquillity, so pop in if you're passing!

If you are interested in getting involved with volunteering at Penrose either on Tuesdays (walled garden) or Thursdays (conservation) please ring the office on: 01326 561407.



We love the food festival in Porthleven so we are already looking forward to next year, hope to see you there!

Rosie

Going wild in the garden



Josh, Ceri and Anwen proudly showing off their nest boxes and bug hotels

In the Walled garden at Penrose on Wednesday we invited families to build nest boxes and bug hotels to take home for their gardens. Children made their nest boxes from scratch- they were armed with a piece of timber, a set of measurements, a measuring tape, a saw, and a hammer and nails. By the end of the day everyone had brushed up on their carpentry skills! The bug hotels required several pieces of bamboo bundled together to provide somewhere for insects, especially bumblebees to hibernate over winter. Open fronted nest boxes provide suitable nesting sites for robins and wrens.

There are many ways to encourage more wildlife through your garden gate. You can build a pond, plant insect friendly wild flowers or just leave a patch of your lawn un-mown. See what wildlife you get in your garden now then do some 'wildlife gardening' and see what a difference it makes.

Laura