I am finally in position to continue my mini-series about my long weekend in Cornwall. Between a busy Sunday, not getting home until almost 8PM on the Monday and work yesterday I have not had much opportunity for blogging. Following on from my post about the journey to Cornwall I now look at Fort Picklecombe, my base for the weekend.
AN OVER REACTION
Lord Palmerston ordered the building of a number of fortifications of various kinds in southwestern England during the mid 19th century, in the mistaken belief that the French intended to invade. Fort Picklecombe was one such, and to make it even more curious the landholder only allowed it to be built if it was made to resemble Warwick Castle. These days it is home to about 100 apartments, one of which, tucked away on the fourth floor of the outer wall, with a glorious view out over the sea, is my parents home.
A CLOSER VIEW OF THE FORT
There are two complete circuits of this part of the fort available, on the third floor, and in the basement, which is also home to a carpark where everyone has a space. My parent’s flat also has a marked outside parking place where a vehicle can be left for up to 24 hours, which is readily accessible from the ground floor. The basement passages are quite narrow, and unlit until someone actually enters one (and even then the level of illumination is not great), but there is the compensating advantage that this ring of passageways is also home to the fort’s library (I did not make use of it this visit but have done in the past). The third floor walkway is much pleasanter in summer, though I can imagine it being horrible on a windy winter’s day. The lifts are among the slowest in the western world and come with recorded announcements that feature high in the ‘statement of the bleeding obvious’ category, e.g. “Fourth floor, lift going down”. What? You mean it is not going ‘up and out’?!
The fort has its own small harbour, and at low tide a number of rocks are exposed, and used by birds as perches. At high tide the smaller harbour wall gets a lot of water over it, while the larger one stays dry.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here is a gallery comprised of photos taken either while in the fort or while waling around the harbour…
aspiblog 