A #2minutebeachclean boogie. With waves crashing and wild winds raging, there’s always lots of debris washed up on the beach. Emma and I collected several bags for a wreath I’m working on.
Our carriage Harvey of Hayle. Within walking distance of beach, independent shops and wildlife reserve with a spacious half acre garden, Harvey makes a great base for a holiday at any time of year. #RailHoliday #hayle #cornwall www.railholiday.co.uk
Free Prosecco and truffles for all guests over Christmas and New Year! Book at Railholiday.co.uk
It’s apple harvest time! Every year we pick hundreds of apples from the family orchard to turn into the juice we use in our carriage welcome packs. Our favourite is Cornish Aromatic, which is a late variety, so we won’t harvest that until the end of October, so we’re currently picking early varieties which will go to make cider. The earliest variety to be ready, pig’s nose, has already found a good home with our local cider producers Polbathic Cider and is fermenting away nicely already. The dark red apple is Queenie, the bags are full of Pig’s Nose Westward. #railholiday #apples #homegrown
Work continues apace on the royal saloon. The first fibreglass side panel is in place and Dave is in full window frame making mode. It’s exciting after months of very slow work repairing the framework to now be able to see the changes.
Because one side is very rotten we’re completely rebuilding the inside frame with sweet chestnut and the face with fibreglass panels. The other side is has fared better, so we’re preserving in its original form. We’ll build a veranda to protect it, and hopefully keep it in decent condition for another 117 years.
#railholiday #cornwall #carriagerestoration #royaltrain
These bees are loving the ragwort. I took these photos on the walk to our woods, which borders a rather lovely piece of grassland. Ragwort is a very important wildlife plant, being the food source for the cinnabar moth. The cinnabar caterpillars in this post were pictured in Poppy’s Plymouth garden, illustrating the importance of providing urban habitats for wildlife. Insects have suffered terribly this year, partially as a result of the very damp weather, so we need to help them in every way we can. Planting pollinator friendly flowers and letting grasses and wildflowers grow long is an easy way to do so.
#railholiday #bumblebees #pollinators #ragwort #wildflowers #ecogarden #wildlife
It’s charter train season. Here’s a special running through on the 29th June, filmed by Dave. Glimpsed another one from the window on Wednesday as it thundered past, and a quick internet search has indicated there’s another this coming Wednesday.
The sun came out yesterday, so the team took the opportunity to work on the outside of Mevy. Carriage maintenance is a constant in our lives. Unfortunately despite buying top quality FSC certified marine ply for Mevy it simply hasn’t lasted as it should. However Dave has come up with a new scheme that will hopefully put an end to a never ending schedule of sanding and filling. He’s created a fibreglass mould and has completed the first of the window frames in this way. So far it seems like it has worked well. Fingers crossed!
#railholiday #carriagerestoration #teamworkmakesthedreamwork
We never fail to be struck by the beauty of the Cornish coast, which is so easily accessed by train from St Germans and Hayle. This seascape was a lovely walk from Charlestown harbour, served hourly by the number 30 bus from St Austell station. Charlestown is a charming village, much used by television companies for historical dramas. There’s a wonderful Shipwreck Museum, an elegant church, a super beach with rock pools, plus plenty of cafes and a pub. The beach photos are of Porthpean, less than a mile from Charlestown, which is very popular for water sports.
#railholiday #cornwallcoastpath #porthpean
A photo bomb from our work at Hayle yesterday. Dave continued the painting while I enjoyed my favourite occupation of playing in the garden. The interesting plant is a broomrake and is parasitic on ivy. We deliberately manage the garden for optimum ecological benefit, so it was lovely to hear a nest of chicks squealing like rusty hinges from thick ivy and to spot a dunnock singing in the escalonia hedge. Only butterfly was an orange tip, but plenty of bumble and honey bees. The Bachmann carriage was a kind gift from guests.
#railholiday #harveyofhayle
We love our woods at this time of year when the wild garlic is out. Wild garlic pesto is delicious; mix finely chopped leaves & flowers with chopped walnuts, cider vinegar, olive oil and freshly picked herbs, plus salt and pepper to taste. I cook a big batch then throw it into hot jars, with boiled lids, which then keeps for months.
#railholiday #woods
