The penultimate day of the holidays at Coombe Mill can only mean one thing – the last feed run!
The children had come to love the feed run and were sad that it was their last one, but this also meant that time was running out for Little Miss C to actually drive Farmer Nick’s tractor. Luckily though she finally plucked up the nerves to do so and she now talks about it as one of the highlights of her whole summer.
As if driving the tractor wasn’t exciting enough, this was also the day that she actually managed to find an egg herself too. A perfect end to a week of feed runs.
After all this excitement it was time to get out again and go and explore on our final day in Cornwall. We were all agreed that we needed to head to the coast so that’s what we did.
If you lived here in the UK ten years ago you’ll probably still remember the devastating scenes that came out from Boscastle one August day. Hours of intense rain (including an inch falling on one place in just fifteen minutes) resulted in river levels rising by over 2 meters in an hour. As all this came down the river it washed away 75 cars, 5 caravans, 6 buildings and several boats. Homes and businesses were destroyed and seven Sea King helicopters helped to rescue about 150 people. Despite all the devastation, miraculously no one lost their life and there were no serious injuries.
If you look at Boscastle today it’s hard to believe what went on back in 2004. Boscastle has been rebuilt and is now a busy tourist village, with nice gift shops, cafes and there’s a lovely little walk out along the river to the harbour and the sea. When we went it was so peaceful with Little Miss C playing in the river as we went. It really was so had to imagine the force of the water that must have come down the river that day.
A wander long the river, a nosey in the cute little shops and a scrummy pasty for lunch in the National Trust cafe and then we were off for our next little adventure of the day – time to hit the beach again.
This time we headed for Polzeath – after lots of recommendations – and as we knew we just had an hour there we parked on the beach itself before heading towards the sea. Mr C led the way with LMC, whilst I followed carrying Master C. Mr C found a spot, started laying down the picnic rug and then we all collapsed down onto the sand just as I saw a woman jump up from the neighbouring family group, let out a scream of “Penny” and then head over. A whole beach full of people and we’d managed to set up camp right next to fellow blogger Molly from Mother’s Always Right. Talk about small world.
It was lovely to have a catch up and natter with her and also to see how absolutely radiant she’s currently looking. When I was at that stage of pregnancy if I’d gone onto a beach in swimwear I would have been mistaken for a beached whale. Whereas Molly was happily splashing in the surf in something almost resembling a glamorous photo shoot for a magazine. Damn these women who suit pregnancy! 😉
We had a great time in the sea with the kids and building sandcastles on the beach. Living in land-locked St Albans we’re probably the furthest away from the coast that it’s possible to be in the UK and I miss the beach. We should definitely make a point of having more holidays at the seaside in future. That I’m laying down in the rules for future holidays.
So, beach fun over we rushed back to Coombe Mill for activity hour where we were making natural rafts that we then raced down the river. Fiona has blogged about this over on the Coombe Mill blog already and there’s a great video of us all too.
It was great fun and I think really helped LMC realise what is possible with natural materials.
Our raft wasn’t exactly a success and seemed to go missing somewhere between the start and end. LMC’s convinced it was just so fast that everyone missed it passing the finish line. I’m guessing it’s probably stuck in the river bank somewhere.
After the raft making and having a lovely chat to Fiona as her boys played in the river and LMC paddled it was time to head over to our last train ride of the holiday. Both children loved the Coombe Mill train, but Master C signing for “more” when he finished going round pretty much summed up his view of it.
So that was it, our last full day in Cornwall, and what an amazing holiday it was. It’s just a shame it’s so far away from Hertfordshire or we’d be back in a flash.
With moving to Devon, hopefully, soon I am even more determined to go and stay here with the kids. Every post I have seen has been so positive that I know it will be a fab family break. Glad you guys had fun x
Still can’t believe I haven’t made it down yet! Gorgeous pics and videos. And what a great end to the summer hols. Loving your courageous lady x
This is such a lovely post – full of memories, laughter and family stuff. All the things that make for a fabulous holiday. I swear I’m going to get my boys to Coombe Mill soon. It’s definitely on the to do list…. x
Ah it was lovely to see you – and such a surprise! So glad you had a wonderful hols. It sounds like the perfect family break. xxx
I’m so desperate to go to Coombe Mill with the kids but I’m going to wait until Rocky is less tornado like, I fear for the lambs.
Those type of holidays create memories, ones in which make you smile forever. I love how well they’ve built the village back up too it looks like the community have really pulled together. <3 good old community spirit
Can’t believe those floods were 10 years ago! Looks like you had the most wonderful time and I love that the kids got to really join in and take part!
How funny to bump into Molly like that! Just shows it’s a blogger hotspot down there, eh? Sounds like a wonderful experience that you all will remember for a long time 🙂
What a fab trip
Awww, looks amazing. I’d love to visit. x