Old buildings

Convento Monasterio de San Julian y San Antonio; backdrop provided by El Cancho Gordo, Sierra de La Cabrera. It takes approx 20-30 minutes to get down from the top to here but considerably longer on the way up!

My mother's garden. Pasiflora and the Primitive Methodist chapel next door (long since disused). The passion flower and fence screen the outside loo (sorry, you euphemism lovers on the other side of the pond, 'rest room'). It's OK, they also have two inside loos but 50 years ago this certainly was the only loo!

Now government buildings, originally built as a charitable hospital providing free health care. Built in the first two decades of the 20th century. My flat is a short distance from here.

Old door in Pastrana, Guadalajara province.

Another of this castle but why not? The coast at Portreath / Porthtowan can be seen in the distance.

Chinchon, in Madrid Province is a very attractive town. It is also very touristy but some of the back streets such as this are less so. I was pleased that I had long given up smoking when I went up here. Even so, the walk back down was preferable!

Abandoned in the late 19th century, it was active only for a few decades, with varying degrees of success.

Treen Farm (Trereen Dinas North), Gurnards, Head, Zennor, Cornwall

Above Tubby's Head (St Agnes Head in the distance). The tin mines were some way away from the nearest villages and towns. As well as having to descend and ascend many 100s of feet and also walk a long way out under the sea bed, the miners had to get home as well - sometimes another couple of hours walk! After dark this wasn't always possible and a few shelters were constructed to allow the miners some respite from adverse weather conditions overnight. Countless fierce storms have reduced them to mere shells but they wouldn't have been luxurious to start with! It's true they didn't work 24 hour shifts even if day and night meant nothing down below but they did work long stints and at full production, the mines did produce tin round the clock! And we think we live in hard times!

Convento Monasterio de San Julian y San Antonio, granite, juniper and the Canchos Largo and Gordo. A crystal clear and very cold January day.

A tin mine slap bang in the middle of town! Now its chimney is a pleasing feature and landmark but this would have been Hell on Earth in about 1840! A mine in operation for copper and tin from the early 18th century and possibly much earlier until it was shut down in 1891.

A pleasing back lane. Everything was just right on the day! Even the high temperature (35c) was tempered by a cooling breeze! This town is not too big and not too small, perfect for a gentle stroll after a good lunch. The light was perfect, my good mood amazingly co-incided with that of my girlfriend's ... and all was right with the world!

St Agnes coast. Montbretia running rampant!

Saint Day garden last summer.

I really liked this town. Lots of interesting back streets and curious corners, nooks and crannies. It was September 19, but look at the temperature (in red on the left); I guess this would be approx 95F!

Mogarraz, Sierra de Francia, Salamanca Province

St Aubyn tin mine. Trefula, near Redruth, Cornwall

Moggaraz is a very pleasant (and touristy) town in the Sierra de Francia, Salamanca Province. All of Its 300 odd inhabitants in 1967 agreed to have their photos taken and large-scale paintings were taken from those photos and placed on the walls of their homes, some years later. Whether you find this strange or superb, it it is certainly different! Whoever pitched this concept to these naturally conservative and cautious country folk must have been a sales genius!