The Owlman

 For the people following me for a while, you may know that among all my interests, I have some fascination for cryptids, although very skeptical about the existence of any of them. I don't think any exist, in fact, but love the (ancient or modern) folklore associated to it. I also think they make for great source of inspiration for horror stories. Some time ago, I found out about the Owlman, who was spotted in the seventies in a church of the village of Mawnan, in Cornwall. I know the legent of the Owlman has already been adapted into one horror movie, and the cryptid made his way into other stories, but I think there is more to tell about him. It's just something ghostly and eerie about owls in general, so a mansize, hominid version of the bird is just... Well, really creepy. Especially if he dwells in a village church. I hope he becomes better known and a new character for Halloween. When I go to Cornwall, I hope to visit Mawnan.

An old railway signal box

 Here is a piece of sad news for railway lovers like myself: Cornwall's oldest railway signal box is closing. Okay, to be honest, I was there were any signal box left in this country and it is a surprise there was still one in function, even in a small Cornish village. All the same, it is a symbol of a bygone era that is going to close down. And I always loved signal boxes. I hope they do something with it, like that one in Devon. A café, a pub, a museum perhaps? Something to give this box not so much a second life as a second career. And old things can still look good, especially old buildings, especially railway buildings.

A red panda on the run

Do you love red pandas? I sure do. They look like cute little plush toy made of flesh and bones. They just look sooo adorable. I'm a bit of a sucker for red pandas. But maybe I am just saying commonplaces here. Who doesn't love red pandas? A heartless monster, that's who. So a bit of news recently caught my attention: a red panda escaped from a zoo in Cornwall last Friday and was seen walking about in the street. She was later on captured and returned to the zoo. Although the escape was short, it is far more epic to have a red panda on the run than a bunch of cows. Anyway, I'm glad Sundara (that's her name) is safe and sound and I hope she enjoyed her time out.

To see Tintagel

As some of my readers may know, I am a medievalist by trade, which means I have a PhD in medieval literature. I am also a specialist of Arthurian literature. And I have a confession to make here (I have done it already, but it is always mebarrassing to say): while I have been living for about 20 years in the UK, I have never visited Cornwall or Tintagel Castle, where King Arthur was conceived (in morally questionable circumstances) and born. It gets even worse as English Heritage keeps taunting me on social media with adverts featuring the picture you see on the left. I was hoping to visit it this year as soon as we have some holidays, now I think it is going to have to wait until 2022, but it is on my to go list.

Giant Jellyfish

When I was a kid, I used to love stories, real or invented, about the deep blue sea. Part of me is still fascinated by sea creatures. So a piece of news recently caught my attention about a giant jellyfish that was spotted and filmed off the coast of Cornwall. Apparently, the creature is quite gentle and the sting is not lethal. I would not risk getting too close to it though. Watch the video, you will find the jellyfish quite impressive. It is the stuff of legends. I found the this discovery fascinating. It shows that even in our day and age, the ocean still hides mysteries that we can unveil.

Cornish Red Ale

This was tonight's poison, another nice little discovery from Marks & Spencer. I quite like their selection of beers. The Cornish Red Ale was nothing fantastic, but it was an honest beer and it had a nice colour, rusty red as I prefer my beers to look like. On a cold night like the ones we have now, it is a homey and warming beer. And it reminded me that I have yet to visit Cornwall. Apparently, it is not an easy place to get to and, once there, to get around. Nevertheless, it remains on my traveling list. It is meant to look lovely. I sure could try their beers while sightseeing.

Excalibur is real!

Well, almost. I have read the coolest news ever today: a schoolgirl found in Cornwall a sword in the lake where King Arthur is meant to have thrown it away. Granted, it is most likely a prop from a movie, there are plenty on the subject, or an hoax. But for the medievalist that I am, specialized in the Arthurian legend (no kidding: I did my PhD in Arthurian literature), it still gives me butterflies reading this. I envy that child so much.

Cream Tea

I had this yesterday, in a local café. Cream tea an English tradition that is lovely in itself (a specialty from Devon and Cornwall, according to Wikipedia), but also made me survived starvation quite a few times, when I had a very late breakfast (say around lunchtime) and did not bother eating anything before going out. So I ended up having something sweet in the middle or late afternoon. But tea has energizing virtues, so it is fine.

So in the café, they were offering Yorkshire tea with a home-made scone, with some jam (strawberry jam) and clotted cream. It fills you enough for a few hours and it is delicious. That said maybe one scone was not enough as I was still hungry after it. I think I would have had two. There were other offers, with much larger plates with either sandwiches or an array of cakes, but I did not want to fill myself until bedtime. I know it is an afternoon snack, but cream tea makes for a perfect breakfast. Anyway, this was my little venture in an old English tradition. I should do it more often.

Today's beer: St Austell's Tribute

I bought a beer at Asda finally, I had it with my salmon tonight. Delicious. It was from St Austell Brewery and it was called a Tribute. Absolutely lovely. Another reason to go to Cornwall.

I will translate/rewrite my previous post about Omertà tomorrow (probably), as I want as many people to discover it.