A walk on Bodmin Moor in the face-aching cold

Happy New Year, everybody! It is going to be a great 2010. We woke this morning to our first blue-sky day so we decided to go for a big walk on Bodmin Moor. I (Wayne) found a walk on the internet called the Minions-Caradon Hill walk which took us from the town of Minions, around Caradon Hill which must be one of the highest points in Cornwall as evidenced by one of the pubs in Minions claiming to be the highest pub in Cornwall, and back again.

We rugged up and went outside and it was VERY cold. The coldest it had been since we arrived (-4C). We battled the frost on the windows of the car by pouring water on to the windows but that instantly froze, so we had to use water and a cloth. Eventually we were off.

Being New Years Day the roads were very quiet and we had a gentle drive through the Cornish countryside north of Liskeard to the town of Minions. It was a gentle but obvious climb. We arrived at the suggested carpark on the map and felt the bitter cold and frost as we alighted the car. The walk guide suggested having a look at the ancient stone circle nearby first, so we did.

We walked across the moorland with frost crunching under our feet and frostbite quickly settling into the children's toes. There were frozen puddles that Jack, Annie and Eleanor liked standing on or cracking the ice with a stamp of a welly boot heel.

The ancient standing stones were not far away and they formed an impressive mystical ring about 80 metres in diameter. Here is Jack, Annie and Eleanor at the stone circle.

We then went through the small town of Minions to continue our walk. Minions consists of about 10 buildings including a pub and tearooms which are probably well-patronised in summer. Being New Years Day everything was closed.

As the walk continued we had to move back onto the moor looking for an old Engine building which was something to do with an old mine or an old mine train which used to operate there. Here we are in front of the Engine building.

We then went on across the moor a small way with the temperature getting colder and colder. We were on top of the local countryside and the farmland stretched out in front of us. Yes, Foster family readers, it was a 'smell that air..look at that view' moment, however, more 'look at that view' because your lungs would freeze if you breathed in. This photo does little to show the view.

Notice how Eleanor doesn't look the happiest due to the fact that she can no longer feel her toes. Rather than go on the intrepid explorers decided to go home for a nice, hot cup of tea vowing to return when the weather warmed up a bit.