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| | | | Beaches to make you boogie
The image of Cornwall as a sunny, family holiday destination took a bad knock this summer with the Boscastle floods.
A few miles north the seaside town of Bude was also hit by flooding but without such disastrous results. But the freak weather was a low spot in a lovely summer which saw families flocking to North Cornwall and Devon.
And the reason for their popularity is obvious: the beaches around Bude are excellent. They're clean and wide with terrific sand for building spectacular castles.
And you often have to make the most effort to get to the best beaches.
Northcott Mouth and Sandy Mouth are National Trust-owned and well kept. But it's a trek from the car park especially if you are laden with beach gear, and there are no toilets.
Baywatch-style lifeguards patrol these beaches and put up flags to mark the safe areas for swimmers.
They're so big that even on peak August days they don't feel crowded – although the car park may seem full.
The beach slopes very gently into the sea and there are natural pools for toddlers to splash in as well as rock pools to explore.
And it's the ideal place to take to the waves. Every family should have at least one boogie board - a cross between a float and a surfboard and suitable for all ages. They cost from £25 and are easy to use - lie on it and wait for a wave to carry you to shore. Not as dramatic as surfing but much less precarious.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Welcome to the gardens of Eden
From the Daily Mail
Had someone told me that Britain's newest must-see is a couple of colossal bubble-shaped greenhouses built into the side of an abandoned china clay pit in St Austell, Cornwall, I probably wouldn't have believed them.
But that's exactly what the Eden Project is - a collection of magnificent inter-linked structures, or 'biomes', that balloon out of the landscape like translucent bubbles.
One of the project's aims is to show the importance of plant life in the human world. As a keen gardener, I could hardly drag myself away.
You enter the first set of biomes - the Tropical Zone - to find yourself in the hot, humid atmosphere of the Brazilian rainforest. Spray machines pump out steam. Water drips from the ceiling and beads of sweat break on your brow.
Big enough to house the Tower of London, this zone has a 75ft waterfall, several trickling streams, a murky pool planted with bamboo, and mini-plantations of cocoa, coffee, tea and rubber.
There are banana trees, mangoes and a little patch of ripening pineapples; plus rice paddies and profusions of exotic flowers and shrubs, including the African flamboyant tree, hibiscus and the rare Coco-de-Mer, the world's largest seed.
Pretty paths snake around this rainforest cathedral, giant beanstalks thrust upward and trailing blossoms dangle down. All that's missing are jungle squawks and screeches.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Walkies for rovers on the Scillies
From the Daily Mail
Have dog, will travel. For me, a holiday is not a holiday without my basset hound Basil, and we've just had the time of our lives on the almost heavenly Isles of Scilly.
We flew from Penzance by helicopter, Basil beside my seat in a special Sky Kennel for the 20-minute flight; no problems. We took the airport bus to the tourist office for our free 'whoopsie kits' (I pride myself on being a responsible dog owner) and went on by taxi to our self-catering accommodation, Standing Stone, on the main island, St Mary's.
Described in the brochure as 'set in rugged isolation', Standing Stone was stunningly located on a flower farm overlooking the sea and a deserted, silver-sanded cove. However, our taxi driver, having wittered on about his shock absorbers, refused to bump the last rugged half-mile to the front door.
So what, I thought? I like being off the beaten track. So did Basil. Outside was doggy heaven, with hundreds of rabbits to be chased across grass that had been nibbled to a gorgeous, velvety smoothness.
'Thanks to the rabbits, we have not mowed our lawn for two years,' said our landlord as we sat in the private walled garden, perfume wafting from the flower fields, the beach scattered with shells and the sea as turquoise and clear as the Indian Ocean.
Only a few yards away was Bant's Carn, a perfectly preserved burial chamber, and the amazing stone excavations of 3,000-year-old houses, walls and garden plots.
It was bliss for two days. But rapture dimmed on the third day when it rained. Why is rain on holiday so much wetter? The magical, scenic, two-and-a-half-mile walk to the shops (and back, because no taxis were available) seemed suddenly daunting.
Try tramping along a coastal path in blustery gales, rain like stair rods, fleece saturated, loaded down with tins of Chum and food rations, and you soon feel sorry for yourself. Back indoors the terrible smell of wet dog pervaded Standing Stone and, curses, I'd forgotten the milk and cooking oil. But I must not grumble.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Boards and lodging
Tucking into a kangaroo steak while watching bronzed surfers ride the rollers, it was easy to imagine for a moment that I was Down Under.
The sun shone from a flawless blue sky, sub-tropical palms waved in the breeze, and the waitress came from Woolloomooloo.
Only this wasn't New South Wales, but Newquay in Cornwall, self-styled surfing capital of Europe.
'Go hard or go home' says the message painted on the rafters of the cavernous Australasian Bar in the town centre.
On Fistral Beach, Britain's answer to Bondi, several thousand sun-bleached twentysomethings from all around the globe were furiously catching the waves without any thought of home.
In the early evening, others were already packing Newquay's plethora of pubs and clubs for yet another night on the town.
No seaside resort has undergone such fundamental change as this North Cornwall fishing village and former port for iron ore and china clay.
Families still come here, drawn by beautiful beaches, the Eden Project, and a host of other attractions in the surrounding countryside.
But in Newquay, which manages to support at least a dozen surfing schools and seven major night clubs, action is the name of the game.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Exploring the Rebecca trail
From the Daily Mail
What do Bob Geldof, Paul Daniels and Cleo Laine have in common?
They all topped various bills at the Daphne du Maurier Festival in Fowey in May 2002.
Each year, this small Cornish town, perched on the River Fowey estuary, bursts into song, dance and chit-chat to celebrate the life and works of the novelist who fell in love with the place as a child, and lived there until her death in 1989.
The essence of Cornwall is distilled in Daphne's books, many of them inspired by the beauty of this ancient Cornish seaport, whose cottages, houses, inns and quaint shops jostle side by side in steep streets that tumble down to the harbour and the lovely River Fowey.
The old sea salts and smugglers' ships that fired Daphne's imagination are long gone, replaced by fishing boats, a ferry and hundreds of dinghies hired by families attracted to the town for its excellent sailing.
Scenes from du Maurier's books float before your eyes when you make the two-mile boat trip from Fowey Town Quay, past wharves where foreign ships load china clay.
You travel past posh yachts moored at Wideman's Point, and between bushy riverbanks where you can spot herons and swans.
Du Maurier would row herself across the river from Fowey to Bodinnick.
The house Ferryside by the landing slipway is where, in the Twenties, she wrote her first novel, The Loving Spirit, set among the local coves and cliffs with their woods and teeming wildlife.
It was from Ferryside that she set out by boat for her wedding at nearby Polruan's Lanteglos Church, an atmospheric 14th century shrine of great beauty.
And from here she used to visit Jamaica Inn, which inspired another of her bestsellers.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
The search for another Eden
From the Daily Mail
A great garden should consist of dew-spangled lawns, flower-beds, shrubberies, ancient trees, profusions of roses and bird song. And it should overwhelm you with feelings of delight, if not rapture.
Which is why I feel let down by the much-hyped Eden Project.
OK, the great, translucent, bubble-like biomes are architecturally magnificent. The water features and giant trees so recently popped into instant position in the Humid Tropics biome are certainly impressive, but where's the spiritual dimension? Where are the transcendental vibes?
When all is said and done, what you are actually getting, for your whopping £9.80 entrance fee, is a wander round a couple of vast greenhouses.
On busy days - and it was hellishly busy when I visited in June, not even the summer hols - you get stuck in a queue of cars and coaches, you fight for parking space and shuttle bus, you are herded through the biomes with little time to stand and stare without being jostled.
And sometimes the 'Eden Full' sign goes up, which means you've come all this way and been queuing to no avail.
Millions have flocked here, millions clearly love it, but I fought my way out in a panic.
But not to worry. I was staying bang in the centre of England's greatest concentration of magnificent gardens.
Budock Vean Hotel, near Falmouth, has 30 wonderful gardens within a 15-mile radius, real long-established havens where you can wander and wonder in solitary bliss.
Only 10 minutes stroll along a bridle path from the hotel is the fabulous 26-acre Trebah Garden, a steeply wooded ravine which tumbles down to a tiny, white-sanded private beach overlooking the Helford River.
Now this is more like it!
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Pasties and champers
A small but significant shift has just taken place on the eastern side of the Lizard Peninsula, one of the most beautiful corners of Cornwall.
For the past 32 years, one area of its 1,000 acres of parkland has been a happy if unlikely resting point for caravans. But not for much longer if Sir Ferrers Vyvyan, the current incumbent, gets his way.
Sir Ferrers has recently embarked on a transformation of his family estate, a radical plan which involves the conversion and building of 40 luxury, self-catering cottages and the symbolic end of the 125-place caravan park.
'The caravans are being phased out over the next four years and will be gradually replaced by the cottages,' says Sir Ferrers.
Seasoned Cornwall watchers, of course, will not be surprised by this, knowing that the imminent demise of caravans at Trelowarren, near Helston, is symptomatic of a more widespread turnaround in the fortunes of Britain's poorest county.
Cornwall has quietly been going upmarket for several years.
There have always been the posh pockets - Rick Stein's Padstow, or Rock, a favourite haunt of Princes William and Harry - but the county as a whole is now attracting the middle classes like never before (house prices increased last year by 37 per cent). Olga Polizzi's Tresanton Hotel in St Mawes is one of the county's trendiest.
It's a case of out with the caravan and in with the Conran, to judge from the first six holiday cottages that have been converted.
They are high-spec, modern and eco-friendly - all ash floors, Scan wood stoves, harvested rainwater, fired-earth tiles, organic paint, local granite work surfaces and, yes, Conran crockery.
The opening of the new National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth earlier this year has something to do with the changes afoot.
Along with the Tate Gallery in St Ives and the Eden Project near St Austell, it completes the county's very own 'golden triangle' of highbrow cultural destinations, which inevitably attract a particular type of holidaymaker.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Lead a life of luxury in Cornwall
From the Daily Mail
Past midnight on Friday night, we arrived at the Hotel Tresanton and were shown up to a huge, pistachio-painted room lined with wooden furniture and cosy old books.
Moments later, there was a knock on the door and a smiling boy wafted in, carrying a tray laden with smoked salmon, salad and Mediterranean bread, which we ate before collapsing between soft sheets.
Only Italian Frette linen will do at England's most fashionable hotel.
In the morning we woke up to a glorious view (sparkling sea with an unspoilt promontory and lighthouse across the bay) and joined lots of other de-stressing couples enjoying their full English breakfasts in the dining room, which is lined with tongue-and-groove the colour of Cornish cream.
Tresanton is in the pretty fishing village of St Mawes, near Falmouth, Cornwall, but the hotel looks more New England than old England. It is so tasteful that it brings in the stars, and Charles and Camilla have been here more than once.
The night we got there, the Duchess of Kent had been choppered in for dinner.
Tresanton is that sort of place because it's deluxe and its owner, Lord Forte's daughter Olga Polizzi, and her husband, the writer William Shawcross, are the best-connected Sybil and Basil.
It is run with the style and charm of the slickest house party in England.
Pairs of navy blue Hunter wellies are lined up for guests in size order. Every room has two blue beach towels in a basket, and an enormous umbrella.
The guests (including Pierce Brosnan, Claudia Schiffer, Jeremy Paxman, Harry Enfield and Rowan Atkinson) are so glitzy that even Olga admits she is sometimes taken aback by the celebrity head-count.
Olga bought Tresanton five years ago, because her husband spent childhood summers in St Mawes.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Fabulously fishy
Down in Padstow harbour the sea is blue and twinkly. It is 9am and already people are wobbling on bicycles loaded with picnics and child seats to ride the Camel River Trail to Bodmin.
Up at the Metropole - Padstow's oldest and grandest hotel - others are taking it more slowly, with one eye on the sea and the other on the full English breakfast spread out on their plates.
Down by the quay, the shops selling ice-cream and beach balls are opening their doors.
But I'm off to spend seven hours slaving over a hot stove. A day of descaling, gutting, filleting, frying - everything anyone can do with fish.
Some kind of penance? Not if you ask the 15 other souls who are here to do the same thing.
We have arrived at a swish converted warehouse for a one-day course at Rick Stein's Padstow Seafood School.
We troop into a hushed anteroom to be greeted and given our chef's whites. Then it's straight into the kitchen with its 20 state-of-the-art ovens.
There's a wicked gleam of chrome and steel, and knives that are impossibly sharp.
Sixteen adults, whom I discover include a banker, a ward sister, a civil servant and a council worker, are visibly awed.
Seated around a table, though, we relax. Coffee is served and we have time to find out about each other. Most are here as a treat for birthday or Christmas.
Two-thirds of my fellow pupils are men and want to cook the Rick Stein way - informally and simply, with a minimum of fuss and to maximum effect. And, of course, they want to do it with fish.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Cornwall's out of this world
From the Mail on Sunday
Our Cornish holiday started ominously with supper at a pub somewhere on the edge of Dartmoor. Rosie's 'sirloin steak' was grey and leathery, my lamb chops were charred black, the floury 'new potatoes' were pitted with mysterious dark lumps like veruccas and the beer was merely tasteless.
As for the pub itself, layer upon layer of stale smells exuded wearily from its every tarnished pore. In true British fashion we did not complain. In fact, it was almost reassuring to see that our national genius for disgusting, overpriced cuisine was still alive and flourishing.
Nevertheless, as we drove on westward for Cornwall I wondered nervously what we would find at the 'idyllic, detached, thatched cottage' we had rented for our long weekend.
I need not have worried. Fresh-baked scones and clotted cream were waiting for us in the spotless fridge. The Aga's warm glow permeated the whole cottage and there was not a trace of mould to be found. The bathroom gleamed and the bedrooms were bowered in tasteful chintz. As our seven-year-old son Edmond observed wistfully, it would be wonderful if our own home were this luxurious.
Angrouse Cottage at Mullion stands on the west coast of The Lizard, the Cornish thumb which juts south into the Atlantic to form an open pincer with the western forefinger of Lands End.
First thing in the morning we walked the half mile from the cottage to the cliff top to have a look at the Marconi Monument, where the first transatlantic radio message was transmitted to Newfoundland in 1901. After breakfast we returned with towels and bathing costumes to continue along the coastal path as the mist rolled back to reveal a jagged coastline with the promise of sandy coves.
The chevronned stone walls were luminous with thrift and sea campion and the beach was almost deserted. We scrambled over silvery slate cliffs to explore the secret world of rock pools.
We played at being the artist Andy Goldsworthy, building elaborate pebble sculptures for the tide to knock down. We raced across the sand and ran howling into the icy waves. Then lay smugly, soaking up the first hot sun of the year.
And, as the memories of childhood holidays came flooding back, washing away the accumulation of subsequent exotic trips to Africa, Peru, Chile, the Himalayas (where I climbed Everest) and Antarctica, I realised that you don't actually have to travel thousands of miles to find beautiful wild country.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
Great for families and surfers
Cornwall gets in your blood - it's the sort of place that gives you withdrawal symptoms if you don't go back again and again and again.
The north coast and south coasts have different characters and both provide some of the most spectacular coastal walking scenery in the UK, with B&B's and pubs on route.
Newquay (Fistral) and Polzeath in particular are top rate surfing beaches and there are lots of other good surfing beaches too.
However, everyone needs to remember that the surrounding waters are the North Atlantic ocean and must be treated with respect.
There are lots of safe beaches for young children, such as Damar in the Camel Estuary, and the Camel estuary is also very good for windsurfing and dingy sailing when the tide is right.
Truro is a super town for a day's shopping - go down all the alleyways in the shopping area and visit the little local shops as well as the big ones.
The local authority and local inhabitants clearly takes pride in their town and the streets are refreshingly clean and visitors are welcomed.
The nearest airport of size outside Cornwall is Exeter, some 60 miles nearer than Bristol.
Travel Guide: Cornwall
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| | | | Relax - on and off the beach
And if you need a break from the beach visit pretty, crowded Clovelly on the north coast - with its steep cobbled streets.
Less busy is Hartland Point - a dramatic headland with terrific views of coastal cliffs. Nearby Hartland Quay is hard to find but the pub lunch is well worth the drive down narrow lanes.
Over the border in North Devon, Wooda Lakes is a newish resort built around a series of five fishing lakes. It only has five two-bedroom chalets but plans to expand gradually to about 20.
Obviously it's great for angling fans and if this doesn't interest you, it is only 20 minutes from the beaches of Bude and a great venue for a peaceful retreat.
North Cornwall and Devon have so much to offer it's obvious why families go back every year.
Hopefully the Boscastle floods will not have put holidaymakers off and the area will thrive again next summer.
But if you're planning a trip you need to book early, especially for cottages and expect to pay £500 a week per family in August. And take note that some householders have restrictions on the ages of children and some cottages charge extra for linen and most do not provide towels.
The M5 and A30 – the main route into Cornwall – are packed in the holiday season so try to avoid Saturdays which is the usual changeover day.
- Hoseasons Holidays features Wooda Lakes in Holsworthy, Devon, from £215 to £490 per chalet sleeping up to six. It also has holiday cottages. Visit hoseasons.co.uk or call 0870 333 2000.
Plants a go-go
Next comes the Warm Temperate Zone where you can follow your nose around the fragrant herbs and spices of Mediterranean lands. Here are oranges, lemons, figs, grapevines, gnarled olive trees, cotton plants, geraniums and dazzling poppies.
There's a patch of spiky cactus plants and a Mediterranean kitchen garden with neat rows of aubergines, garlic, tomatoes and peppers. The biomes are free of all artificial chemicals, and use natural predators to control pests.
A notice near a display of cork oaks explains that 15 billion wine bottles are opened each year, and every time you pull a real cork rather than a plastic one, you are helping to sustain a forest which in turn supports 42 species of birds, including the rare short-toed eagle.
The Eden Project is much more than just a showcase for plants. The whole point is to remind us that without plants we wouldn't be here. Each of the 135,000 plants on show offers food, medicine, clothing or shelter, not to mention the very air we breathe.
Along the way, visitors pick up fascinating snippets of information. For instance, the colour indigo, from plants, comes out of the dye vat bright yellow and mysteriously turns blue on exposure to air.
Outside the biomes, the steep terraces - or Roofless Zone - are being landscaped and planted with crops that thrive in our own climate, such as apples, peaches, hops, garden flowers and shrubs.
There's an excellent free shuttle to and from the biomes for the less nimble, and an attractive cafe - but curiously, no delicious, home-grown organic salads.
Glancing back at the beautiful biomes one last time, I found myself thinking that the complex sculptures really do represent architecture at its best. One reason why Cornwall might claim to be home to its very own wonder of the world.
Saintly cornish pasties on Agnes
Things looked up the next day when I met Doug, the best taxi driver in the Scillies. He did not mind heaving Basil on board, as he weighs seven stone and his stumpy little basset hound legs prevent him from climbing into cars. Nor did he object to driving to our front door (an extra £1.50).
Taxi trips back and forth certainly mounted up over the week. And you need to be prepared for squally weather. Most people wear a uniform of kagoul, hiking boots, bobble hat and binoculars hanging round their necks.
The general routine is to climb into the small boats that leave St Mary's Quay at 10am and chug over to the outlying islands. Journeys may be choppy but take only about 15 minutes.
My favourite island is St Agnes, ringed with silver beaches and narrow lanes lined with banks of wild flowers and escaped garden blooms. A lay-reader travelling across on the boat invited me to the Sunday church service. Dogs welcome, she said, and worshippers in holiday gear, too.
The tiny church, on the edge of the bay, has a glorious stained-glass window in memory of those who'd been lost at sea from St Agnes. I joined eight or so bobble-hatted, kagoul-wearing worshippers, while Basil snoozed on the hand-sewn hassocks. The organ played and my gaze wandered to the windows and beyond to the sea and rugged rocks.
Later I discovered the Turk's Head Inn, which serves delicious crab salad and gourmet homemade pasties. Rambling about the island, I saw cooked crabs for sale at 50p each in a basket outside a cottage, and an exquisite maze, like a work of modern art, made in 1729 from round stones on a grass slope overlooking the sea.
It is said that those who walk round it are filled with wellbeing. Basil certainly kept wagging his tail and I felt exhilarated, although this could have been due to a pint of Turk's Head cider.
Getting there
How to get there:
By road: 283 miles from London, 248 miles from Birmingham, 167 miles from Bristol.
By rail: Paddington to Newquay, five hours, £33 return (subject to availability, book seven days in advance, 08457 000125).
By air: BA from Gatwick daily, from £65 return plus tax (08457 733377,www.ba.com). Ryanair daily from Stansted, from £40 return plus tax (08712 460000, www.ryanair.com).
Where to stay (prices correct at June 2003):
Gold: The three-star Headland Hotel (01637 872211) sits in isolated splendour above Fistral Beach. Edward VIII convalesced here from mumps in Room 102.
Roald's Dahl's The Witches and The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour were filmed here. Sheltered pool and outstanding views. £75-255 per night for a double room with breakfast.
Silver: Three-star Trebarwith Hotel (01637 872288) is tucked away on the cliff top in a quiet culdesac, only a two-minute walk from the town centre. £41-71 half-board per person per night.
Bronze: Safi (01637 872800), in a commanding position above Tolcarne beach, is run by surfers for surfers. Price from £25 per night.
B&B: Kallacliff Hotel (01637 871704) is in a quiet position overlooking Lusty Glaze Beach. £19-26 per person per night.
Self-catering: Waters Edge (01637 876969), well-equipped apartments with views across Fistral Beach and Newquay Golf Course. £250-950 per apartment per week.
My Cousin Rachel walk
Built in the 18th century on wild Bodmin Moor, this old coaching inn offers a great cobbled courtyard, roaring log fires and an inglenook fireplace.
It has rather latched on to its du Maurier connection with a presentation of Jamaica Inn in sound and light tableaux, a collection of smuggling artefacts and a room packed with memorabilia, including the author's writing desk.
Quite what she would make of this, no one knows.
But her son, Kits, thinks she'd be chuffed. As he says: 'If mum could be beamed down at the age of 20 again, when she started to write, she'd be joining in with the fun and would be incredibly pleased and proud, so long as she didn't have to take part.'
So, what was on offer at the Festival? Well, there were plenty of du Maurier events.
Top of the list are Lynn Goold's guided walks.
The Rebecca Walk takes you to Polridmouth Cove, setting for the shipwreck scene in Rebecca, and offers a glimpse of her house, Menabilly, hidden by screens of trees.
Describing it as her 'elusive house of secrets', she lived there for 26 years.
Nowadays, as Lynn explains, Menabilly is privately owned and the owner doesn't like fans slipping through the hedge with cameras.
The My Cousin Rachel walk is a chance to discover the Barton countryside featured so vividly in the novel, and ends with a scrumptious farmhouse tea at Coombe Farm.
At strategic points along the walks, Lynn reads aloud passages from Daphne's novels, raising her voice to be heard above screeching gulls.
Lovely camellia walk
Wandering through tunnels of giant rhubarb and bamboo, past England's tallest palm trees, by streams cascading over waterfalls and a pond rippling with Koi carp, I felt as if I really had arrived inside the gates of Eden.
A further half-mile along the road is the National Trust's Glendurgan Garden.
In 1820 a Quaker family set about creating a small piece of heaven on Earth, planting lime, beech, sycamore, oak and ash trees. Giants now, you can glimpse the river through their branches.
There's a lovely camellia walk, ancient cherry orchards, and an exceedingly complicated laurel maze which is best avoided if you're planning a short visit.
Then, at Feock near Truro, there's the stunning Trelissick Garden, visited by the Queen herself at the start of her Jubilee tour.
It's only £4.50 to wander through 20 exquisite acres flanked by 376 acres of woods, parkland and walks, beautifully positioned at the head of the Fal estuary.
I chatted to a fellow garden-enthusiast who'd just visited Eden, which he decried as 'a glorified garden centre'.
He'd seen a recreation of a West African thatched roundhouse and a terrace of crops grown by Botswana's farmers. 'The thing is, if I'd wanted to see a thatched mud hut or Botswana's crops I'd have gone to West Africa,' he said, feeding cake crumbs to some friendly sparrows.
'Same thing with the Warm Temperate biomes.
'Who wants to see spindly oranges, lemons and vines in a greenhouse when you can nip over to Spain and see huge fields of them growing outdoors?'
Quite so. Give me Cornwall's own flourishing flora any day.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Where to stay: Budock Vean: www.budockvean.co.uk tel: 01326-252-100. Trebah Garden: www.trebah-garden.co.uk tel: 01326-250-448. St Austell Tourist Information Centre: www.cornish-riviera.co.uk tel: 01726-879500. Eden Project: www.edenproject.com tel: 01726-811-911.
Vibrant display of vegetables
In places such as St Ives, a number of good restaurants have also opened in the past year, including Alba, on the first floor of the old lifeboat station, and the award-winning Seafood Cafe, which is under the same group ownership as the Porthminster and Porthgwidden Beach Cafes nearby.
But there are other, more subtle developments. Take the Gear Farm Shop, one mile down the road from Trelowarren in St Martin.
Set up two years ago by Tony Robinson, who filmed an episode of the archaeological TV show Time Team on Gear Farm, this must rank as one of the greatest gourmet secrets in the South-West.
A thriving collaboration between local organic farmers and a fisherman called Roly Kirby, the farm shop is always packed, as local farmworkers queue down the lane alongside parked-up Volvo estates and people-carriers.
Customers are met with a vibrant display of seasonal vegetables and fruit, picked from the surrounding fields each day.
Roly's wife, Georgie, is in another corner, selling fresh fish that has been landed on the same day by her husband at Bishop's Quay, one mile away on the Helford River.
She also runs a Lobster Hotline, supplying them fresh to holidaymakers' cottages. She's also noticed a move upmarket, saying: 'Next season I'm planning to deliver champagne alongside the lobster.'
In the back room, where choice cuts of organic Aberdeen Angus beef and free-range Gloucester Old Spot pork sausages are sold, the smell of Cornish pasties is mouthwatering.
For these are not the usual fare that have sunk many a visitor from upcountry, but light pasties made with organic chicken and fresh tarragon.
There are other Cornish treasures, too, such as the cafe in Lamorna Cove, five miles from Land's End on the South coast. After a coastline walk from Mousehole, you can tuck into fish and crab soup at a table by the harbour wall.
Croust House restaurant and farm outside St Keverne produces the famous Roskilly's ice-cream. Children can watch the herd being milked and the ice-cream being made.
Back at Trelowarren, Sir Ferrers is confident that his move away from the caravan trade is the right thing to do. Eventually, the cottages will all be run as exclusive timeshares.
But if you should buy one, don't mention the chicken and tarragon pasties to Lady Vyvyan. A local girl, she gets quite passionate about these things.
'Be wary of exotic contents,' she says in her entertaining notes for visitors. 'Traditional pasties are made with 'skirt', and it is delicious.'
There's no pleasing some people.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Trelowarren, near Helston, currently has six, self-catering cottages available to let and one apartment in the main house, call 01326 221224 for details.
St Anthony's cottage, which sleeps six to eight, costs from £485 per week between May 30 and June 27, rising to £850 per week between July 11 and August 29.
Timeshare prices for St Anthony's start at £5,500 for one week on a 30-year lease, rising to £18,000 in peak season.
Useful numbers: Gear Farm Shop, near Helston (01326 221150). Alba restaurant, St Ives (01736 797222). Seafood Cafe, St Ives (01736 794004). Lamorna Cove Cafe, Lamorna, (01736 731734). Croust House restaurant and farm, St Keverne, (01326 280479)
Dashing in the 60s
The hotel had gone to seed, but had been dashing in the Sixties, when Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother visited (even though the bathrooms were across the corridor then).
You feel Olga is on a mission to prove herself to her late father, who built the family firm up from a Milk Bar to one of the world's most famous hotel chains.
'Hotels follow each other; they have pot pourri, trouser presses and muzak aimed at this mythical person out there who likes ghastly things. I try to do what I like instead,' she says.
'This is a small hotel, just 28 rooms, so it has to be simple. The most important thing is to keep it very clean.
'You have to keep washing floors, changing the carpet and repainting the whole place once a year.' (This perfectionism explains why the prices are far from rustic.)
There are numerous walks: we got on a ferry for the 10-minute journey across the bay or you could do a five-hour tramp across to Port Loe. There is also the impressive St Mawes Castle to visit. Both the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project are around half an hour's drive away, towards St Austell.
The hotel bar has club chairs (and lots of games in case of rain) in which to enjoy a pre-dinner drink. The three-course dinner is a set menu.
Olga is constantly refining the place, and is planning to add a children's room so guests can enjoy the Mediterranean style garden in peace.
Despite its mix of guests, Tresanton is rather glamorous. There is likely to be a celebrity in the dining room, which is either exciting or stressful, depending on your point of view.
All but one of the rooms have a sea view; regulars' favourites include the honeymoon suite and a room with its own private terrace.
At this price, it's just a question of saving up for a special occasion.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
During high season (March 16 to October 31), rooms cost from £195 to £265 a night including breakfast, with a 15 per cent discount for single occupancy.
Family suites are £365. Dinner is £33 per person (01326 270 055).
Ryanair flights (www.ryanair.com) from Stansted to Newquay Airport (less than an hour's drive from St Mawes) are from £7 each way.
Too busy with TV
Our teacher arrives. Not Rick Stein himself - he's far too busy making TV programmes and enriching his empire further to find time to teach. (And of late he has also been faced with some, ahem, marital difficulties.)
Paul Sellars is Rick Stein's head chef, blessed with patience and communication skills you tend not to associate with kitchen dons.
Slap 20 quids' worth of sea bass in front of most of us, and we would not know what to do with it. Choosing, preparing, cooking fish - that's all been Captain Birdseye's speciality.
Rick has woken us up to an ocean of possibilities, but sometimes you need someone to take you through it slowly.
Paul maps out the day. He'll start with a demonstration in preparing and cooking the first dish. After that, we'll cook the same for our own lunch. Yummy.
This will happen not once, but six times throughout the day. Six lunches. Paul looks at us seriously. He says he hopes we didn't have too much breakfast.
First fish on is turbot with a sideshow of cockles and clams. Ten minutes later, we've learned how to whittle the big fish down to the bone without losing a flake of (expensive) flesh.
Paul has made it look easy. Ten minutes later, we are pushing forks into the finished dish, tasting perfection before peeling off into pairs to create our own. My partner is Michael, a Surrey banker.
At 10.30am we are eating our first lunch of steamed turbot with clams, washed down with a delicious cold white wine.
Then it's on to filleting mackerel. Paul keeps it simple, and I end up with my own version of the dish, all tied together with string and looking like the real thing.
Treading the paths of the Lizard
Saturday was gloriously sunny, but on Sunday the mists clung obstinately to The Lizard. We persuaded Edmond to forgo the beach and try out his new Brasher boots on a bracing walk round the very tip of the peninsula - the most southerly point in Britain.
Like so much of our southern coastline west of Swanage, Lizard Point benefits from the stewardship of The National Trust. The Trust's car park information board reminded us of the precious ecology of this particular magical spot.
Several unique plant species grow on the schist and serpentine cliffs and I longed for a botanist to help us to find the diminutive fringed rupturewort, not to mention the prostrate dyer's greenweed. However, there was no mistaking the garish, shocking-pink of the non-indigenous Hottentot figs running amok among the subtler colours of native bluebells, sea campion and three-cornered leeks.
South African invaders notwithstanding, it was stunningly beautiful. The floral tapestry glowed through the mist and the waves were just visible, far below, where the wreckers used to plunder unlucky ships. Today the eerie moan of the lighthouse foghorn warns modern mariners off the savage black rocks, which are almost as deadly as the famous Manacles reef further round the coast.
For landlubbers, the clifftop path is a glorious roller-coaster ride over the endless ups and downs of this most convoluted coastline. I could have carried on all day - all week - but we also wanted to fit one of Cornwall's famous gardens into our mini-holiday, so we returned to the car and drove up to the north-east corner of the peninsula.
They say that Britain packs more variety of landscape into its small area than almost anywhere else on earth, and the cliche certainly holds true in Cornwall. What a contrast, after the defiant Atlantic defences of the Lizard's west coast, to sink into the lush embrace of Trelissick, on the soft, rounded banks of the Fal estuary.
Undulating lawns and classic parkland slope down to the water from the columned house front, but the real interest lies in the pleasure garden planted between 1937 and 1955 by Mr and Mrs Ronald Copeland. Their predecessors had bequeathed a sheltered framework of mature trees. That and the famed warmth of the Cornish micro-climate enabled them to create an exotic, subtropical fantasy, where tree ferns mingle with magnificent azaleas and rhododendrons.
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| | | | Dungeon drinks at the Star Castle
Those who visit the Scillies go for the walks, the beaches, the bird-watching and the flowers. It's not a destination for sophisticates, nor for those looking for rave-ups and nightlife. It's the sort of place where front doors are left open, bicycles have no locks and car keys are left in the ignition.
A local policeman told me they've had only four crimes this year, and three were solved. There are no newspapers on Sundays. In the one supermarket the shelves were pretty bare, due to bad weather preventing supplies arriving by sea. People were fighting over the last packet of crispy salad, and Basil had to go without his Bonzo Choc Drops.
For a special treat on St Mary's you can enjoy a drink in the convivial dungeon bar of the Star Castle Hotel, once a garrison, built in 1593, in the shape of an eight-pointed star. Or try lunch - another fab crab salad - at Juliet's Garden Cafe, sitting outside in a sheltered hollow on the cliff edge.
Everything, apart from the taxi fares, was wonderful, especially Standing Stone, which was better equipped and furnished than my home. It even had heated towel rails and air conditioning. I did not want to leave, nor did Basil.
Being a town dog, he'd never chased rabbits before and, having known such bliss and freedom, now that he is home he keeps making wistful whining noises.
I do, too. I miss the flowers, the peace, the gentle pace, the heated towel rails. In retrospect, even the five-mile walk to and from the shops with eager Basil in tow seems delightful.
Eating out
Where to eat:
Gold: Finn's (01637 874062) contemporarily designed Conran-style restaurant in a converted boathouse on the beach by the harbour.
Watch the fisherman land their catch - then eat it. Main course from £7.95 (mussels).
Silver: Windward Hotel (01637 873185), small hotel with a sunny restaurant overlooking Porth Beach. Main course £11-13.95.
Bronze: Newly refurbished Lewinnick Lodge (01637 878117) is situated in a remote clifftop cottage at the far end of Fistral Beach, a 20-minute walk from the town. Main course £6.65-£11.25.
Cream tea: Pauline's Creamery £3.20, Jackie's Tea Rooms £2.95
Where to party:
Afternoon and evening: The Chy Bar and Kitchen, Australasian Bar and the Offshore Beach Bar.Late-late: Sailors, The Springbok and Tall Trees.
Activities:
Surfing: The British Surfing Association runs both The National Surfing Centre (01637 850737) on Fistral Beach.
Also the Tolcarne Surf School (01637 851487) on Tolcarne Beach. Beginners' full day group session £25.
Kitesurf: Harness the power of the wind to jump the waves or try your hand at blo-karting - riding a miniature land yacht. The Extreme Academy (01637 860840).
Blue Reef Aquarium on Towan Beach: Get up close to native sharks, rays, sea horses, and giant conger eels (01637 878134).
Tunnels through time: Life-size models and special effects brings to life the stories and legends of Cornwall. Sun-Fri 10am-4pm Adults £3.90, children £1.95.
Newquay Zoo: It houses hundreds of animals from lions to wallabies and pigmy marmosets. Open daily 9.30am-6pm. Adults £6.75, Children £4.20 (01637 873342).
Shark, wreck, and deep sea fishing: All-day trips 9.30am-5.30pm, £30 including bait and tackle, aboard Pathfinder Atlantic Diver and Che Sara-Sara. You keep your catch. Newquay Boatmen's Association (01637 876352).
Best beach: Fistral faces west. Lack of protection from the Atlantic rollers has given it a reputation as Europe's finest surfing venue.
Best thing about resort: Its vibrancy. You might expect to find such a cosmopolitan atmosphere in Cairns or California - but not in Cornwall.
Worst thing about resort: Late-night noise. Choose where you stay with care.
Such a concentration of international sun-bleached youth, fuelled by an inexhaustible supply of low-priced alcohol, can cause insomnia to the over-30s.
Her spirit permeates
On several evenings during the festival, the Tywardreath Players performed a spectacular stage version of Frenchman's Creek on the ancient quayside of Pont Creek.
In the village hall, the Polruan Theatre Club had a stage version of My Cousin Rachel - the famous story of two bachelor cousins who fall, with disastrous consequences, for the same enigmatic woman.
And so the Festival fun buzzes, with the bookshops stocking every du Maurier novel or biography published, and with special events galore, many of which have no connection with Daphne..
Each art gallery, gift shop, pub and cafe is geared up for the rush. Special boat trips take visitors down river - chugging past Ferryside.
The good-natured Kits lives here still and, when he's in the garden enjoying an evening drink, has grown accustomed to being waved at and having his photo taken.
Local people recall previous Festivals - Ronnie Corbett reducing everyone to hysterics, Cleo Laine receiving standing ovations, Edwina Currie having a go at Ann Widdecombe.
Everyone agrees that it's exciting to rub shoulders with Bob and Edwina in the narrow streets that for most of the year throng with day-trippers and yachties.
There's also the splendid Fowey Hall itself. Built by master craftsmen in 1899, it is unashamedly ostentatious, with baroque plasterwork and costly oak-panelled walls.
Now a hotel, it is a lovely place to stay, and the food is delicious.
It is not known whether Daphne ever visited the Hall, but her spirit permeates every part of the town.
Walking to Fowey Hall, I saw a boat called the Rebecca and a dog called Rebecca.
The hotel receptionist was called Rebecca, and the video on offer for the evening was - yes - Rebecca. Spooky, huh?
Cold white wine
Michael's fillets are rather small - more like sardines really. Well, bankers, they can do a lot of things. But fillet fish? Strangely, his seem to taste better than mine.
Half past eleven, and we're eating sweet and spicy Portuguese-style stuffed mackerel, washed down with another delicious cold white wine.
Then it's sea bass - beautiful, shiny objects that have to be sculpted into triangles of fillet.
At 1.30pm, we sit down for bass with stir-fried asparagus, washed down with yet another delicious cold white wine.
And so it goes on. Another fish, another lunch. Another lesson well and truly learned.
Including this one - when cleaning squid, do not hack off the head, just because you don't like the way it's looking at you.
You need it in order to pull all the dangly bits from inside the sac. Take off the head and you have to get in there somehow. At least Michael did, while I apologised. Again and again.
Suddenly, it's 4.30pm. People pick up their certificates, vowing to return. I've got a precious reservation at Rick Stein's inordinately expensive seafood restaurant this very night.
At 9pm, the restaurant is buzzing, with none of the restrained hush that clings to the aura of famous chefs.
The staff are friendly, and nobody seems to mind that they had to book months in advance.
I have eaten half of my spinach stir-fry. And suddenly, that's it. I put down my fork. Is something wrong? asks the waitress anxiously.
No, nothing's wrong. It's inspiring. Light and gingery and fresh. Only it's been a long day. Full of fish.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
A day course at the Padstow Seafood School costs from £140. A double room with breakfast is £100 to £210. Padstow Seafood School, Riverside, Padstow. Tel: 01841 532700.
At the Metropole Hotel, Station Road, Padstow (www.the-metropole.com tel: 0870 400 8122), a double room with breakfast costs £72pp a night until end of October, £57 from November to March.
The shining light of St Ives
Gardens - even exciting jungly ones like Trelissick - can be a real turn-off for young children, so after an hour we returned to the cottage to finish off the scones. As we do not have a television at home, it was also a great treat to work through some of the video collection.
The owners have obviously gone out of their way to give holiday tenants a good time and the whole atmosphere of the place was very welcoming. Rosie's only misgiving was that she felt slightly uneasy at having so many family photos and possessions around the house - it made her feel slightly like a trespasser in someone else's home.
That small niggle did not detract from the wish that we could stay here longer, to dawdle in the cottage, spend time on the beach and explore more of the Lizard's coastline, with all those redolent Cornish names such as Pollurian, Predannack, Kynance and Landewednack. But we had just half a day, so, greedy to cram in one more corner of the county, we decided to call at the Tate Gallery in St Ives before starting the drive home.
Of course, we had forgotten that the gallery is closed on a Monday, but that didn't matter for the sun was shining again and, instead of artists's interpretations, we had the real thing.
More cliches - this time about that special St Ives light - and true again. The sea was banded cobalt and turquoise. The beach, at low tide, was an immense expanse of pinkish, peachy yellow, rippled with lilac rivulets.
Edmond loved it and I wondered why people bother to go to the Bahamas. Even the town itself, unlike the vast majority of British seaside towns, was attractive, with hardly a single dud among the dense cluster of attractive houses, jostling convivially on the granite hillside.
There was just time for a final lunch at the beachside restaurant. Dank, malodorous pubs were banished from memory as we sat in the sun enjoying fresh crab salad and a bottle of Chardonnay, with the salt breeze on our faces and the raucous gulls singing the praises of England's most beautiful stretch of coast.
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| | Destination Guide : Cornwall |
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| | | From tin to tourism |  | Why go on holiday to Cornwall?
Set amid some of the most awe-inspiring coastline in the British Isles, Cornwall has pretty fishing villages surrounded by cliffs, coves and bays. Despite tourism taking over from the now-defunct tin mining industry as the county's main source of income, it is still possible to avoid crowds in high season by visiting one of the many beautiful towns.
How much does it cost?
Moderate restaurant meal £18, pint of beer £2.20 (varies), B&Bs from £18 per person per night, hotels from £30. If there's a few of you, consider hiring a cottage.
The return train fare from London to Truro is about £54 off-peak, less if you book in advance. Return coach fare from London costs around £40. Fly from London to Newquay for around £100 return. Note coach, rail and air fares can vary greatly and you should always check with the operator for exact prices.
How do I get there?
By train: Truro is a mainline service and the station is near the centre of town. Penzance's station is two minutes from the centre. To get to Newquay change at Par. Penzance is the end of the line.
By coach: coaches run to most destinations in Cornwall, and have a more extensive network than the trains. Penzance's coach station is right next to the railway station.
By air: Newquay has Cornwall's only airport, Bristol is the next nearest to the county.
By car: M4 west then the M5, then turn off onto the A30 to drive into the county.
When should I go?
July and August have the best weather, but also the biggest crowds in popular resorts. November to February are cold and wet and the days are short - consequently lots of places close down and some resorts are like ghost towns. Summer averages 55-75F/13-24C, and winter 30-45F/-1-7C.
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| | | Get surfing |  | What should I do when I'm there?
Penzance is a pleasant little town with an arty air and good shops. The Minack Theatre, near Porthcurno, is a spectacular open-air theatre which has performances from May to September.
Land's End is Britain's most south-westerly spot and has great views and St Michael's Mount is an impressive old monastery, cut off from the mainland at high tide.
Bodmin Moor is a bleak but imposing heath with bogs and high tors. On the edge is Launceston with its castle, and the Jamaica Inn (as in Daphne du Maurier's famous novel) in Bolventor is great spot for an atmospheric evening drink.
If idyllic villages are your bag, then Cornwall is the place for you. St Ives, Mousehole, Cadgwith, Polperro and Fowey are among the lovelier ones. Art lovers should not miss the Leach Pottery, Barbara Hepworth Museum and St Ives Tate in St Ives.
What activities are there?
The coastal path between Land's End and St Ives is beautiful and there are a variety of good, cheap B&Bs along the way. Another top rambling spot is the Lizard Peninsula, a verdant National Trust area named after its stretches of red-green rock.
Strange as it may seem, there's quite a surfing scene in Cornwall. Fistral beach, Newquay, is the top spot, followed by nearby Watergate Bay and Crantock. Windsurfing, fishing, diving, sailing, golfing and horseriding are also available.
If you're surfing, make sure the beach is patrolled by lifeguards and inexperienced surfers should seek qualified instruction at the nearest surf school. For more details contact the British Surfing Association on 01736 360250.
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| | | Have a Cornish pasty | | Where's good for nightlife?
People go to Cornwall principally to relax or for the watersports so it's not a great clubbers' haven. Surfer dudes should head to Newquay's Red Lion pub to find out about happenings.
The annual Run To The Sun dance music festival in Newquay celebrates the synergy of cars (Volkswagens), music, sea and surf.
Otherwise, unless you're a beach-party raver or a solstice-worshipping New Ager, Cornish nightlife tends to consist of a lovely fish dinner and a refreshing pint.
And very nice too, although Jamaica Inn is said to be haunted by the ghost of a sailor returning to finish his drink.
What's the food like?
Clotted cream and Cornish pasties are what first spring to mind, but there is also delicious seafood to be savoured. Saffron cake is a local speciality.
For a special treat, splash out on celebrity chef Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow (set menu £36). The Ship at Mousehole is also recommended for its fresh fish and seafood.
What should I buy?
St Ives is a wonderful place to buy art and crafts by local artists. There are paintings, woodcarving and pottery, and you can also buy beautiful silver and glass from the Sloop Craft Market. Otherwise, look out for local foodstuffs from farms, such as honey and clotted cream.
What is there for children to do?
Besides the beach, there are several possibilities. The Cornish Seal Sanctuary, near Gweek, close to Falmouth, treats injured marine animals and is open to visitors every day from 9am to 5.30pm.
At Trethorne Leisure Farm, kids can see and feed the animals, ride a pony, milk a cow and watch a falconry display. At Helston, Flambards Adventure Park offers 30 attractions and fairground rides.
Near Fowey, kids can ride on a miniature train at Dobwalls Theme Park, or admire the magnificent shire horses at Shires Adventure Park. And Newquay offers a riot of entertainments, with its Sea Life Centre, Animal World, and Waterworld.
Tourist office
Cornwall Tourist Board, Pydar House, Pydar St, Truro TR1 1EA. Tel 01872 274057.
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| | Available rental properties in Cornwall |
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| |  | | Church Races
Cornish coastal cottage with spectacular sea views - close to sandy beach and South West coast path - ideal for a family or couple(s) wanting a beach or walking holiday.
|  | | The Annex at Church Races
Cornish coastal cottage metres from the South West coas path and close to sandy surfing beach - ideal for a family or couple wanting a beach or walking holiday.
|  | | 3 bed, Holiday Caravan, Looe Bay
Lovely caravan with stunning views of Looe Bay, situated in the popular Looe Bay Caravan Park.
3 bedrooms, walk in shower, separate toilet and basin.
|  | | Polscoe Cottage
Beautiful 600 year old cottage set in large tranquil garden close to nearby beaches, golf clubs and country walks. Ideal for the perfect family holiday.
|  | | 4 Star, Seaside Villa
Luxury, 4 star, seaside villa on Cornish Coast offering high quality accommodation in excellent location. Great for family holidays, get-to-togethers
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Holiday Rentals in Cornwall |
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