“Thalassophile:
a person who has a strong fascination and a magnetic attraction to the ocean and sea”
Cornwall has been on my Bucket List for a very long time, so my Birthday Week gave us the perfect opportunity to take an autumnal trip and explore its stunning coastline.
Our first port of call was Mevagissey, on the south coast. The drive down from Kent took us 6 hours and included an interesting stop for brunch at the Brush & Broom in Mere, Wiltshire. This cafe/restaurant is adjacent to the historic Hillbrush Company. It’s worth a visit for its fascinating history wall; I never realised that bristles, brushes and fibres could be so interesting! I won’t go into it here, but do pop in if you’re passing that way, don’t give it the brush off. (Sorry, not sorry about that!)
We were a bit too early to check-in to our Meva’ accommodation so we decided to take a little detour to visit Charlestown, a tiny Georgian fishing harbour almost next door. It was first constructed for shipping copper and later on, china clay and importing coal. Nowadays it’s now home to historic tall-ships and used as a filming location. It was very quiet and peaceful when we visited, however I can imagine how busy it must be during the height of the tourist season. We enjoyed a refreshing cup of Cornish Tea and began to notice the slower pace of life in the air. Having said that, we did witness one poor lady being rescued after slipping on the rocks by the beach. It took three medical vehicles and 13 personnel to make sure she was OK. We later found out via BBC Radio Cornwall that she was taken to hospital with a severely sprained ankle. It just goes to show how careful you need to be (I’m known for my wobbly, bendy ankles so it was a lesson I heeded!)
Our Mevagissy B&B couldn’t have been better for us. It provided parking on site and was just a 5 minute, albeit quite steep, walk down to the shops, pubs and harbour.
I was immediately transfixed! I’d seen pictures of it, but they hadn’t prepared me for just how picturesque the place actually is. It is still a thriving fishing port and is the second largest fishing port in Cornwall. This means it still has a strong community feeling about it and doesn’t just feel like a tourist attraction. There is an abundance of pubs and eateries to try tucked away amongst the narrow, windy streets lined with pastel coloured buildings, and of course fish is the main choice.
Tim fancied a spot of fishing on our second evening. He had watched some of the locals fishing off the harbour arm the night before and thought it looked like fun. I’d taken my sketchbook and pencils with me so I sat and doodled while he attempted to catch something. Watching the light change from bright sunshine to deep indigo as the sun set behind the cliffs was mesmerising. Sadly, all he caught was sea weed! I even had a go myself and felt I was a natural, until I lost a lure. Whoops!
This relaxing interlude followed a 5-mile walk starting from Meva’s harbour, up across the cliffs and fields towards the village of Pentewan, up through woods and lanes to the Lost Gardens of Helligan, before dipping back down to the harbour. The weather couldn’t have been kinder, and yes it was steep and challenging in places, but the spectacular views made it worthwhile. The coastline is very dramatic and the sea is a vivid blue.
Wednesday’s jaunt took us to St Anthony’s Head where we parked the van and headed off for anothter steep and picturesque walk past the lighthouse, through some woods, and back to the water’s edge to catch the small passenger ferry across the creek to St Mawes for lunch.
The plan was to have a fresh crab sandwich on the quay followed by a highly recommended cream tea. However neither of our first choices offered these so we found another delightful little cafe and compromised with a shared prawn sandwich and a fresh scone with jam and butter!
I had the foresight to sign up to English Heritage before we left home because of a planned trip later in the week (all will be revealed) so I was delighted when we discovered we could enter St Mawes Castle, an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII to guard the Fal Estuary. It offers a fascinating snapshot in time, and be aware that it’s on 7 levels of spiralling stone steps!
All in all we enjoyed about three hours exploring the pretty and affluent little town before catching the ferry back and hiking back to the car park to head back to Mevagissey for our third and final night there. I certainly felt I deserved my large glass of wine with dinner that evening!
We loved this area, and were particularly glad we visited out of the tourist season as we could move around freely and comfortably.
Our next port of call was the north coast for a couple of nights. We stopped off at a National Trust site; Carnewas and Bedruthan for the coast walk. Oh wow, how spectacular was that? We witnessed huge Atlantic Rollers breaking against the autumn kissed cliffs, and the sea is an emerald green that I’d never seen before. This walk was less challenging than the previous days, but oh so dramatic. The cafe there had a little sheltered garden, and I finally got my fresh crab sandwich and a proper Cornish Cream Tea (served on turquoise crockery which is always a hit with me!)
The clouds rolled in a bit after lunch so we checked out Padstow on our way around to our next B&B in Port Gaverne. It’s very quaint and pretty, but we felt it had a very commercialised atmosphere about it thanks to the famous TV cook, Rick Stein. Fair play to him though, he’s certainly good for tourism and has cemented the place firmly on the Must See map of Cornwall. Having said that, we did enjoy the best mint choc chip ice creams we’d ever tasted!
Friday 16th October dawned, marking my 58th trip around the sun and my wish list for the day included a visit to Tintagel Castle, an enigmatic site where history meets mystical legend, now managed by English Heritage. It’s most famous for its links to King Arthur, however its history dates much further back than that. The castle is half attached to the mainland and half on a jagged outcrop, accessed on foot by a narrow suspension bridge high above the crashing seas below.
We could feel the history of the island in the atmosphere as we navigated our way around the pathways. Some of these could be quite challenging if it was wet, and you definitely need to be okay with heights! Actually, I’m not great with heights, but I didn’t find it a problem. I just knew my limits and didn’t venture too close to the edges.
We both thoroughly enjoyed our time there, the views are spectacular, although Tim did feel like some of it was quite “Hollywoody”. I, on the other hand, loved all the mystical history!
From Tintagel, we visited Boscastle, another historic working harbour nearby. Again, it was the perfect day to visit as it was quiet and I loved the local artisan shops and galleries.
Seeing as we were staying so close to Port Isaac, it would’ve been rude not to pay it a visit. Yes, it’s very pretty and it’s famous for being the location of the popular TV series, Doc Martin and the true story behind the film Fisherman’s Friends, and well worth a visit, but we were a bit disappointed that nearly all the shops and cafes were closed. What was open was quite expensive! I spoke to a lovely lady in one of the galleries and she told me that a lot of them had been closed all summer, which is sad.
Port Gaverne on the other hand was gorgeous. The Port Gaverne Hotel and pub was our home for the next two nights. Port Gaverne is a tiny little cove situated a 5 minute walk from Port Isaac and the pub sits right on the beach. Happy me! The old pub is popular with locals as well as travellers and was buzzing, even on a Thursday night when we arrived. The food was delicious and they have set a very high bar for breakfasts and fish and chips!
Something that amused us a lot during the week was that everything is “award winning”, whether it’s pasties, cream teas, cider, beer or attractions. We never found out what anyone won their awards for or who they were judged by! Some of the place names tickled me, such as Pityme and a pub called the Hewas Inn (I wonder if there’s another called the Hewas Out?)
We were sad to have to leave the next morning. Cornwall had been everything I’d expected and more. I love the dramatic coastlines, the tiny harbours, the colours and noise of the sea, the cream teas, fresh fish and the strong creative vibe. I learned that I am probably a Thalassophile and I also have a folder full of photo references for seascape paintings!
I can’t wait to go back!