South Cornwall

It was 5:35am on a dark autumn morning in Rome.

We pulled the door of our apartment closed and headed up the hill towards Termini railway station, not for the train this time, but for the bus – to Fiumicino airport, where we’d board a flight to London Heathrow, from where we’d jump on the Heathrow Express to London Paddington, where we’d change to the GWR train to Truro in Cornwall, from where we’d walk (or cab it because, by then, it was cold, dark and raining) down the hill to our hotel in the centre of town, where – at 8:35pm – we’d check in, trudge up the stairs, drop the bags and collapse onto the bed.

Not really. We dropped the bags in the room and wandered off to stretch our legs and find food. It had been a long, but not exhausting, journey; what else is there to do on a day like that, other than to read and rest?

At the end of it, though, we were pleased to have arrived at our next adventure – a tour of England’s southwest.

Cornwall had long been on our bucket list - we'd seen the pictures of spectacular landscapes, pretty villages and picturesque harbours (think Poldark, Doc Martin, and Rick Stein).

Truro is the county's only city, and was the starting point for our visit to Cornwall.

Before we collected a car and headed off, there was time for a brief tour of Truro.

And, while there were definite reminders of the country we'd just left ...

... it was very clear we were no longer in Italy!

First bite of the famed Cornish pastie confirmed the fact. You won't find these in Italy, Toto!

This beautiful little village was to be our base for most of our 10-day stay in Cornwall.

It's Mousehole - and the pronunciation here is important - not 'mouse-hole', but 'mouw-zill'. People here definitely don't like their village referred to as a residence for rodents.

Mousehole is small, completely charming ...

.. and absolutely beautiful.

We stayed here, in the old Pilot's Cottage.

I say 'old', but you see what they've done with the place.

On the table there are 'welcome gifts' of Cornish fudge and shortbread. Oh, okay. Thank you.

Mousehole is also a great base for exploring Cornwall.

The famous St Michael's Mount is just 15 minutes away.

And a little further on, the fishing village of Porthleven.

Apparently, it's the most southerly port in Great Britain.

We stopped here for lunch one day (obviously we're already thinking Cornwall is pretty pretty!).

No visit to Cornwall is complete without a trip to The Lizard - the most southerly point on the British mainland.

Even a short walk around the coastline here delivers stunning views like this.

We watched a couple of Atlantic grey seals splashing about near the old RNLI Lifeboat Station (this one was closed in 1961).

National Trust volunteers run a 'wildlife watch point' here, and daily records are kept of what fauna and flora are spotted.

(The seals were great, though we do wish we'd seen a Hottentot Pig plant as well).

Driving in Cornwall can be an interesting adventure.

Away from the main roads (that is roads that are sometimes two lanes wide), you're often sharing the available space with oncoming traffic.

The odd stone wall or rangy hedgerow, and constant blind corners, add to the excitement. But after driving in Italy, Cornwall didn't seem too bad!

Another day we headed to Cape Cornwall on the west coast.

 

The remains of St Helen's Oratory, an early Christian chapel in a field behind the cape.

South of Cape Cornwall, this is Sennen Cove.

Another day, another lunch stop. Here, when you order the pickled egg and pickled onion (it's England, after all), you also get a lot of white bread!

We met people on our travels around Cornwall who'd never visited villages 20 kilometres from their own. As Australians, we thought nothing of the distances here; a big day's drive was 1.5 hours from start to finish.

This, of course, is Land's End.

Or Disney-land's End as we discovered.

There's a whole tourist economy set up around this otherwise unremarkable headland.

Still, people must enjoy it or it wouldn't be here.

This, though, was a piece of theatre we couldn't wait to enjoy - 'Proms at the Minack' performed by The Band of His Majesty's Royal Marines Plymouth.

The open-air Minack theatre is an extraordinary venue overlooking the Atlantic Ocean near the village of Porthcurno.

Built into a cliff face, the Minack was created by local woman, Rowena Cade, in the 1930s - in her back garden.

And it was a fabulous night! Flag-waving locals, enthusiastic tourists, a brilliant band and, to top it off, fireworks! Let's do that again sometime soon.

Part 1 of our grand tour of Cornwall ends with St Ives, one of the best-known and most popular destinations in the county.

It's a lovely town, and well set up for the tourists - like us - who flock here.

 

In summer, Cornwall can be full to overflowing with people, and we'd been a bit worried that, even in October, the crowds might be too much.

But that wasn't the case at all - at least not until we landed in St Ives. It's an attractive town - even when the tide's out - but we were much happier in our little Mousehole bolthole. 🙂

Another, happier surprise here was the Tate St Ives - one the country's four Tate galleries.

It's an interesting collection, housed in a purpose-built gallery overlooking Porthmeor Beach.

By now, we were getting a good feel for this beautiful part of England. It was time to spread our wings and head north.