There’s only one six-hour drive I look forward to. The A303 is the artery of adventure, filtering my family out of city life, past Stonehenge, up and down the Blackdown Hills into the South West.
We have a now well-rehearsed ritual of charging points, playgrounds and a diversion on to Dartmoor to paddle in the River Taw. Then on the A30, a little cheer as we cross the River Tamar and enter Cornwall.
We’re part of the 85 per cent of visitors who return here year after year. Like so many others, we’re drawn to the pretty coves, twinkling fishing villages and 200 miles of emerald-green coastline. Rarely do we stray from the sea.
In recent years, though, Cornwall’s allure has become problematic, its popularity pushing parts of the county to their limits. Visit Britain data ranked it as the country’s top holiday destination after London last year.
However, this year’s early Easter weekend, coupled with a wet spring, meant that – according to Visit Cornwall CEO Malcolm Bell – visitor numbers were down by 15 to 20 per cent during the Easter break. “The report that there would be 50 days of rain this summer has not helped,” he told i. Nevermind that the “Met Office report” in question turned out to be unfounded. The growing concern about too many tourists has, for now, subsided.
That’s not to say tourists aren’t coming. As with holiday destinations further afield, the trend for late bookings holds fast in Cornwall, where visitors want some reassurance that their break won’t be a washout.
We took an early punt at Easter. However, this time we’d decided to stay inland rather than anchor ourselves to the coast where we’d be more reliant on good weather. In a county that’s on average 22 miles wide and sometimes half as narrow, this still puts the sea within easy reach.
And at The Cornish Place – slap bang between the Atlantic and the South Cornwall coasts and just four miles from Redruth – this proved to be not only easy but also advantageous.
The Redruth urban area is Cornwall’s largest and was one of the wealthiest in Europe, when copper and tin mining boomed. Today, the skeletal engine houses of the “wheals” remind you of this past amid fields that now fuel the county’s principal economy. Many have become visitor attractions as part of its secondary economy.
Agriculture and tourism also intersect at The Cornish Place. This award-winning collection of cottages on the 26-acre Gilly Vean Farm is surrounded by fields as far as you can see. A couple of miles away, Stithians Agricultural Show is the largest in Cornwall and has been going since 1834.
The owners of The Cornish Place, Andi and Adam Freeman, converted the farm’s outbuildings during lockdown. They’re also rewilding, planting more than 700 native trees to create a corridor with a neighbouring ancient woodland and planning a wildflower meadow. The site has a borehole, providing spring water for the cottages and the Freemans encourage guests to make use of food deliveries from local farm shops.
We joined them in the paddock as Adam mixed a Falmouth gin and tonic from a converted trailer bar while our children made pizzas to cook in the wood-fired oven. Under a big, open sky – where, unlike the north or south coastlines, you get the benefit of both the sunrise and sunset – Andi dished out tips for the best places to visit.
From the farm, you can be at the mainland’s most southerly point – the high drama of the Lizard Peninsula – as well as Penzance, St Ives, St Michael’s Mount and the Roseland Peninsula within 45 minutes. The beaches of Gwythian and Falmouth are 20 minutes west and east, and, if you’re feeling energetic, you can cycle the 11-mile Mineral Tramways Bissoe Trail from the harbour village of Devoran on the south coast to Portreath on the Atlantic.
A bodyboard, rather than bikes, was waiting expectantly in our Dairy cottage, but with the sea still foot-achingly cold we decided to make the most of a sunny day with a picnic on Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth. Its golden crescent of soft sand is bordered by a subtropical garden bursting with palm trees, agapanthus and giant gunnera, with views towards Henry VIII’s stocky fortress, Pendennis Castle.
We wandered down to the deep harbour – where epic voyages such as Dame Ellen MacArthur’s circumnavigation of the world in 2005 have started and finished – and along the bunting-strung streets in search of lunch. We tucked into juicy crab sandwiches and creamy mussels as seagulls wheeled overhead, soaking up the lively atmosphere in this youthful, creative town.
When the weather didn’t favour beach days, we stocked up on wild garlic leaf-wrapped Cornish Yarg from award-winning Lynher Dairies, then drove inland to the village of Gweek on the serene Helford River.
This once-thriving ancient port now cares for smaller vessels, as well as marine mammals. The Cornish Seal Sanctuary looks after rescued seals, sea lions and puffins, rehabilitating them in outdoor pools where they glide and splash in the water then shoot up for fish at feeding time.
We continued down to the sea stacks of Kynance Cove on the Lizard Peninsula. This popular beach, with its dual-aspect white sand beaches and turquoise water, is always busy. Despite ash-grey clouds and high winds, there were plenty of us trailing along the footpaths to the sea, where the Bluetits Chill Swimmers were braving the waves in hats, gloves and neoprene socks.
Back at the farm it was time to get the Nordic hot tub fired up. As steam danced off the water into a sky painted with streaks of tangerine, hot pink, violet and blue, I swirled around soaking up the bucolic view from all angles and wondered which direction we would head next.
Getting there
The nearest station is Falmouth Town, served by GWR trains from TruroStaying there
The Cornish Place offers four-night stays at The Dairy, which sleeps five, from £1,290 in September.More information
Cornish Seal Sanctuary, tickets from £17.60, valid for one year.
Mineral Tramways Trails
Lynher Dairies shop is open Monday to Saturday.
National Maritime Museum Falmouth, tickets £18, valid for one year.
visitcornwall.com