Cornwall is so rammed with visitors these days they are squeezing into every nook and cranny. But there are still relatively undiscovered places that don’t draw the crowds. My round-up of ‘secrets’ is quite heavy on tin mining, Cornish moorland, scenic railways and social distancing. The only beaches on the list require walking boots and stamina. And I’ve chucked in three random food options.
Cornwall
Carbis buy: Boskerris Hotel
The Boskerris in Carbis Bay – one of our favourite hotels in Cornwall (or anywhere) – has just been sold. Sad for us, as we have stayed several times (usually for birthdays and anniversaries) and love everything about it: the location, the rooms, the views, the terrace, the friendly little […]
Shall we shanty?
Following the success of Nathan Evans’ version of a 19th century maritime folk song – which has sparked a global ‘shanty craze’ – we thought it was time we dredged up our vintage film on the first Falmouth Shanty Festival – made for the Guardian travel pages back in 2011. The festival is back in June 2021 – the year of the sea shanty we are told. Could be worse.
Happy St Piran’s Day
In celebration of St Piran’s Day (Cornwall’s patron saint), we’ve unearthed a reel of archive footage from Cornwall visits – Helston’s Flora Day, Falmouth’s shanty festival, surfing, seafood and Oyster fishing on the River Fal. Gool Peran Lowen as they say round y’ere.
Carbis Bay: the G7 spot
A few months ago, we listed this Cornish beauty in an off-season round-up of empty beaches. At the time, I could safely say that there were many, even among avid Cornish beach goers, who had never heard of the place (for your reference, it’s on the Atlantic coast, between St Ives […]
Cornwall: Get inn
Our go-to Cornish pubs tend to be old school: the salty veterans of fishing and mining, lots of knotty oak and on the dark side (we mean the lighting). On the ales front, we tend to go for ‘real’ rather than ‘craft’. Most of our top ten are by the sea (or on the water) – and one of them is in Devon.