Month: September 2020

A Cornwall Holiday (4)

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I am told that no holiday is complete without a boat trip, so today we decided to take the Enterprise Boat Trip from Trelissick to Falmouth. From the cottage there is a woodland walk which takes you to the landing at Trelissick, where the boats run to Falmouth. We set off in plenty of time, as we did not know how long it would take us and we also intended to have some lunch at the café at the National Trust Gardens at Trelissick.

We arrived at the gardens at around 11-30, but they were closed. Online it showed that they were open and that you had to pre book online, but it was all locked up. Pretty disappointing really, especially as we had just missed a boat at 11-15am and the next one was at 1pm.

We walked down to where the car ferry was running and watched that for a little while. Luckily we had a few snacks and a flask with us so we passed the time until the next boat was due.

The boat trip itself is run by Enterprise Boats. There were only a few passengers, but we chose to sit outside as we wanted to see the scenery. It was very bracing! There was a small amount of commentary at the beginning and the end, but for the rest of the journey (45 minutes in all), you are left just to enjoy the scenery.

We got off the boat at Falmouth and headed straight for lunch at a tea rooms that had been recommended to us.

Dolly’s Tea Room – Falmouth

This had been recommended to us in the information that came with the house we were staying in. It is a very quirky tea room, which doubles us as a wine and gin bar on an evening.

On arrival we went up the stairs and there was a sign asking us to sanitise our hands and ring the bell so that we could be shown to a table. We sat in a window seat. the tea rooms themselves are in a big Georgian building which is decorated in an eclectic mix of wallpaper, with various wall hangings, informative and amusing blackboards.

We ordered sandwiches and I had homemade soup with a chees scone. The food came quickly and was presented in a lovely array of mismatched china crockery, all adding to the quirky atmosphere. The food was really good and the staff were really pleasant.

We then had a short walk around Falmouth, purchasing big pasties to take back to the house for tea and then boarded the boat back to Trelissick. The woodland walk was shorter on the way back (had taken a few wrong turns on the way there) and we were soon back at the cottage.

The fire pit was lit and we warmed up the pasties and peas, taking them down to the fire pit and once again enjoying a lovely relaxing evening. Afterwards we went inside and enjoyed a few drinks whilst playing cards.

Everyone’s Heading To St Ives

The following day we decided to drive to St Ives, mainly for cream teas in a café there that was described as having the best cream teas. St Ives was unbelievably busy considering it was the last week in September. We parked in the overflow car park and headed straight to the recommended tea shop.

Olives Cafe – St Ives

We arrived at the café, but it was busy both inside and out. We were told that a table would be about 20 minutes and we opted to wait as the reviews of the café had been so good. After about 15 minutes we were told that we could have a table and we ordered our cream teas. There was a choice of scones all of which were delicious and large. The tea came in a nice big pot, so you could get several cups. The food was so appealing when it came that we were so busy digging in that we forgot to take photos, but take my word for it, it was definitely worth the wait.

After our cream teas we walked through the little streets of St Ives looking in some of the shops, but it was so busy, it was hard to keep your distance from other people and because of this, not really a pleasant experience. It’s great that the area is having lots of visitors, but difficult in the small towns to make it feel safe.

We walked up the very steep hill back to the car and decided to go for a drive to find somewhere a little quieter, when we came across a little gem.

Penwith Pitch And Putt

On the drive back we spotted a sign for the pitch and putt at St Erth. What a brilliant little place this is. It has a 12 hole pitch and putt, a crazy golf and a football golf. We chose to play pitch and putt, which we haven’t done for years. It’s a lovely course, well set out, clean and well looked after. We had a really good laugh and managed to get all the way round without losing any of the balls, although we had to dig a couple out of the little streams that were running through the course.

Afterwards we went for a coffee in the little café and had just got inside when it started to pour down with rain, Luckily it was a quick but heavy shower and it had cleared up by the time we had finished our drinks, ready to head back to the cottage after another lovely day in Cornwall.

A Cornwall Holiday (3)

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Another beautiful sunny day again in Cornwall. Our plans were to go and enjoy a day at the beach and hopefully for me to be able to swim in the sea.

Porth Beach

We initially intended to go to Watergate Bay, but on our way came across the very beautiful Porth Beach. The beach is fairly narrow, but the tide goes out a long way, leaving a long stretch of really flat sand. A stream runs into it from one side. There are tiny coves and bays all the way down, allowing people to sit in what appears to be their own little area. It gives protection from the breeze(not that there was much breeze today) and also allows families to contain small children in a smaller area on a large expanse of beach.

We settled on the beach with our chairs, drinks and snacks. It was really hot and sunny just like a summer’s day. I was going to wait for the tide to come in a bit before going for a swim, but having looked at the tide times, realised it was still going out and low tide wasn’t until 4pm!

I made my way down the long stretch of sand to the sea. The lifeguards were there and there was only a small area between the flags that was safe to swim in. I headed into the extremely cold water, but once you were in, it was a great feeling and your body soon adjusted to the temperature. It was hard to swim in as it was really shallow for quite a way out, however there were some enormous waves which allowed you to swim with them as they came into shore.

It was a really great feeling and I spent quite a bit of time in the sea and went back in for another dip later on, even persuading my husband to join me.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and soaking up the sun, before heading back to the cottage

Pizzas and an Open Fire

Ruan Dinas, where we are staying has it’s own jetty, which has a fire pit. In the evening we cooked pizzas in the cottage, made up gin and prosecco cocktails, then made our way across to the jetty(literally 10 seconds from the house). It was dusk and it was so relaxing and enjoyable to sit by the open fire, drinking eating and laughing. We even did the obligatory toasting of marshmallows on sticks over the flames.

As it got dark and the tide was coming in we went back up to the house and played cards for the rest of the evening, whilst having a few drinks and snacks and proper belly laughs.

    A Cornwall Holiday (2)

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    We awoke to glorious sunshine on the first full day at the cottage. Sitting in the garden with a cup of coffee we sat enjoying the calm and tranquillity. Other than the squirrels through the trees and the various birdsong, it was silent and so peaceful. The sun was shining over the river, with just a couple of boats sitting in the water, making it look like a true picture postcard.

    We sat for a while before having breakfast and then set off to go to the local garden centre, as one of the locals had told us that they did fishing tackle, which you just have to have when you’re so near the water.

    Carnon Downs Garden Centre was a really enjoyable place to look round. We purchased fishing gear and a very exciting windy crabbing line (a step up from winding string with a hook round a piece of wood). We had lovely sandwiches in the cafe which had a gorgeous view out of the large windows.

    We then set off into Truro in search of wet suits as we were planning to swim and hopefully paddle board. Unfortunately Truro was completely devoid of wetsuits and we came back empty handed.

    Back at the cottage, we sat outside for a while, as the tide was completely out and we couldn’t fish or swim until it came back in. Later fishing rods and crabbing lines in hand we went down to the quay (literally a 30 second walk from the cottage). It took about 5 seconds to catch a crab with a cheap piece of bacon on the crabbing line and a bucket full within about half an hour. The fish however, were not for catching.

    I managed to get into the river and swim (I had bought a wet suit before I went). I have had open water swimming on my bucket list for some time, and I was not disappointed. After the initial entry into the water, which takes your breath away, it is really invigorating and you truly do feel alive. The only thing was, I felt quite constricted in the wet suit, so next time I will give it a go in just my swimming costume.

    St Michaels Mount

    The following day we made the journey to the lovely area Marazion, in order to walk across the causeway to St Michael’s Mount. Unfortunately we could only get tickets to the island and gardens and not to the castle itself. This was to limit the number of people on the island at any one time, which is understandable at the moment. You can only go to the island if you have a ticket for the castle or gardens.

    It was another sunny, warm day. We parked near to the beach and the then walked over the stone causeway to St Michaels Mount. The view of the castle from the shore is breath taking. The causeway is a nice walk and the tide was still going out, leaving the rock pools at the side of the path which are always full of interesting wildlife.

    Once of the island, there was a one way system in place and we walked round to the lawned area where we bought sandwiches and coffee (and cakes of course) then sat on the grass enjoying the sunshine and the spectacular views looking back towards the mainland.

    We then went to the gardens at our allotted time and walked through the terraces. There were some stunning flowers and plants and some huge succulents. We really enjoyed walking around in the sunshine.

    After this we had a quick stop in the gift shop before walking back across the causeway and to the car.

    Still in search of wetsuits, we decided to have a drive to Penzance to see if we could find any there. We parked at the harbour and walked into the Town Centre, but again no wetsuits to be found ( unless you want to spend £500). I’m not sure what else there is in Penzance itself, but I have to say I was a little disappointed (Sorry Penzance) I think I expected something a bit more quaint and piratey and maybe a police man on the corner bemoaning his lot.

    A Cornwall Holiday (1)

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    After all the ups and downs of the last few months and lots of “will we, won’t we” in relation to holiday bookings, we finally had our foreign holidays cancelled for this year (I thought I would be disappointed, but actually quite relieved). We were fully refunded for all of them, so a few weeks ago decided to book something in the UK.

    We decided to book a week in a cottage in Cornwall. Pretty straight forward you would think, but not as easy as it seems. After lots of searching on the internet, most places being fully booked, we finally managed to find what looked like a lovely cottage in Coombe, near Truro.

    An Overnight Stay In Bristol

    As it is such a long drive from Yorkshire to Truro we decided that we would have an overnight stay in Bristol to break up the journey (in truth it was also because I had a voucher for a free overnight stay at any Village Hotel and Being a true Yorkshire girl, I didn’t want to waste it!).

    One of the lovely things about the journey was that my husband had put some CD’s in the car just in case we got bored with listening to the radio. One of the CD’s was one that had been recorded by our daughter. It just said “The Jennings Family Favourite Music” on the front. It had so many great tracks on there that were linked to lots of events and memories over the years. We had a really good sing along and also reminisced about why each particular track was on the CD. Neither of us could remember when she had made it, but it was definitely a good way to pass some time on a long journey.

    We arrived at the Hotel at about 4pm. The hotel itself is very modern and quite Hi Tech, well especially for us over 50’s. The room was clean and had a huge bed. Other than wearing masks in whilst moving about in the hotel and being unable to get in the lift with anyone else, it was very much business as usual. We had a table booked for the evening, so decided to have a quick coffee before getting changed and going for food. However, it was a lovely sunny afternoon and after sitting outside in the sun for a while, decided to order from drinks from the bar. Needless to say we never got changed before our meal, as it was just so lovely to be sat in the sun enjoying a drink and a chat.

    The following morning I got up early and went for a swim in the pool before breakfast. I was in the pool on my own for the first 15 minutes or so which was lovely. A couple of other people got in soon after, but I was able to enjoy a nice peaceful swim to start the day.

    We then went for breakfast, which was slightly different due to the current restrictions in place, so there was no ” help yourself”, everything was served to you. This didn’t alter the enjoyment and all in all it had been a relaxing start to the holidays (A bit like staying in the hotel at the airport the night before you fly)

    An Afternoon In Polperro

    As we couldn’t get into our accommodation until 5pm, we made a stop at Polperro along the way. This is somewhere I had not been before on my holidays to Cornwall. It is a picturesque fishing village, very quaint and pretty. We had a walk through the village and then stopped for lunch at the museum café. The museum itself wasn’t open, but the café was serving food outside and as it was another beautiful day, we sat overlooking the harbour eating delicious sandwiches stuffed with fresh crab.

    We then had another walk through the rest of the village, then onto the beach and across the rock pools. By the time we had been to the supermarket for supplies, before going to the cottage.

    Ruan Dinas

    The cottage we had booked is called Ruan Dinas and is situated at Combe near Truro. We followed the directions given by the owners of the cottage, which took us down a small track. There were a few hairy moments or two along the way, but at the bottom of the track was a beautiful bungalow with an amazing view of the river.

    Once inside we were impressed with the open plan layout, well equipped kitchen and comfortable seating. The bedrooms are large and lots of storage (always pack too much stuff!). We unpacked and had a coffee before walking down to the waters edge. It was high tide and there were young people swimming in the river, as well as people kayaking and fishing. It was such a beautiful evening and it really felt like I was on holiday at last.

    We had a hearty home cooked tea, including a couple of glasses of wine and pudding and custard. The ginger sponge pudding had been made by my friend, who had been to the eye hospital for an examination and had to wear sunglasses whilst making it as her pupils were so dilated. As you can imagine, she got a lot of sympathy and from then on the pudding was renamed “one-eyed ginger sponge”.