It now seems many moons ago, but we had an excellent family holiday on Cornwall in late July, early August. The drive down was horrendous though, with very heavy rain all the way. It stopped soon after we arrived at our hotel! The M5 was not the easiest place to be that day.
On the way down we called in at Dartmoor Zoological Park. We were unsure about visiting, as the rain was still pouring down, and gushing down in streams as the zoo is on a hill. Very glad we made the effort though, as given a free family pass to use within the next three months to make up for it! A nice gesture, which need not have been made. The zoo is fairly small, with good views of the surrounding countryside. The size of the zoo, did not mean, however, that the animal enclosures were shabby or small. Our highlights were being able to get closer to wolves, tigers, and lions than we have ever been able to be elsewhere.
We were based in Marazion in the west of Cornwall. It is home to St.Michael's Mount. We stayed in a small hotel, Chymorvah, which was once a Victorian family house. I found it a bit too basic for me, with a time restriction for the doors being locked, but apart from that it was very pleasant. A lot of the vegetables were grown in their own garden, and the eggs came from their own chickens.
Two minutes walk away from the hotel was, The Fire Engine. This became my evening haunt for the week. A very friendly "local" pub, as opposed to the very touristy pubs in the town centre. Not sure what this says, but by the third night, the barmaid was pulling my pint as I walked in!
About four miles away is the large town of Penzance, and it's neighbouring village of Newlyn. Newlyn is the largest fishing harbour in England. We spent an hour or so, just wondering around the harbour taking in the sights and smells, of this traditional way of life.
Our stay overlapped with that of some friends of ours by one day. So we met up at the cottage they were staying in, and went to a local cove for some beach time. Rinsey is a typical well hidden cove, at the bottom of a small lane, with parking in a field, followed by a fifteen minute walk down the cliff to the beach. Not touristy at all, with no facilities, but all the better for this. This was one of the very fine days, weather wise, and resulted in sea swimming, and sun burn!
The far west of Cornwall has quite a few ancient ruins dating back to Roman times and earlier. One of these is Chysauster, an ancient stone walled village, between Penzance and St.Ives. This settlement they think was built in the Roman time, though there has been some evidence of Iron Age activity in the form of pottery, no houses from that time have been discovered. I found the place to have a special atmosphere to it, though it is hard to work out why. It did not feel "religious" in any way, but just had something about it.
We then went from the peace and tranquility of Chysauster, to the hustle and bustle of St.Ives. No town centre parking, with all parking at the Leisure Centre, and a ten minute walk into town. The place was heaving both with people and sea gulls! Was not my cup of tea, which was a shame, as I had been looking forward to going there. The harbour is very pretty, which is why I suppose it was busy! We looked in a few art galleries, which I quite enjoyed.
Here are a few links to some of the places mentioned:
Dartmoor Zoological Park www.dartmoorzoo.com
Chymorvah Hotel www.chymorvah.co.uk
The Fire Engine www.fireengineinn.com
Marazion www.marazion.info
Chysauster www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.15238
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