A Weekend in Cornwall Has My Vote!

After all of the rain and clouds we have had for the last few weeks, our weekend trip to St. Mawes along the Cornish Coast was restorative. Sunny, blue skies, light winds, and comfortable temperatures were ideal for exploring some of the most spectacular coastlines I have ever seen. I was in hiking heaven!

St. Mawes is a quaint little fishing village along the Channel coast of Cornwall. We were lucky to find accommodation at The Rising Sun given that this was the last bank holiday weekend of the summer and the Brits were making the most of it. This little inn turned out to be the perfect base for a relaxing weekend retreat - charming, spacious, unique and good food to top it off! This town is not easy to get to so, despite the holiday, the town did not feel overly crowded. It isn't somewhere you would drive to just for the day. The visitors either had a home here or parked in the town car park and never moved the car. You could wander down the middle of the narrow streets along the water's edge or high up on the hills overlooking the bay.

One of the striking things about this area is the huge tide swings. When we arrived at 6:30 pm the kids in town were all jumping off the high sea wall into the bay quite far below. They were having a ball! The next day, however, the tide was out revealing a beach and quite a few boats just sitting on the sand where they had previously been anchored. Instead of jumping off the wall, the kids were now collecting crabs from the shallow waters near the beach and on the boat ramps.

We were also pleasantly surprised to find a small castle built by King Henry VIII in St. Mawes. It sat perched upon the hill by the entrance to the bay. There was another castle across the Fal estuary in the town of Falmouth, also built by King Henry VIII. Both served to protect one of the world's largest natural harbors against the threat of invasion from Catholic France and Spain. Today the St. Mawes Castle is closed on Saturdays for weddings and other events but otherwise is open to the public.

Saturday we took off along the wide Fal estuary to walk into the town of St. Just in Roseland. Along the way, we saw graceful homes overlooking the water, watched the sailboats, walked through cow pastures along the water's edge and climbed down the bluffs to the rocky beaches below. Once in St. Just, we explored the church, surrounding cemetery and gardens before heading back - spectacular! We passed a few people along the path but most of the time we were all by ourselves in this natural wonderland and loving it.

Sunday we caught a ferry across the bay to the Roseland Peninsula, which is largely uninhabited for miles. The little boat dropped us off at a small floating dock, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We picked up the trail and headed around the shoreline to St. Anthony's Head. The headland offered unbelievable views of the harbor entrance. From here we continued on around to the outer cliffs and beaches of the coastal path, passing the lighthouse along the way. The terrain reminded me of the Irish coast as we walked along the rim through pastures of cows, horses, sheep and even through wheat fields.

In places, the way the trees grew reminded us of the California coast - maybe Big Sur. They weren't cypress trees but the shape was similar. In a few spots, you could see secluded beaches far below between the rocks. Some of the beaches we could climb down to from the trail but others were only accessible from the water and occasionally we would see a sailboat anchored there enjoying the solitude. We easily walked 10 miles on Sunday and climbed countless hills because we just couldn't turn back. Around every corner was another spectacular view. We did manage to find the little dock at Place House just in time to make it back before the last ferry of the day. The trails could be marked a little better for those of us not accustomed to climbing over fences and traipsing through fields to get where we are going but we did get help along the way from some friendly locals at a tea shop.

Monday we checked out of the hotel and decided to drive across Cornwall to ride our bikes along the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow and back. This bike path is flat and follows the Camel Estuary to the ocean. As we road out, we watched water skiers enjoying the day in the calm waters of the estuary. Surprisingly, as we rode back the tide was out and that same spot was now a dry river bed! Padstow itself is a very popular fishing village and it is charming. Granted, it was chock full of people enjoying the holiday but beautiful nonetheless. We walked past the town and down to the beach. We enjoyed getting our feet in the water and walking along the soft, sandy beach. People were everywhere enjoying the sunshine and, once again, it really lifted my spirits to be there. We had lunch on a patio just off the beaten track before cycling back to Wadebridge to drive home to Swindon.