Visiting Cornwall

Friends, we had the most amazing time in Cornwall, England! I thought I’d put together a little guide all about visiting Cornwall.

I didn’t mean for so much time to elapse since my previous post. We were in the UK for a week, then I had a trip to Newport, RI, and I’m taking part in an immersion course for surface pattern design. The course is pretty intense.

I’ve caught up with my course work AND now I’m so excited to share more about our trip to Cornwall, England! Can you believe this our first trip back to the UK for 5 years?

Cornwall is where my husband grew up and and where we wed 20 years ago (next month)! We actually went over for a wedding, for our nephew Tom’s wedding to Lucy.

You may have seen a few photos from our trip online. Here we all are the morning of the wedding in Luke’s mom’s gorgeous garden.

We were actually able to fit in some site-seeing and walking and I took hundreds of photos and can’t wait to share them with you!

Where is Cornwall?

Cornwall is the southern most county in England. It is known for it’s rugged coastline and beaches, beautiful countryside, and Cornish pasties. Cornish Pasties were traditional made for the miners but are a dish enjoyed by all who visit. Be careful we found that seagulls in St. Ives enjoy a good pasty too and work in teams to steal food (more on that later).

Cornwall has a temperate weather and palm trees grow in this part of England. Winds in Delabole, where Luke’s mom lives, are very strong.

Cornwall is also famous for – Tintagel where King Arthur lived, the Jamaica Inn by Daphne de Maurier, and Poldark (you may have noticed the beautiful scenery while Poldark is riding on horseback without his shirt on).

Why You’ll Love Cornwall

• The natural beauty
• Lovely cream teas – they put the clotted cream on last
• Very friendly people
• Public Footpaths criss cross all of Cornwall and it’s a wonderful way to take in the scenery and views.
• The art – artists flock here due to the beautiful light and scenery

Visiting Cornwall

Okay, I’m going to break this section down into the things we did when we were here. Of course, there’s so much more to see but we didn’t have time for it this trip.

Here’s a selection of fun things to do while visiting Cornwall.

An Afternoon at Trebarwith Strand

Trebarwith Strand is located in North Cornwall, not far from Delabole. It is truly a magical beach and I think my favorite in Cornwall. At low tide there’s caves to explore (rumored to have housed pirate treasures), tidal pools and lovely sand and surf.

Luckily we were able to visit Trebarwith twice on this trip. Once, it was very high tide and the second time was our last full day in England and the tide was low (see above photo).

There’s parking close by (which is free up until April). You do need to drive little lanes to get here and there’s one turning that’s very steep and sharp (I always hold my breath), but my hubby does the driving while we’re visiting England because he grew up here and is very comfortable with the small lanes and high hedges.

I will always remember my first trip to this beach. We’d only been dating a week and Luke brought me to Cornwall to meet his ENTIRE family. Gulp. It was May Day weekend and the weather was spectacular. Sunshine the whole weekend. We went to Trebarwith and his family picked mussels off the rocks. We enjoyed them in a white wine garlic sauce before dinner. It was then that Cornwall cast it’s spell on me.

Right above this Beach is the Port William Inn. A fabulous place for lunch or a drink over-looking the beach. I always think it would be a lovely spot to stay. I can’t imagine waking up to this view!

It was an important to have Pimm’s and Lemonade while soaking up this spectacular view!

Walking the Footpaths

I think my favorite thing to do while in Cornwall is walking. We enjoyed a three hour walk with our kids and our niece Katie and her boyfriend. We started in Delabole and walked through the footpaths through fields, woods, little village and up past Delabole’s Slate Quarry.

There’s nothing like the fresh country smell – mud, flowers, horses. It’s wonderful and the air is just so fresh in Cornwall.

I couldn’t believe our luck with the weather – sunshine every day in March that we were there and almost 60 degree weather.

You all know how much I LOVE flowers and it made my heart so happy to see all the beautiful spring flowers in bloom.

The sound of babbling brooks and waterfalls all so serene and good for the soul.

Of course, I love seeing all the sweet houses. These were in the village of Trewalder where Luke grew up.

Look how lush the grass is and all those beautiful flowers!

I’m thinking it would be fun to paint some of these cottages in watercolors.

Delabole is known for its slate so we, of course, had to check it out. Our walk ended back up in Delabole. Look how big it is!

Finally, isn’t this the sweetest library you’ve ever seen?

Lunch at Duchy of Cornwall Nurseries

Duchy of Cornwall Nurseries offers a lovely lunch and beautiful high tea amongst a beautiful garden setting in Lostwithiel.

We took Luke’s mom for lunch in the garden – the views of the valley are stunning and lunch was fabulous. I had quiche and coffee served in striped cornishware. I’d love to start a collection of the blue cornishware.

Duchy of Cornwall is is a private estate established by Edward III in 1337 to provide independence to his son and heir, Prince Edward. The current Duke of Cornwall is Prince Charles, the longest serving Duke in history. The revenue for the Duchy is used to support public, private, and charitable activities.

The site of the Duchy Nurseries was originally a slate quarry where trees started to be produced in the 1960s. The nursery began selling plants to the public in the 1970s and uses many sustainable practices supported by Prince Charles.

It was wonderful to enjoy lunch in the gardens and to stroll the nurseries afterward.

The gift shop is also a must see! They have everything from beautiful gift items, to apparel, to gourmet foods, home goods, and stationery.

I loved this pampas grass display! Isn’t that breathe-taking? I also loved this display with the block printed robe:

Charity Shops Galore

As many of you know, I love to thrift and antique! Thankfully, my mother in law and oldest son love doing the same! Conor doesn’t exactly feel the same way! Ha! Ha! Well, we had a wonderful time going from charity shop to charity shop in Bodmin and Wadebridge.

A Day in St Ives

St Ives is a lovely coastal town about an hour and half from Delabole. Be aware that this town is very hilly and we parked at the very top and walked into the harbor.

Due to its amazing views and ligthing artists flock to St Ives. The town houses The Tate and the Barbara Hepworth Museum.

Barbara Hepworth Museum in St Ives

Barbara Hepworth was an English sculptor. She lived and worked in St Ives from 1939 to her death in 1975. It was Barbara Hepworth’s dream to establish her home and Trewyn Studio as a museum. Much of the artist’s remaing work was given to the British nation and placed in the care of the Tate Gallery in 1980.

This was one of my favorite places we visited in Cornwall. The museum has her workshop set up as if she’s still working and making on sculptures today.

We were mesmerized by her studio. If you look closely you can see both John and myself in the mirror of this photo:

I found such a sense of calm and so much beauty in her sculpture gardens.

‘Finding Trewyn Studio was a sort of magic, here was a studio, a yard and garden where I could work in open air and space’.

Barbara Hepworth

We could have spent all day there. The gardens and greenhouses are filled with so much beauty and inspiration.

I hope my photography can capture the sheer joy we felt in this spot!

St Ives Shops and Lanes

St Ives is so quaint and beautiful. We has so much fun just strolling the lanes and visiting all the beautiful shops, galleries, and bakeries.

At every turn and cross roads there was something pretty or magical to see!

St Ives Harbour

St Ives Harbour is sandy at low tide and so much fun to walk the beach. I filled my pocket with sea glass and pottery shard treasures.

I highly recommend having a proper Cornish Pasty overlooking the beach, just beware of the little thieves that operate in the area.

I’m convinced the seagulls work in pairs. One was cawing in front of me while another tried to land on my head to grab my pasty! Luckily it was the last bite. I’d love to tell you this was a one-off occurrence but something similar happened to me 20 years ago while eating a pasty by this harbor. Ha! Ha!

I also recommend enjoying a Flake 99 – a soft serve ice cream with a chocolate flake. Yum!

We loved seeing all the colorful boats by the harbor-side.

Visiting Cornwall Video

I actually created a little video about visiting Cornwall. I feel like the photos just don’t do this beautiful place justice. I thought you might feel like you’re there if I shared some of the footage I took.

FAQ – Answering Your Questions About Cornwall

Check out these posts on England

• Enjoying the Cornish Countryside
• Visiting Windsor Castle
• Mews Living In London

Do you plan on visiting Cornwall? Did you enjoy this post? If so, let me know!

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