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July 19th, 2010 Alex
When most people start to consider taking a holiday to Cornwall they’ll think about the beaches, the numerous attractions that they can visit, and of course they’ll think about relaxing in their Sennen Cove cottages. What many people don’t realise is that there are plenty of other things to do in Cornwall as well, in particular visiting interesting historical sites.
It’s this last forgotten element of staying in a self catering cottage in Cornwall that a group near Tintagel are trying to improve. Recently, a discovery has been made in the beautifully named Slaughterbridge, close to Camelford, that will apparently put the area “on the archaeological map” according to Dr Niall Finneran of the University of Winchester.
What they’ve found is the site of a thirteenth century village, and they hope that it can help to reveal what everyday life was like for people living at this point, especially in this area.
What does this mean for tourists though? Not very much at the moment. The groups that own and operate the site, however, are keen to set up a visitor’s centre there and have submitted a business plan to secure funding for it. If this goes ahead then not only will archaeologists from around the world be able to come and examine the site, but the information will be made openly available for tourists as well, and within a relatively short time there could be another area as interesting and involving as the castle at Tintagel for people to visit and explore.
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June 21st, 2010 Alex
If you’re interested in views, then you could do worse than paying a trip to some Cornwall cottages and visiting one of the hills or cliffs. Since the Victorian period there have been lots of holiday makers going to Cornwall and climbing up high things. The hills are already a great place to visit as the top of them can contain caves and old mines, and the view from them of the surrounding areas are truly marvellous. The greenery covering all of them is also lush and wild, giving a real feel of tracking through nature if you choose to scale them.
If you’d rather have a more relaxing trip up then a car might be a better idea to get up to the top of any cliffs or hills you like the look of.
Once you’re at the top, you really should take a look at the view. It’s not the first time in this post that the views from the top of high places have been mentioned and there’s a good reason for that, they really are great.
There are other things to do as well though. Since the hills have been around a long time, you might find tours of the caves and mines are available and are the best way to get a really good look at them.
After you’re finished with the hills, a trip down into a nearby Cornish town or village where you can enjoy all the atmosphere of this beautiful county will be a great end to the day, before you travel back to you Sennen Cove cottages.
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May 14th, 2010 Alex
With so many different areas to explore, you can have a great family holiday in Cornwall without needing to pay to get access to any of the expensive tourist attractions that have been built in the area. You can also tailor your holiday so that you go to the areas you really want to and avoid those you don’t, and the best way to do both of these is by turning your holiday into an activity holiday.
Cycling is one of the most popular days out and means you can avoid the crowded beaches and seaside towns by sticking to beautifully-green cycle routes through the heart of Cornwall or taking off along the cliff paths. You can plan your route to either be circular, bringing you back to whichever of the cottages in Cornwall you’re staying at or straight, going to one destination and perhaps stopping for lunch and then back again.
Walking opens up more areas than cycling does, and cliff walks to secluded beaches become a real possibility, you just have to be aware of how much you can carry and how quickly you can get back. If you decide to walk along a beach, you’ve also got to be aware of when the tides begin to return.
There are also opportunities for more traditional Cornish holiday activities such as surfing or boating, or less-coastal based things like horse riding. Whilst you may have to spend a bit of money on hiring out the equipment for the week, having it on hand can be worth it, and still cheaper than an attraction-based holiday.
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May 7th, 2010 Alex
For years, Cornwall has been viewed as a great holiday destination, where sun, sea and golden sands reigned supreme. Its southern location and long coasts make staying in Cornwall cottages a popular choice for beach holidays in the UK.
Before the tourism industry took root in the county though, there was mining. Tin and copper mining had been the backbone of Cornwall’s economy for centuries, and was even the inspiration for Cornwall’s flag, where the white cross on a dark background represents the lighter colour of tin veins against the dark rock that they’re found in.
As the mines closed down and tourism took over, tin and copper mining disappeared, and now it’s best known for providing a number of tourist attractions for those staying in Sennen Cove cottages.
Now though, Cornwall may find itself with its very own gold mine. Exploratory drilling has taken place that has revealed tiny amounts of gold in the rock at the recently revived South Crofty mine. With technological advances made since the mine initially closed down, it is possible to retrieve this gold from the rock and, due to the precious metal’s high price at the moment, it may be profitable to do so as well.
If the owners of South Crofty mine think that it’ll be worthwhile to begin extracting gold then we may see Cornish gold become as much a part of a Cornish holiday as pasties, cream teas and seafood. Cornwall will find itself with a much better range of souvenirs too, as a pair of gold earrings provides a much longer lasting memory than a pasty.
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April 29th, 2010 Alex
Visitors to Penzance, and indeed the whole of Cornwall, come for the sun, the sea, the sand and the surf. There are also plenty of attractions for holiday makers, as Cornwall is heavily invested in tourism. When people rent cottages in Cornwall for a holiday, they might visit Penzance and wander around the streets eating an ice cream, before going to one of the nearby beaches. But those streets and, more importantly, the houses on them are the main attraction in Penzance for plenty of people.
The entire town is host to magnificent examples of traditional Regency and Georgian buildings, the residences of people who made their money from the harbour there, or accommodation for visitors who wanted somewhere to summer. These have been preserved or, in some cases, restored to an excellent standard, and they really are beautiful buildings.
Many of the houses along the water front are of this style, and the contrast of the waves smashing against sea walls and these elegant, smooth-faced buildings is remarkable. The climate of the area has also inspired a sub-tropical public garden, designed beautifully and one of the most popular sights in Penzance.
There are plenty of buildings which are incredibly individual as well, and these are some of the most popular. The Egyptian house has been styled so that the front is made up of designs inspired by the Ancient Egyptians. Meanwhile, Penzance’s town hall is constructed entirely of granite, and is one of the biggest granite buildings in the world.
There’s plenty for people to find and see on a visit to Penzance, which makes it perfect for a family holiday in Cornwall.
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April 16th, 2010 Alex
Falmouth is a great place to take a family holiday in Cornwall. Not only are you able to visit the various cultural attractions that Falmouth has to offer (and I guarantee there are plenty of them), but you can also explore the area around the town, and it truly is a beautiful area.
The beach and coast offer plenty of places to go surfing, swimming or sunbathing. They can also provide somewhere to do a whole host of other activities, such as building sandcastles or burying a collection of pirate treasure. Caves along the coast offer excellent places for smugglers to store goods, meaning that they can avoid importation taxes from the UK. Of course, these aren’t used any more, but it certainly makes for something exciting to think about whilst enjoying one of the many coastal walks that are easily accessible from Falmouth.
Cornwall is surrounded on three sides by the sea, as many of you will know. You can choose to explore this further by making use of one of the boat trips that are available from Falmouth. Travelling out across the ocean for either fishing or sight seeing is a fine experience, worthy of any family of trip.
So, Falmouth is a great place to visit whilst making use of holiday cottages in Cornwall. Everybody will enjoy it, and you can really make use of everything that Cornwall has to offer, all conveniently located around a single town. The sun, sea and sand are all waiting for you.
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March 16th, 2010 Alex
Please note before you carry on reading this blog post that the use of “wild” in the title refers to the fact they are nature-focussed, not that they are “crazy”, “wicked”, or “out of this world, man”. With that firmly established, let’s explore exactly what draws people on their cottage holidays to take part in one of these wild walks.
Firstly, what is a wild walk exactly? The Wild Walks website has plenty of information about them, but the general idea is that you are walked along a set route, occasionally moving off it to find various plants, and all the while are informed of which are edible, how to absolutely guarantee that you have correctly identified the plant, and potential things you can do with them once you’ve found them.
The idea behind the walks is that by giving people the knowledge they need to forage in the wild, they can reduce how much waste their household produces, cut down on their food bills and learn a few more tasty recipes.
The walks have taken place in a variety of locations, and each one offers different foods. The time of year is also important, as different plants will produce edible goods at different times, meaning that whenever you decide to stay in one of the Cornwall cottages you’ll be able to participate in one of these walks and discover something new and exciting.
Activities like this just go to show that although Cornwall is best known for its beaches, there’s a lot more to do in the county for those willing to look.
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February 24th, 2010 Alex
Just one and a quarter miles away from Land’s End, the westernmost point of England, there is a rocky outcrop that spells danger and death to ships and sailors. It’s called the Longships, and the number of shipwrecks there has made it into an excellent diving location, as there’s plenty to see, but that’s of little comfort to the people on board the boats. The lighthouse has become a popular sight amongst those on cottage holidays in Cornwall.
In 1795 a lighthouse was built on the island, its purpose, as with all lighthouses, to warn ships away from the rocky outcrop. It was an excellent plan, and saved many lives. The only problem with it was that the highest point of the rocks, where the lighthouse was built, was only forty feet above sea level. The lighthouse itself was another forty feet, and because the Atlantic isn’t the calmest of waters, eighty foot waves weren’t such a rare occurrence that this didn’t cause problems. In high seas, the lighthouse wasn’t visible, and its light didn’t shine out to warn ships of the danger nearby. This was hardly ideal.
Because of the dangers of high seas to both this light house and the ships that couldn’t see it, Trinity House ordered another built in 1869. Trinity House are the public, non-departmental body that oversees the building and maintenance of lighthouses, lightvessels and buoys. They also, since their use become standard, ensure that maritime radio and satellite communication systems are operating. They do all of this in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, but not Scotland, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man.
This new tower was first lit in 1873, but that didn’t stop the S.S. Bluejacket being wrecked on the rocks right by the light house on a clear night, nearly taking the light house with it. Luckily, the lighthouse remained, and has so up until the present day, though it became unmanned in 1988.
As was mentioned above, the Longships are a very interesting place for diving. This is partly because the number of shipwrecks there, from both before and after the building of the lighthouse, has made it a historically interesting place. It’s also because the rocks themselves are filled with gullies and canyons, and absolutely teem with marine life.
Many places, especially houses or cottages on the nearby Cornish coast, use Longships in their name, recognising the fact that looking out to see the rocks has become something of an attraction for tourists. It’s not uncommon to see Cornish Holiday Cottages like “Longships View” around the coastline.
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February 3rd, 2010 Alex
Travellers around the UK will no doubt already have seen the huge amount of shops and kiosks that sell Cornish pasties on high streets, train stations and cafes, but now there’s a way to take home a novelty item for pasty lovers who aren’t going on a trip, or don’t have any trips to cottages in Cornwall coming up.
Pasties with chocolate in them have been available for ages, but pasties made purely out of chocolate are something new and tasty. This is, however, exactly what the chocolate and fudge manufacturer’s County’s have done. Supplied to pasty suppliers and delicatessens, these solid chocolate pasties, made from high quality cocoa beans and containing 35% cocoa solids, are ideal to take home for a pasty lover. It doesn’t even matter if they go cold.
Of course, it’s not just a tasty treat, but also a reminder of your family holiday in Cornwall. Whereas some people might bring home sticky rock that ends up looking unappetising very quickly, you’ll still have delicious chocolate in a form that is truly Cornish.
There are plenty of other products available from County’s, including Cornish fudge, and tracking these down in delicatessens or gift shops will make your holiday a whole lot more interesting, not to mention tasty.
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January 24th, 2010 Alex
Holidays often provide the opportunity to see outlandish events or practises. Millions of people travel around the world each year to see or take part in various festivals. Pamplona attracts people for its bull running, Rio de Janeiro isn’t alone in pulling in visitors for its Mardi Gras festival, the Lantern Festival in China gets a lot of attention, and even places as small as Mousehole see an influx of tourists to see their Christmas lights. But if you were on a family holiday in Cornwall on the 17th of January, you’d have been able to pop into a whole variety of churches and seen the ceremonies being performed for Plough Sunday.
Admittedly, this isn’t a service that is unique to Cornwall, but there aren’t many places that still have an actual plough brought in for the service. At Helston-St Keverne this year, though, the local Young Farmer’s Club did exactly that.
The plough was led up the aisle, much like a bride would be, and then the ceremony began. Through the various words that are exchanged back and forth, the farmer’s respect for God and hope for a bountiful harvest is established, and the plough is blessed by the priest. It’s similar to most other religious ceremonies, and bears a bizarre amount of similarity to a wedding, with the farmer who owns the plough responding back to questions asked by the priest.
If this sort of thing sounds right up your aisle, then it’s a shame you’ve missed it this year. There were plenty of cottages in Cornwall available that you could have stayed in. Still, there’s always next year, eh?
Posted in Cornwall, Destinations, attractions | No Comments »
When most people start to consider taking a holiday to Cornwall they’ll think about the beaches, the numerous attractions that they can visit, and of course they’ll think about relaxing in their Sennen Cove cottages. What many people don’t realise is that there are plenty of other things to do in Cornwall as well, in particular visiting interesting historical sites.