Cornwall

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Quick Facts

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County Town

Truro

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• 3 Cornwall Hostels

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Introduction

Cornwall - Lands End

© All Rights Reserved towander

Cornwall is the most southwesterly county in England.

Geography

Cornwall is the only county in England to be adjacent to only one other, Devon. perhaps this is one reason for many Cornish thinking of themselves as a separate nation and referring to 'the English' as foreigners.

Cities and Principal Towns

• Falmouth
• Penzance
• Truro shares the status of county town with:
• Bodmin
• St Austell - once a sort of china clay capital
• St Just in Penwith is the most westerly town in England. This and the next two towns were major centres of tin mining.
• Camborne
• Redruth
• Launceston - by the main A30 road into Cornwall - great facade on its church.
• Bude - extensive sands.
• Helston - main town of the Lizard peninsula.
• St. Ives - an artists' haven and home of the St Ives Tate Gallery
• Padstow - fine beach - Rick Stein's restaurant

Smaller towns and picturesque villages

• Mevagissey - close to The Lost Gardens of Heligan.
• Marazion - opposite St Michael's Mount
• Mousehole (pronounced Muzzle) - beautiful small village west of Penzance but the traffic is terrible at peak times.
• Newlyn
• Coverack - great beach on the Lizard peninsula.
• Sennen - nearest village on the north coast to Land's End - great sand and beach restaurant.
• Zennor - very attractive village between St Just in Penwith and St Ives.
• St Just in Roseland - The church and creek have graced many a chocolate box.
• St Mawes - fine castle facing Pendennis castle in Falmouth across the Carrick Roads.
• Fowey - small town connected by ferries to Lostwithiel.
• Cawsand - much visited by Plymothians - attractive village with walks to Penlee Point (wooded) and Rame Head (small headland chapel).
• Portloe - steep sided little village on south coast - no room ot spoil it - hence one of the very prettiest.
• Tintagel - Don't be too sure that King Arthur did not have a historical base here - but not with all those Norman knights!
• Boscastle - near Tintagel - extremely attractive but has suffered extreme flooding.
• Cremyll - Cornwall end of eponimous passenger ferry from Plymouth - a most interesting crossing of the Tamar.
• Torpoint - Cornwall end of a major chain car ferry from Plymouth.
• Saltash - Cornwall end of the Brunel rail suspension bridge and the Tamar Road Bridge.
• Looe - This small town and the nearby village of Polperro are the destination of many evening coach trips from Plymouth.
• Polperro
• St Levan - one of the best of west Cornwall's granite churches.

Sights and Activities

• Land's End is the most westerly point in England.
• Lizard Point is the most southerly.
• Cape Cornwall, near St Just in Penwith, is not the most anything but just a great headland that can be enjoyed in its own right. The coastal walk from there to Zennor, where great scenery is exaggerated by mining remains is terrific.
• Carrick Roads - a wide stretch of water where the Fal meets the coast - numerous creeks - King Harry car ferry.
• St. Michael's Mount

Beaches

Cornwall is surrounded by water on three sides, and has some beautiful beaches, some of the best ones are listed below:

• Watergate Bay (near Newquay). If you are searching for water based activities this is the place to try.
• Fistral Beach Newquay. The place to watch the surfers (or join in).
• Summerleaze, Bude. This beach has a tidal swimming pool.
• Bedruthan Steps has spectacular rocky outcrops and a sandy beach.
• Sennen Cove is a lovely long sandy beach popular for surfing, and is within walking distance of Land's End.
• Praa Sands, on the south coast this is a lovely long sandy beach.

Stately Homes and Gardens

As might be expected, Cornwall's location means it is particularly favoured for gardens. Spring can be weeks ahead of much of northern England. (N.T. denotes National Trust properties). Gardens of Cornwall lists 60 gardens!

• The Eden Project - near St Austell.
• The Lost Gardens of Heligan - near Mevagissey.
• Trengwainton Gardens - near Penzance - N.T.
• Trelissick Gardens - west of King Harry ferry. N.T.
• Trebah Gardens - Above the Helwith river - not N.T.
• Lanhydrock House and Gardens N.T - near Bodmin.
• Cotehele Tudor House and Gardens - near Saltash - N.T.
• Tresco is covered under Scilly Isles.

Prehistoric remains of west Cornwall

• Carn Euny
• Chysauster
• Men-an-Tol
• Ballowall Barrow (Carn Gloose)

Granite Churches of West Cornwall

Although these are all similar, each has some special feature of its own - some of which are mentioned here.

• Madron - sadly this is often locked.
• Zennor - mermaid bench and squint.
• St Just in Penwith - two medieval wall paintings.
• St Buryan - rood screen.
• St Levan - St Levan's stone and shaped coffin rests.
• Paul
• Breage - this church also has great examples of medieval wall paintings.

St Levan's Church, West Cornwall

© All Rights Reserved davidx

Events and Festivals

• Helston Flora Day; Held on the 8th of May (unless this falls on a Sunday or Monday, in which case it is held the previous Saturday). The town is decorated with gorse and bluebells and adults and children alike dance through the streets and house.
• Padstow Obby Oss; Held on the 1st of May (or the day after if this falls on a Sunday). Inhabitants of Padstow (those born in the town) traditionally dress in white, with family loyalties dictating whether they follow the 'Red'/original Oss, or the 'Blue'/peace Oss.
• Newlyn Fish Festival; Held on August Bank Holiday Monday to celebrate Newlyn's heritage of fishing and sea going.
• The Golowan Festival - named for Gol Jowan in the Cornish language meaning "Feast of John" - is a recent revival of an ancient festival celebrated in years gone by to mark the arrival of Midsummer. Originally revived as a project amongst some local schools, helping to bring their heritage to the children of today, this has now become a ten-day celebration of music and the performing arts with venues all over Penzance during the second half of June.
• Falmouth Oyster Festival celebrates the start of oyster dredging and is held in mid October at one of the last sites of traditional oyster dredging in the UK.

Weather

Cornwall, like much of England, has a maritime climate with relatively cool summers and mild winters. Temperatures on the whole are slighly lower during summer and higher during winter though, because of its location and influence by the ocean. Temperatures are mostly around 20 °C during summer days and winter nights, especially along the coast, are even above zero for most of the times.

Getting There

By Plane

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Plane

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Eat

Drink

Sleep

• Camping in Cornwall at Penhale Caravan & Camping Park.