Secrets of Cornwall

Secret lost gardens, pirate’s bay, coastal towns filled with beaches to the end of the world as we British know it; all this and more on my adventure around the Jurassic coast of Cornwall.

Mud maid

For if you have never visited the country of England you might not know that it is an island with tremendous coastlines of varying sorts but also relatively small island. Everything is ditty over here including the streets but none such as the tiny streets of Mevagissey. Traveling by car is the best way to see all Cornwall has to offer. Just be sure to listen to your navigator (ahem, Andy) or you will get lost driving about on those famous one lane roads meant for two cars to pass whilst trying not to drive off the road into the hedges. For even more fun, wait until there is a farm tractor trying to use the same country lane! 

Mevagissey is a lovely coastal beach town built on hillside with streets that are very tight (even made my very British driver squirm and HE’S USE TO TINY COUNTRY LANES)! The streets are just wide enough to fit a small car or 4-wheeler (forget vans or trucks) through. Side mirrors made be touching the buildings. Oh the fun when you meet another car trying to go the opposite direction and get by you. It’s like a game of Chicken. Who will be the first to back all the way uphill through the town to let the other pass? Good luck! O, wait! I forgot about the pedestrians wandering through the town looking in all the shop windows and those walking their dogs through town (just to make it extra challenging and get in your way).
 

Two way coastal road

For even MORE driving fun, take the coastal road (um…it’s a cow path) around to the Lost Gardens of Heligan nearby. It’ll be easier if there are two of you because one must get out to open and close the cow gate over the lane for the car to pass through (how is this even a road I think but hey ho who doesn’t like a little crazy adventure in their life right? Don’t even get me started on the cliff drop below without guard rails or even lack of pavement along this ‘road’. Andy thought Montana was bad. Ha!).

The Lost Gardens of Heligan were developed some time after the World War by soldiers who came home from the war and wanted to give back. After they died the place was forgotten about. It fell into shambles becoming overgrown locking away the secret garden over the years.

The Jungle

Garden Troll

Rope bridge

 In 1991 the Cornish stumbled upon the lost gardens and began to tidy them up developing the 200 acres into the beauty it is today for all to see. Watch out for the sleeping troll and the mud maid as you embark into the woodlands. Dare to climb across the rope bridge in the jungle known as Fern Gully. Walk amongst the sheep and see pigs and emus peppered around the fields. Finally check out the grand estate and gardens but don’t leave without seeing the Grotto, the Lost Valley and clamber around the waterfall ravine. There is much to see and do here. I would spend the day! 

Since you are already down here this far you might as well drive to the end of the earth! Or as the English like to call it, Land’s End. This is the furthest south you can get in England by car—feel free to swim the rest of the way to New York, but count me out. The sea is always too cold for me. Land’s End has been commercialized into an ‘amusement park’ but you can still enjoy the coastal walks for free. Parking is £5 unless you stop off before reaching Land’s End to park and walk there. Hungry me sniffed out a bakery onsite and just had to try a true Cornish pasty (pronounced PAW-stee not PASTE-ee). YUM! *carries on walking happily along the coast now* (what?? It’s a long drive to the edge of the world one works up an appetite). Several hours later driving up the coastline I had reached the famous Jurassic coast with its infamous Durdle Door landmark. 

Land's End

Durdle Door

Durdle Door is the Anglo Saxon term “Thirl” which means a pierced hole or opening. By visiting the structure you will understand what is meant here. Legends and stories are told of pirates using Durdle Door and its beaches to hide out and stash their treasures but the Cornish are very well known for their story telling. Free parking at Durdle Door beach as long as you parked after 7pm (which we did because…well, erhm...the driver didn’t listen to the navigator and couldn’t quite….you know what? That bit of the story is not important. What IS important is that we managed to get there at sunset and before it was dark. Barely. Ahem). The landmark can be seen from the top of the hill but for a closer, better look; climb down the steep staircase and across the pebble beach. There is no wheelchair friendly access however I was tempted to tuck and roll after seeing all the steps. But I didn’t and hence I’m still here to tell the tale.

Durdle Door at sunset

Cornwall's smallest library

Places I'd recommend to eat:

The Dolphin Inn, Grampound, Cornwall (large plates of good food and very affordable. Staff very friendly but comical too).
The Crown Inn, St Ewe. (delicious food worth the wait, good atmosphere)

Where to stay: 

Polsue Farm/ The Barns (B&B on farm with dog friends)