August Bank Holiday - Cornwall

This seems to be our summer to stay in England! For the bank holiday in August we decided to visit Cornwall with Ruth and Colin. Our destination was Looe, a small shipping village kind of near Plymouth. On the way we stopped at Stonehenge which, I thought, is a bit overrated so I wouldn't recommend making a beeline. I was happy though that my National Trust membership got me in for free and got us free parking... it's the small things!


On Sunday we took the scenic route to Padstow, driving through Newquay (which, as a town, I was not that impressed with). The countryside is just like I imagined it, with the really narrow roads and hedges some that can only fit on car at a time. The countryside is very rugged and on the beaches you can just imagine the pirates and smugglers living there in past times.

Padstow - or Padstein as it is sometimes called because of Rick Stein's heavy presence in the place - is lovely. The town is a cute fishing town and obviously has some great restaurants and local specialities to devour. We had lunch at St Petroc's (a Stein restaurant) which was great and then wandered around the village eating Cornish icecream. We hung around for long enough to grab some fish and chips (more Rick Stein) before heading back to Looe.

Here's Nick in Padstow...


On Monday we drove south to St Ives, Penzance (not that interesting) and to Marazion which is where St Michael's Mount is. Unfortunately, we were too late to go across and see St Michael's Mount but it looks facinating and I'd like to go back there if ever in the area.

This is St Michael's Mount...

This is a picture of the port/pier at St Ives. You probably can't see all the people walking along but the place was absolutely jammed packed with people. It's another lovely town, a bit like Padstow, but a bit bigger.