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Cornwall Journals

The Cornish Riviera

Best of IgoUgo

A travel journal to Cornwall by GB from Devizes

Gateway to Kernow Photo - The Gateway to Kernow, Cornwall, England More Photos
Quote: As you cross the Tamar, leaving "England" behind, you enter one of the most delightful coastal areas in the UK. The Cornish Riviera extends for some 30 miles from this crossing down to St. Austell.
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The Cornish Riviera Best of IgoUgo

Overview

The Cornish Riviera Photo - Cornwall, England
Quote:
The southeastern coast of Cornwall probably has more tiny seaside villages than anywhere else in the British Isles. It also has a rugged coastline, particularly for the first 10 or 12 miles into the county, with high, jagged cliffs, and in winter, boiling seas with a ferocity unseen anywhere else on our shorelines. The Cornwall coastal path now extends right around this sea-surrounded county, and to walk it is to embrace all that is best of Cornwall: the wildlife, the scenery, the people, and ,of course, the ever-changing elements. They say in Cornwall, " If you don't like the weather, then wait 15 minutes..." The Cornish Riviera extends from the beautiful, sprawling beach expanse o...Read More
Gateway to Kernow Photo - The Gateway to Kernow, Cornwall, England
Quote:
There are few major roads into Cornwall from Devon: just the A30, the A38, and a couple of others further north. By far the most dramatic approach is to cross the Tamar via the A38 from Plymouth to Saltash, the first town in Cornwall. The river is 400m wide and 25m deep here and two magnificent bridges carry both road and rail traffic, one a little over 40 years old, the other well over 140 years old. The road bridge was finished in 1961, and, prior to it's completion, all traffic had to enter the county via the A390 at Gunnislake, about 12 miles upriver. A ferry for foot passengers had existed in Saltash for hundreds of years, but this was laid to rest upon the opening of the new brid...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 13, 2004

The Gateway to Kernow
The Tamar River crossings
Cornwall, England

Mevagissey Museum Best of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Mevagissey"

Mevagissey Photo - Mevagissey Museum, Cornwall, England
Quote:
Like many fishing villages in Cornwall, Mevagissey sits at the bottom of a steep hill with tiny, whitewashed cottages huddled around a bustling fishing harbour. The village is situated about 5 miles from St Austell on the B3273, a twisting minor road that takes you through the oddly named village of London Apprentice. The place itself is typical of a Cornish fishing village and is rather similar to Polperro, although arguably not so commercialised. Most of the local people have spent all their lives in the place; many of them tracing their ancestry back over many hundreds of years. The village boasts its own saltwater aquarium and a number of tea shops, restaurants, and pubs. ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 13, 2004

Mevagissey Museum
East Wharf, Inner Harbour
Cornwall, England
01726 843568/843570

Pentewan Best of IgoUgo

Attraction

Pentewan Photo - Pentewan, Cornwall, England
Quote:
Before you begin the climb around the headland to Mevagissey, turn left into the charming hamlet of Pentewan. Pentewan once was a tiny exit port for china clay, but has long since fallen by the wayside with its minute harbour, now derelict, and the small channel to the sea now silted up and totally impassable. It is possible to walk the old railway line from St. Austell to the hamlet, the walkway mirroring the B3273 to Mevagissey. This line once roared with the rail traffic ferrying the kaolin from the major pits surrounding St. Austell to Pentewan at a time when fortunes were to be made. Nowadays, Pentewan's tiny resident population relies on the passing tourist trade. Although on my ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 13, 2004

Pentewan
Between St. Austell and Mevagissey
Cornwall, England

Polperro Best of IgoUgo

Attraction

Polperro Photo - Polperro, Cornwall, England
Quote:
I have written about much of Polperro in my Ex resident's journal, but no write up of the Cornish Riviera would be complete without a few additional words of this most lovely and traditional of fishing villages. Polperro grew wealthy on fishing and smuggling, the latter now reputedly in decline! Pilchards were staple diet for most Cornish households in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the oil was used for lamps to light the cottages. The pilchards were also in sharp demand in Italy and Spain, where they were called by their alternate name, sardines. However, as with most forms of commercial fishing, governments and bureaucracy have ensured that noone is really able to ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 13, 2004

Polperro
Southeast Cornwall
Cornwall, England

St. Austell Best of IgoUgo

Attraction

St Austell Photo - St. Austell, Cornwall, England
Quote:
St Austell is a bustling town of around 32,000 inhabitants situated in a large, horseshoe-shaped bay that has many smaller inlets to tiny coves and fishing villages. Although it has no beaches or coastline as such, it is only a mile or two inland with several beautiful and not-too-crowded beaches within a few minutes drive. It is the administrative centre of the Restormel Borough Council and is centrally placed to explore all of the Duchy. St. Austell grew wealthy in the 18th and 19th centuries from the vast deposits of Kaolin (china clay) that were to be found all around the area. Townships such as Foxhole, Nanpean, and St. Stephen developed alongside these quarries, and at at one tim...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 15, 2004

St. Austell
Southeast Cornwall
Cornwall, England

About the Writer

GB from Devizes

GB from Devizes
Devizes, United Kingdom

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