Our holiday in Cornwall in The View from the Terrace

I haven’t written anything yet about our holiday in Cornwall so I thought I would do that today. It is just over a month now since we drove down on September 26 and arrived late afternoon in bright sunshine. Little Orchard Village in St Agnes where we were to stay looked really pretty nestled in a steep valley below the ruins of Polberrow tin mine, a few minutes from the beach.
Our chalet was small and basic, about 12 foot square with a mini cooker, fridge, toilet and washbasin. The showers were outside and shared, but it turned out they were right next door so not really a problem as long as you showered in the daytime, they did get rather cold at night. The laundry room was a short walk up a steep slope but well worth it as there was a beautiful view of Trevaunance Cove from up there. There was also a games room with a lounge at one end with lots of books about the area.

Little Orchard Village

The other people staying were very friendly, a Lot of them seemed to be into walking. There were lots of beautiful walks nearby. The coastal path was just behind the tin mine and on the other side of the road was a path that led up a steep hill to Wheal Friendly, another tin mine, and then on to the village where there were 2 small supermarkets, craft shops, pubs and a gallery. There was a lovely old pub and two cafes by the beach too.

Wheal Friendly

One place I was looking forward to visiting was Trevellas Valley about a mile away. We have been there several times discovering it on that first visit to St Agnes in 1978. It is just a deserted valley full of the ruins of tin mines but at the top of the valley is Blue Hills Tin where a family are still extracting tin and making it into beautiful jewellery and houshold items. It used to be a working tin mine and there is also a visitor centre which demonstates how they used to extract the tin from the rock. We spent a fascinating hour there.

Trevellas Valley

They were filming the next series of Poldark while we were in Cornwall and I had been told of a location where they would be filming on the Monday. It was Dollar Cove on The Lizard peninsular. We set out with great expectations but when we arrived there was no sign of them, so either the schedule had changed or they had finished already. It was such a beautiful place that I didn’t mind too much.

We drove a little way down the coast to explore Kynance Cove that I had seen photos of. I hadn’t expected such a long walk, at least half a mile down a steep path and then across a rocky beach but well worth it, and there was a cafe at the bottom. I wondered how on earth they got their supplies there till we discovered another path back, This was just drivable in a 4x4 though very steep. I needed a rest when we got to the top.

We spent a warm sunny afternoon at Chapel Porth about 2 miles from our village. They say the tin mine there. Wheal Coates is the most photographed one in Cornwall. I’ve actually had a photo of it in my house for years but this is the first time I have actually seen it. John decided to do a painting of it so I settled down on the beach and relaxed in the sunshine. People were sunbathing and surfing. I think it was the best week this year weather wise.

Chapel Porth beach and Wheal Coates

We also had an afternoon at St Ives, my favourite Cornish town. We spent a week there when the children were little and always spend a day there when we visit Cornwall. Afterwards we drove to Marizion to see St Michael’s Mount which I’ve never seen before. We were in time to watch the sun set over the sea in fact I coun’t count the amounts of beautiful sunsets we saw that week.

We drove home the following Saturday after lingering in St Agnes until late morning, we stopped at Tintagel, another favourite place for lunch and walked down to the cove. My mother stayed at Tintagel on my first visit to Cornwall; I was about 16 months and don’t remember it but she told me I took my first steps on Trebarwith Strand. I guess I was a late walker, or maybe I was waiting for somewhere beautiful to start my walking adventures. Well, 67 years later I’m still enjoying walking around Cornwall. I was sad to leave but I know we will go again one day.

St Michael’s Mount

Last updated October 25, 2015