It strange that there is a certain point in your life when you swap roles with your parents, i.e.you become the responsible adult. I was privileged enough to have my parent visit from Germany and on the back of a very successful series of German television adaptations of Rosamunde Pilcher's novels, we decided a road trip to Cornwall was in order.
Although my parents are well traveled, they hadn't been to Cornwall. Having been there once already, I felt that my skills of navigation and an inane ability to stumble across memorable sights and experiences would be well placed as tour guide. I hired a car through Auto Europe, who scour various car companies to get you the best deal, which worked great on price, but required me to rent the car through my arch nemis, Hertz.
The experience began with me having to wait 2 hours to pick up the car. We had the car for a couple of extra days bofore the start of the Cornwall trip with the intention of doing some shopping and heading out to Ikea. However, in the end, it was only used to travel out to the Alwyne Castle in Highbury for a mate's birthday and picking up my parents.
Day 1 - London - Stonehenge - Exeter - Okehampton - Truro
With free parking running out at 8:30, we were on the road at 8:35. Conscious that it was a weekday with congestion charge we took a 90 minute tour of Northwest London before finally clearing the M25 on the pleasantly non-congested M3 toward Southampton. We then headed off onto the A303 taking us past our first sight of the trip, Stonehenge.
Stonehenge
Although I have seen Stonehenge more than half a dozen times, I do still get an eerie feeling every time I pass by it. In my case, it's always the scene from National Lampoon's European Vacation where Clark Griswald knocks them over with the car. As we were in a hurry, we decided to do Stonehenge "Germany-style" which involved holding the video camera over the fence and taking candid shots from outside the fenced enclosure. We had a good laugh about how many other people were like minded and we actually got some great shots of Stonehenge.
Exeter
Next we continued on to Exeter. Exeter is a bit of a hidden gem on the way to Cornwall. It has an excellent Norman cathedral and a riverside waterfront that is the perfect place to stop for lunch. We stopped one place to have some beer and pizza and although the pizza was delayed twice due to lost orders, we were able to recharge our batteries for the afternoon of driving ahead.
Okehampton
On this trip, I knew that if the was a harbour or castle to be seen, it would be safe to assume that my father would like to stop to at least get it on video. So on the fringes of the Dartford Moors, we followed an alluring brown sign indicating that there was a castle in Okehampton, a little village just off the A30. We rolled through the outskirts of town, then through the centre and finally almost out the other side without any view of said castle. However, a strategically placed question at the tourist office (I learned from my father that strategic questioning of the local population can be useful in finding local landmarks, which countered my previous conception that locals were always going to direct me in the opposite direction of the one that I want to go in out of principle - League of Ordinary Gentlemen style) led us straight into some woods, down a narrow lane and directly to the foot of a spectacular ruined castle that served as a hunting lodge a few hundred years ago. It is a English Heritage site worth visiting and has a great audio tour which demonstrated that life at the top of the food chain was a great place to be in 1550.
Truro
Having originally planned to continue from Okehampton to St Ives, we decided that it would be best to stop somewhere less distant for the night. Checking the map and then our trusty AA B&B guide, we decided that Truro would be a good spot to pitch camp. We phoned around a couple of B&Bs and were able to find one that had rooms at the inn, The Townhouse Rooms. In our case, these were in the “garden chalet” (which equated to a garden shed converted into 2 double bedrooms with a shared bath). My father took particular pleasure in the the 7 pull cords in the bathroom, where, in a manner similar to playing music on rope-pull church bells, you had to pull these in a unique combination to get hot water, turn the lights on and also the heater. The B&B gets a 6 out of 10 for functionality and quirkiness, although I wouldn’t stay in the Chalet again.
There wasn’t much to Truro despite its glorious tin-mining history with the exception of a great bistro, Bustophers, which served up one of the best meals I’ve had in ages. I had mussels with a Conish cider and cream sauce, my mother had a potent French onion soup with crisp organic baguette and my father had an excellent sea bass. Nice fresh ingredients and clean, distinct flavours together with a very pleasant ambiance made this a dining experience I will keep in fond memory. This place gets an 8 out of 10 for food, ambiance and value for money (£45 for 3 mains and drinks).
We retired to our rooms after a glass of white and some cheese in the garden content, well fed and looking forward to our foray to the coast the next day.
Day 2 - Truro - St Ives - Padstow - Launceston
St Ives
Having enjoyed the “serve yourself” buffet style breakfast with Nutela smothered crumpets (my parents were both dubious of the crumpets and left me with 3 to eat on my own), we set of to complete our journey to the sea. St Ives felt like Briton with the Pier and Pebble Beach replaced with a dry harbour (it was low tide) and highly trafficked promenade. Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice spot with some beautiful views, but it never ceases to amaze me the amount of pebbledash and asphalted pavements found in the UK. All it would take is a local tourism tax and some well placed investments (e.g. dressing up the various dumpsters strewn around the place, removing the asphalt from cobbled sidewalks and changing the iron pipe railings along the harbour with something more characterful) to turn this into a world-class seaside town.
The Road to Padstow
Although the weather had been wet and rainy, our drive was accompanied by spectacular sunshine and puffy white clouds. We decided that we’d take coastal roads to get from St Ives to Padstow. This again involved asking locals for directions at a local tourist information. It as here that I almost blew a gasket due to some woman driver’s choice to box me in, which resulted in someone else pulling out and knocking over a third person’s scooter in a domino effect style. With directions in hand, we headed off to cruse the coastal roads where we enjoyed the views of white capped seas and kite surfers set back from a sand dune lined beach.
We took a little lunch break in a lay-by about half way to Padstow. Cheese, crackers and freshly squeezed orange juice (I actually made this at home before setting off and it hadn’t gone off) were passed around in abundance. It was nice it eat in the safety of the car as the wind howled outside.
We tried desperately to find a little harbour town I had visited two years previous, but after hitting the third dead end, single-track country lane, we gave up hope and b-lined our way to Padstow.
Padstow
The level of my mother’s excitement was reaching fever pitch as we neared Padstow as this is the location of Prideaux Place, the only filming locations in Cornwall that has been used on multiple occasions for Rosamunde Pilcher television adaptations. It has continuously been in the hands of the Prideux family since the 1500’s and only became open to the public after the cost of repairing a leaky roof was more than the family could financially bear. It is a beautiful, lived-in house that is worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood.
From there we moved on to the village proper. I hear that Rick Stein is hated in Padstow due to the large number of over-priced eateries he owns there. It is a crazily busy place, particularly as it was half-term school vacations, making it highly unappealing. We did, however; get a couple of orders of cod and chips from Rick Stein’s fish and chip shop, where was arguably one of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had.
Launceston
In the waning rays of the afternoon sun, we made our way to Launceston, the former capital of Cornwall. It has since fallen on harder times and is in need of some tlc. We were running out of luck and had unsuccessfully tried 5 B&B’s without success. However, Mrs Robinson led us to Mrs Cressinger, who finally led us to a gem of a hotel, the Eagle House Hotel. Located in an auld bankers mansions looking onto the ruins of the Duke of Cornwall’s former seat, if you are looking for a room in the general vincinity, you must stay at the Eagle House.
My parent’s room was stunning with excellent period furniture and formidable bed (Room 3), although my room (Room 5) was a smoker’s room leaving a bit to be desired. The whole place has a bit of a Faulty Towers appeal and I was surprised not to hear at least one “Basel” floating through the air.
Day 3 – Launceston – Bickleigh Castle - Bath – Lacock – London
We rounded up our stay at the Eagle House will a huge English breakfast. Consisting of a fried egg, fried sausage, fried bacon, fried mushrooms, fried bread and fried tomato, it was fuel for a nuclear reactor. All it needed was a sprig of parsley to become a gourmet heart attack.
We left Launceston with the breakfast still heavy in our stomachs for the promises of the Roman Baths in Bath. We took the A30 for about half an hour and then opted to take a few of the country roads for a bit more scenery. My father has some problems navigating an we ended up on yet another narrow and windy country lane. My driving has greatly improved over the years (I taught myself how to drive a manual about 5 years ago and nearly gave my wife grey hair in the process), but I was sweating. At one point, I had to reverse about 300m as a milk tanker making collections in the area also needed to reverse to allow some oncoming traffic through. Those 7 miles were some of the most challenging I have had, but all three of us emerged smiling (although I think my mother’s knuckles were rather white).
Bickleigh Castle
Another brown sign which revealed a delightful piece of Devon history. We thought this to be another sight open to the public, but were mistaken it is now only a B&B and wedding venue. They were nice enough to let us have a wander of the grounds, which were very quaint. Again worth a visit or a stay if you are in the neighbourhood.
Bath
We made our way into Bath and after once again asking for directions found a nice parking spot near the Royal Cresent. In another Griswald moment, we actually passed a number of other sites such as the Circus and Jane Austin centre as we meandered our way through town finding somewhere to park. We opted out of the Baths as at £11, we felt it a bit steep to race through in the time we had to spare. In the end it was the Cathedral for my father and Pret sandwiches for my mother and I before it was back to the car and off to Lacock.
Lacock
There are few more preserved villages in the UK. Lacock has managed to remain unmodernised on the surface, which has made it the filming location for innumerable period dramas. Throw a bit of dirt on the roads and bring in some horse and carriages and you can be whisked away to the 1700’s. Not to mention that Kings John’s Hunting Lodge does a mean Cream Tea. If you are a Harry Potter fan, Lacock is also home to Lacock Abbey that featured in the first two films.
London
A trip ending in London would never be the same without traffic. In our case, this involved a car crunching jam around Shepherds Bush Green. Most impressive was the fact that we made it through car unscathed and wits intact. We made it back to London only 45 minutes later then planned and in desperate need of a drink.
Summary
If you are planning a trip in the UK, Cornwall is a must. It combines all that is good in the UK (i.e. history, limited food and quirk) with stunning scenery. Rain or shine a road trip through Cornwall will one that will live on in fond memory.
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