Blisland
There is a lot that is both unusual and admirable about Blisland, one of Bodmin Moor's, and indeed Cornwall's, most charming villages. To take the unusual first, you don't find many proper village greens in Cornwall - but you do find one in Blisland. Roughly triangular, the church is on one side, the Blisland Inn on another, the Manor house is on the base. The church has an odd dedication, to Sts. Protus (or Pratt) and Hyacinth, and an interior like a pre-Reformation church. The Blisland Inn has a reputation for its real ales and the atmosphere of a real welcoming local pub. The Manor house has the four-square appearance of a Georgian home with a two storey Elizabethan style porch - and, most unexpectedly, on its north face two Norman windows and a Norman arch. Now for the admirable. It looked at one time as if Blisland was going the way of so many villages, dormitories with no heart, soul or amenities. But Blisland fought back and now it has not only its pub but a school and, since 2006, a community centre in the real sense of that phrase. A great effort replaced the lost village shop with a brand new convenience store, whose groceries include local produce, plus cafe, doctor's surgery and internet caf�. Pub, church, school and store make Blisland a real village.
Blisland's attractive Manor house
Leave the A30 shortly before Bodmin
More in Towns & Villages
Bodmin
Passing through now, on the road to Wadebridge, Bodmin appears at first glance to be a rather scruffy, inconsequential town. But first appearances can deceive. Heading west into Bodmin, as you drop down into the town, look to your right and you will see Cornwall's finest and most important parish church, dedicated to St. Petroc, who founded a monastery here around AD550. Turn left by it and you will find yourself in Mount Folly Square, filled with handsome Victorian buildings: The Shire Hall housed the county's Assize Courts until 1988, the Public Rooms were once the social heart of the town. Continue past these, along the Lostwithiel Road, and you will discover former county regiment barracks and a railway station that served a line to Wadebridge, opened in 1834. Or follow the road to Wadebridge and you will see signs for Bodmin Jail and pass Westheath Park, now an upmarket housing development and technology park but once site of the county lunatic asylum. Put all these together and you will realise that this was once once a place of great significance, the County Town from 1836 to 1988. There are several things for the visitor to see and do, though little advertised. The Shire Hall houses the TIC, exhibitons and a Court Room Museum. Bodmin Jail is now a museum with restaurant. The Town Museum is in the Public Rooms. Do not miss St.Petroc's Church. Bodmin & Wenford Railway operates steam trains on the old Wadebridge line.
Bodwen
Bodwen scarcely qualifies as a Town or Village; in reality it is no more than a hamlet. You could easily miss most of Bodwen, whose name means the old dwelling. Part of it, the part of greater interest, is down an unsigned dead-end turning. Here is a small farm, a couple of converted barns and some renovated cottages. I would guess that Bodwen is a dormitory village for Bodmin. There are some cottages on the road through to Luxulyan and, at a cross roads south-east of the village, a former chapel now serves as a cold store for a food producer across the lane.
Boscastle
When I started this web site I didn't like Boscastle very much. I was about ready to post a critical item when the dreadful flood of August 2004 happened. That was no time for criticism so I decided to leave it until repair and restoration were complete. I am glad I did because, before and after a walk up the Valency Valley in June 2008, I took time to explore the village. Now not only am I most impressed by the way Boscastle has recovered but I also find that I now like it. It may be very tourist oriented - Visitor Centre, National Trust shop, Witchcraft Museum, art and craft galleries, gift shops, restaurants, caf�s - but it looks terrific. Scenically it is hard to beat thanks to its setting in a steep valley, the River Valency winding down to a small harbour (dry at low tide) with a few fishing boats, beyond it two high headlands, both on the coast path, and the sea. In the photo a lime kiln stands in front of the former 'pilchard palace'; the latter now houses the TIC, a National Trust shop and caf� and a Witchcraft Museum. And don't miss walking up Old Road, a narrow no-entry street, to admire its charming cottages. I can't comment on eating places as I have only had coffee here, but for sociability the Wellington Hotel bar is probably top; other pubs are the Cobweb and the Napoleon at the top of the village.