Hotels
: 2013 - improving. Hebasca is a boutique hotel in the modern style. The Beach describes itself as 'Luxury Hotel' and looks good.
Bude Castle: We were delighted to find that the town has now taken full advantage of the possibilities of the Castle. Exhibitions on Bude as port, resort and surf centre; Sir Goldsworthy Gurney exhibition; research centre; art gallery; shop; Caf� Limelight. Helpful staff. Wheelchair access.
The Quay: New paving makes it feel more spacious and there is now a row of craft and similar shops.
Castle Restaurant: We lunched there and recommended it strongly. Apparently re-opened as Caf� Limelight 2014.
Olive Tree cafe: We first tried it in 2019 and like it very much. Good food, good coffee, good value.
Bude Canal: Now fully restored for its 2 miles to Helebridge, including the two locks along the way. Wouldn't it be wonderful if restoration could take place on the Marhamchurch incline plane and all the way to Tamar Lakes. The Visitor Centre in the car park now has a Canal Heritage Centre. One (walkers) criticism - The tarmac towpath, while wheelchair-friendly, now makes the walk to Helebridge feel noticeably less rural.
Walks: Coastal Round Walk from Bude. Inland Walk Helebridge, Bude and Canal. More walks on the Bude Canal.
Cadgwith
One of the most popular villages on the Lizard peninsula - along with Coverack, which I don't much like, and Mullion, which I do (my favourite is St. Keverne) - pretty Cadgwith is tucked away on the east coast between Lizard Town and Coverack. There are two roads down to the village and cove; the car park is on the western of the two and may appear to be a long way from the cove but there is a fairly short footpath down. Once at the cove there are several pretty thatched and whitewashed cottages; one stands on the Todden, a small point overlooking the harbour. Old net lofts and pilchard cellars are now shops, a tea shop and a restaurant. The Cadgwith Cove Inn has folk music on Tuesday night, traditional Cornish singing on Friday. Cadgwith has the largest fishing fleet on the Lizard, inshore boats no longer after the pilchards but now seeking crab, lobster, mullet, mackerel, sea bass and occasionally shark. They are quite a sight drawn up on the beach. If you haven't seen The Fisherman's Apprentice, do watch for it, set in Cadgwith. A mile north on the coast path is Carleon Cove where part of the old serpentine works still stands. A few hundred yards south is the Devil's Frying Pan, a massive blow hole formed when a large cave collapsed. Try to catch the sea at the right state of the tide to appreciate the impressive effect.
A coastal round walk includes Cadgwith.
Signed from B3293 Helston to St. Keverne road
Thatched cottage near harbour - note boat outside
More in Towns & Villages
Kilkhampton
I had been in Kilkhampton previously but mostly just passing through and once to seek out the remains of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, down the lane towards Stibb and the Combe Valley. On this occasion, in late August 2016, I was visiting three villages and their churches, the others being nearby Poughill and Stratton. Kilkhampton is a largish village, strung long the A39 north of Bude, with a few shops and a couple of pubs, The London Inn and the New Inn. I enjoyed a bacon roll and a coffee in the latter. In the small square, a war memorial commemorates Lt. Colonel Algernon Carteret Thynne DSO, killed in the Great War. The church is typically Cornish, with nave, two aisles and a battlemented and pinnacled three stage tower. Above the tower door stands a small statue, presumably of dedicatee St. James. The porch has a remarkable feature, a deeply and elaborately carved Norman doorway. Inside are three wagon roofs, higher than is usual in Cornwall, Granville memorials and a coat of arms by a pupil of Grinling Gibbons, and a superb collection of original bench ends.
Kingsand and Cawsand
This is a charming, tucked away part of Cornwall, more easily accessed by car ferry across the Tamar to Torpoint or by foot ferry from Plymouth to Cremyll than from most of Cornwall. Here on the very south-eastern tip of Cornwall, the twin villages of Kingsand and Cawsand tumble down their hillsides to meet at small harbours facing broad Plymouth Sound with long views of Drake’s Island and the Devon coast. Where they meet at the bottom is the Halfway House Inn, a comfortable pub with a good welcome, a good atmosphere and excellent food. Rather surprisingly, until 1830 the Halfway House stood at a county boundary; Kingsand was in Devon, Cawsand in Cornwall. This is a great place to explore on foot with steep streets filled with colour washed stone cottages, jostling for space. Climb high above the Cawsand side to find an old fort, converted to housing with breathtaking views. Climb above the Kingsand side, past a tiny village green, to find a gate near the cliff that leads into glorious Mount Edgcumbe Park with its house with formal garden and Earl's Garden. There is more good walking around Rame Head to the south. There is a smallish car park next to the Halfway House and a much larger one above Cawsand.
Ladock
Ladock is a small village which we regularly pass through on our way to Truro. It is pleasant enough, just passing through, but the best is to be found uphill on the east side of the road. My first experience of Ladock was visiting Ladock House Garden, open under the National Gardens Scheme, in April 2007. In June 2016 I parked in the large public car park on the main road through. Here in the car park is the local shop and post office which sells hot drinks, sandwiches and good Cornish pasties. Outside is a decking area with free Wi-Fi. The little Tresillian River flows behind the car park. On the other side of the road is the Falmouth Arms pub, Bissick Old Mill more-or-less behind it. To the north of the pub a path runs streeply uphill to the church of St. Ladoca. The church, standing in a large graveyard, consists of nave, south aisle and pinnacled tower. Inside there are no carved bench ends but the chancel screen seems to made up of them, as does the lectern. Noteworthy featues included windows by Burne Jones, Ford Madox Brown and William Morris, a dark carved font, possibly of Catacleuse stone from the north coast near Padstow. There are some interesting old memorial slabs, not easily readable. Just west of the church, a track leads past attractive Glebe Farm, down into the valley to St. Ladoca's Holy Well. There is a disabled toilet.