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Fowey and Helford Estuary

Though Cornwall is not the Riviera, for its range of locations and talented characters drawn there, there is still much to do of interest. On Sunday we went to Fowey on the river Fowey and opposite lies Bodinnick where Gerald du Maurier had a chalet style home and introduced Daphne to the locale.

Bodinnick on the the other side of the bay attracts the sun hence the phrase “Bodinnick is sunny, Fowey makes money”.

FoweyFowey is a working port too exporting China clay all over the world.

It’s a hilly picturesque town of pretty pastel-coloured cottages and an estuary lively with boats. After a restorative sharpener in the Galleon overlooking the estuary we lunched at Haveners on the quayside, formerly Food for Thought.

I will leave Daffers to review this but my plump mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce were delicious. The sea food here is unsurprisingly very fresh.

helfordYesterday we visited the River Helford Estuary. There is a strong Daphne du Muriel connection here. She was taken here for her honeymoon and wrote the historical romance Frenchman’s Creek the story of a London society lady who falls for a French pirate terrorising the estuary. Now it attracts the likes of Sir Tim Rice and Queen drummer Roger Taylor who have piles overlooking the estuary, as well as partners from Deloitte. More of interest to me was resident Tim Bligh, the descendant of the captain whose crew mutineered on the Bounty, who also lived on the estuary. Our guide mentioned that for a mooring, a boatsman pays £900 to the Duchy of Cornwall. I wondered how much revenue Cornwall generates for the Duchy annually and whether, in the absence of EU subsidies, the Prince of Wales will dip his hand in his pockets. We took lunch in a golfing hotel Buddock Vean which had lush gardens down to the sea. Everywhere one sees light blue Rhododendrons. The oysters were delicious as was the grilled John Dory but I will leave Daffers to review this as only she can.

Driving back we commented on the better road quality and new housing. Although you will never hear it from a Cornishman the county is the most prosperous I have seen it. It has lost its copper and tin industries and fishing has been affected but tourism is definitely on the up with better communications. There is something pleasantly and attractively remote and though younger people may be stressed by no mobile service and erratic wifi (not just the young as Bob Tickler went berserk when his internet went down) I find this only adds to its charm. I particularly enjoy the walks, coastal and inland, and aside from the flora  fauna and wild fowl, I love the freshness of the air and the moist woody earthy smell.

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About Nancy Bright-Thompson

A widely-respected travel editor, Nancy is a past president of the Guild of Travel Writers (GTW). She and her husband Phil now run a horse sanctuary in East Sussex. More Posts