CORNISH DREAM
The story of this holiday begins at the end of our previous trip, early last year. Rose’s cousin Fran, to whom we had paid a flying visit while in Cornwall for the New Year, invited us to return for longer in summer. We were only too happy to oblige and by late February, all of us had got as far as booking time off in late July.
We all know what happened next. A certain pesky virus saw non-essential travel prohibited, brought the hospitality industry to a standstill and meant that a planned weekend away for my birthday in April had to be abandoned.
The lockdown continued into May, and it was looking as though summer holidays might not be a feature of 2020. But in June, things began to improve, until it was finally confirmed that campsites could reopen from 4 July.
We booked two sites, planning a week’s stay at each. A prompt start on Sunday morning saw us arrive at the first, East Crinnis Holiday Park, near St Austell, by early afternoon.
The staff gave us a warm welcome, showed us to a beautiful pitch and advised that the nearest beach, Carlyon Bay, was a 20-minute walk.
With the sun blazing in a manner quite unsuited to a typical British summer, we lost little time in making our way along the cliff path. My swim in the sea was the first of many over the coming two weeks, and the presence of a bar and pizza oven on the beach really was the icing on the cake.
Walking onto a film set
The next morning, we had a look at a map and realised that if we walked past Carlyon Bay and continued on the cliff path for about another 20 minutes, we would arrive at Charlestown.
Built as a Georgian ‘New Town’ at the end of the 18th century for exporting copper and china clay and importing coal, Charlestown is named after its creator, local entrepreneur Charles Rashleigh.
The town remains almost entirely unspoilt by modern development, and is a popular location for films and TV shows, with Poldark, Hornblower and Mansfield Park among its many credits.
The sun was beating down from a clear sky and
