‘There are some truly wonderful views across this ancient landscape’
We were at Tehidy Holiday Park, the base for our stay in Cornwall, when co-owner Richard Barnes explained the secret of the region’s enduring appeal: “It’s all about the light. It’s a very blue light reflected off the sea and the beach. The countryside and the light draw in the artists and what appeals to them, appeals to the people.”
It had certainly appealed to me. Temperatures there seemed to be averaging 5-10 degrees cooler than the hot summer the capital was experiencing at the time of our visit, and any thoughts of getting away from it all by air had been thwarted by reports of cancelled flights to an even hotter mainland Europe.
The sensible thing to do, I reasoned to myself, was to head south-west in a motorhome and bask in the cooling effects of a place surrounded by sea. A call to our regular Top 100 Sites finalist secured a pitch and we were soon driving unhindered along the A303 – where was the traffic? – past Stonehenge, and pausing at a café and farm shop in Devon.
It was roughly halfway, and an ideal opportunity for my long-time friend and neighbour Diana and me to refuel and stretch
