Ticket to Ride: Road Trip, Cornwall to the Cotswolds, Part 1

After our cycling day in Penzance which ended with dinner at The Boatshed Restaurant on the Quay, we reluctantly leave the Summer House after another excellent breakfast: sensational 'overnight porridge' (must make that when I return home), and perfectly cooked eggs, we haul our bags back to the station. Instead of taking the train, we are picking up a hire car from the Europcar Car depot near the station for a five-day road trip.

This trip is going to take us from Cornwall to the Cotswolds, stopping for a night near Taunton in Somerset, a night in Salisbury in Wiltshire, two nights at Evesham in Worcester and finally a night in Oxford.

Jo is having conniptions about driving on narrow roads in an unfamiliar country in a strange car… I relent and sanction an automatic instead of a manual (hang the expense, anything for a quiet life) and we leave Penzance behind and take the road to Land's End, the most south westerly point of mainland Britain.

Land's End

Of course there's very little at Land's End, except the rocky cliffs, the sea and a lot of tourist stuff, but you do have to go there just to say you went there.

Last chance for a cuppa

It is an ideal place to view the Longships Lighthouse which perches on Carn Bras about a mile out to sea. Carn Bras is the largest of the Longships Rocks which encircle Land’s End point. The current lighthouse built in 1875, which stands one hundred and fourteen feet high, replaced a much shorter one that was prone to disappearing under the waves. It's not easy to get a clear photo.

Longships Lighthouse and Rocks

From Land's End we head north with the idea of visiting the romantic ruins of Tintagel, the castle forever associated with King Arthur. It is reputed to be the place of his conception as reported by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the 12^th century Welsh cleric and chronicler who didn't let the truth get in the way of a good story. As we venture further north, somehow the idea of a challenging descent to a wind-swept site on the Cornish coast with rain threatening doesn't seem an attractive idea any more, so we set a course for Launceston, still in Cornwall but further east.

Launceston turns out to be an attractive town of around 8500 people. What's left of Launceston Castle sits on a high mound right in the township. It was built by Robert, Count of Mortain—who was a half-brother of William the Conqueror—in about 1070.

Launceston Castle

It has some significance for our family because, in the days when the assizes were held in Launceston, my Cornish great-great-great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side was held in the prison at the castle before being convicted of theft and sentenced to seven years deportation to the colony of New South Wales. In the year 1787, he sailed on the convict ship Scarborough with the First Fleet bound for the fledgling colony in Australia.

The afternoon is slipping away so we head off to find our accommodation for the night over the border in Somerset near the town of Taunton.

We leave the A5 having successfully negotiated a couple of those pulse-elevating roundabouts and find ourselves in the pretty Somerset countryside on roads that have hedges growing right up to the tarmac. My driver is less than happy with this situation, but we make it to a far-flung village (is it a village? or just a few houses) by late afternoon.

The Manor House is a fascinating building and the owners just as unusual. I have a momentary thought that we've arrived at Cold Comfort Farm!

The Manor House

We're ushered into the 16^th century manor house, one section of which dates to the 12^th century, we later discover, and our hostess asks if we would like a drink. Jo would certainly like a drink after driving on these heart-stopping roads, preferably a very large gin and tonic, but the only drinks on offer are of the soft variety so we settle for orange juice and sit with our hostess, Fleur, and her adult son, William, (after he takes our bags up the creaking stairs to our room) in a charming little courtyard. We are surrounded on all sides by ancient walls where Dorothy Perkins roses and honeysuckle are in full flower.

Fleur says that there are about twenty rooms in the house (I suspect it might be like Christopher Robin trying to count the trees at Gill's Lap: you lose track somewhere along the way). She tells us there is a Roman well on the other side of the wall and that you can't put in a row of cabbages without digging up bits of Roman pottery! What an interesting place we've stumbles upon.

Roman Well

William is very keen on history and has dates at the ready. He tells us that there is a wonderfully preserved Roman mosaic floor in Taunton that is well worth a visit. Might check that out tomorrow.

We ask about places to dine and Fleur has a couple suggestions for places nearby. She rings and makes a reservation for us at The Hatch at Hatch Beauchamp and gives us directions. We manage to get them backwards and turn right instead of left but we somehow make it to The Hatch, another venerable building, with a good menu and pleasant atmosphere.

After a comforting meal and a glass of vino, we find our way back to the Manor House and, as the evenings are long at this time of year, we explore the rambling garden.