Fall in love with Poldark Country
Ross and Demelza’s Cornwall is just as stunning as on TV
IAM standing on the very spot where a bare-chested Ross Poldark chiselled furiously at the wall in his Cornish tin mine and I feel a chill… I halfhope to see him tapping away around the next corner.
As a huge fan of the steamy period drama this trip to Cornwall in the southwest of England is something of a pilgrimage, a chance to experience Ross’s beloved Cornwall first hand. I won’t be disappointed.
I have come to sleepy St Mawes and the exotically named Penolva where myself and my daughter Rebecca will be made to feel like ladies of the manor for the next few days.
Sleeping up to eight guests, Penolva, one of four beautiful houses to rent in the St Mawes Retreats portfolio, is the ideal choice for a family holiday, a getaway with friends, or a peaceful retreat. Situated between St Mawes Castle and Hotel Tresanton, Penolva has magnificent sea views looking onto St Mawes Bay harbour and St Anthony’s lighthouse.
And best of all, it offers a bespoke concierge service.
We travelled with Aer Lingus to Newquay and were met by taxi. Penolva is just one of four beautiful houses to rent in St Mawes. The names of the other exclusive holiday homes are imaginatively called Stargazers, Shellseekers, Dreamcatchers and Moonrakers.
Having unpacked, we thought, merely from a research point of view you understand, that we should explore those Cornish pubs you see so much of in the series.
The first, The Victory Inn, was a very old, cosy little fishing hostelry where we treated ourselves to hot ports in front of an open fire. Then onto the Idle Rocks (these names are so resonant), which is also a hotel, and boasted very sophisticated cocktails, again at an open fire. The third, The Rising Sun, offered a good selection of seafood, naturally a speciality of the county.
We passed on that, only because St Mawes Retreats’ private chef had left us a
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delicious pasta meal back in Penolva and bread and butter pudding, served with the famous Cornwall clotted cream.
All washed down with a chilled bottle of Prosecco – well, we are on holiday.
Looking out the bow window at the moonlight, I drifted off to sleep to the soporific sound of the sea and dreamt of Ross.
The next day we will be out on the seas. They are, you’ll be glad to hear, rather less choppy than on the programme.
And despite it being mid-winter it is still warm so we go for a dip from the house’s own private jetty.
More on Penolva... it is a secluded house with a glorious garden full of tropical plants and several terraces to enjoy al fresco dining and sunbathing and has private access direct to the water front with that slipway.
This being Poldark country we want to see as much of the locations as possible and we are fortunate to have the services of the St Mawes Retreats concierge services and Mark Bower of St Mawes mini-cruises and water taxis who takes us on a rib all-round the coast. He shows us several sites where the next series of Poldark is being filmed.
Thirsty work yes, but it’s never difficult to find an inn in these parts and ours is the 13th-century hostelry, Pandora.
We enjoy a seafood lunch while sat in front of another log fire, looking out the tiny windows at the estuary, still busy with boats. All washed down with a lovely bottle of Portuguese wine... well, you have to, don’t you?
Next time, we’ll head upstairs for an evening meal in their elegant 18th-century style dining room.
Maybe we’ll get to dine by candelight with Captain Poldark and Demelza and Caroline and Dwight Enys!
But that’s for another day. It’s back on the water now and off to St Mawes for our Lomi Lomi Hawaiian-style massage before dinner with its own In House Spa therapist, again provided by St Mawes Retreats concierge service with its own In House Spa therapist... they have us well and truly spoiled.
Tonight we’ll dine in the Hotel Tresanton, just a five-minute walk from Penolva but we couldn’t resist a pre-meal drink in the humurously named Dog’s Bar... well, could you?
The Hotel Tresanton is sumptuous and has a restaurant with terraces facing the sea. The décor is clever and there is a nautical ambience and shell-style lighting. From the light to the dark, the next stop-off on our itinerary sees us forced to confront the reality of life in the mines back in Poldark’s day.
We are met by the owner, David Edwards, who is lovingly restoring the mines and he greets us with a welcome cup of tea from McCabes in Greystones, Co. Wicklow.
This was where all the interiors of the early series in 1977 and the current series of Poldark were filmed.
WAYNE, our tour guide, gives us a hammer we can hardly lift, used by a child of nine for 12 hours a day. I feel their sadness all around me.
I’m ill-prepared for a history lessson on the famous Cornish Pastie which was adopted by miners in the 17th and 18th centuries. Local folklore has it that the miners would leave the crust of the pasty for ‘the knockers’, the fairy people who came out at night so they would keep the mines safe.
The mines are still in the Cornish blood and Wayne tells us he got married in the mine, which sparks me into a verse of Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah. That inspired another lady on the tour to join in.
Poldark author Winston Graham was a regular visitor here and launched Bella Poldark, his last book, at the mine in 2002 when he was 94.
This really is holy ground for Poldark fans and be sure to visit the fascinating museum.
This corner of Cornwall is replete with history as is our billet, Penolva. Meaning ‘lookout on the headland’, it was built in the early 1960s by Dick Wilkins, a personal friend of the Queen Mother.
Queen Elizabeth’s mother and other members of the royal family often visited Wilkins, coming ashore from HMY Britannia, using Penolva’s own slipway, so we are in good company.
Cornwall is full of surprises and you might be surprised to discover that it also boasts a rainforest. Not me... I have long wanted to visit the Eden project.
When I first heard of it I was won over by the idea of transforming a clay pit into a series of biomes, a living theatre of plants.
When you first enter the rainforest biome, your senses are assailed by the hot smell of unusual plants, the sound of rushing water and the feeling you might come across some exotic bird or animal.
A beautiful scarlet hibiscus and plants like the yellow sage were blooming profusely.
We saw some extraordinary looking creatures such as the Sulawesi white-eye bird. The Mediterranean biome, boasts yet further colourful
delights with influences too from south Asia and California. For me, the bright pink bougainvillea and scarlet geraniums reminded me of the summer holidays. it is enough to make you want to give praise to the Great Redeemer. if so there is a lovely 13th-century church, St Just in Roseland situated beside the estuary and reachable told a christenings. particularlyby boat. weddingsIt romanticmakes, we’reandsetting for Poldarkblessed. We Countryspend our is last indeed night being wined and dined in a Michelin-starred rant in Rosevine, Driftwood Portscatho, restaunjust five miles from St. Mawes in the company of our charming host Amandagiving dishes join us...Now if we us only had witha food Rossso chef enjoyed. history Poldark Chris on would Edenthe