A thrilling setting for a cosy Cornish retreat
LEAVING the tiny Cornish village of Veryan and heading down narrow lanes towards the Roseland peninsula is one of life’s joys.
It’s where lush gardens snake to tiny coves; where both the sea and rivers are busy with sail boats and where you’re never far from freshly-baked scones on a table for tea.
Teatime at The Nare hotel is renowned. So, too, are the cocktails mixed by a suited barman, and the sumptuous dinners overlooking the beach.
Such an atmosphere lets the imagination run riot — and it comes as no surprise that The Nare is the setting for a new spy thriller, To Snare A Spy, by crime writer Jon Stock, who is hosting a writing workshop here in February.
Across the dining room, a woman sits alone, well- dressed and gazing enigmatically into the distance. She becomes our ‘mystery woman’ and my wife, Rose, and I spend much of the evening making up stories about her. The Nare has been run by the same family for nearly 30 years and is unashamedly spoiling. It’s open 365 days a year and does not pretend to be cutting edge. The rooms have pelmets, the sandwiches are crustless and families return year after year.
It sits directly overlooking Carne Beach on the south Cornish coast not far from St Mawes. In 2015, the owner, Toby Ashworth, acquired a locally built, traditional motor launch — the 38ft, 8.25-tonne Alice Rose. It has a polished cedar wood hull and twin Volvo engines. We meet her on a jetty on the Fal River, a few miles from the hotel. Her sleekness belies her size — there is ample space for eight guests and two crew. The chief steward loads lunch hampers, ice and crates of bottles that clink invitingly. The Cornish riverbank, changing at every bend, is fascinating. Each house you pass has a story: of a family, a famed sea captain, a skirmish, a romance. Mr Stock could not have been short of material. We scoff soft-boiled Scotch eggs, terrines and lobster cocktails. I wave at other boats as they pass and revel in the admiring salutes they give back. ‘This is how you should mess around on a river,’ I call to Rose as the coxswain pilots us back out towards the ocean, engines roaring as the Alice Rose heads for home and we head for another cream tea. TRAVEL FACTS: THE Nare hotel ( narehotel.co.uk, 01872 501111) has double rooms from £295 per night B&B and afternoon tea. Creative writing break from £309 per room per night. The Alice Rose sails in summer on Tuesdays and Fridays with groups of up to eight guests, £85 pp including lunch. Private charters, with coxswain and chief steward from £680 per day.