The Area & Things To Do

Charlestown is a haven for switching off and unwinding and those in search of a little historical culture won't be disappointed.

Built in 1790 by the local landowner and entrepreneur Charles Rashleigh, the village is home to an original Georgian working harbour, which was constructed to serve the needs of the local china clay industry. Still in use today, the harbour has become particularly well known as the mooring place for many masted traditional Tall Ships. These ships, together with the largely unaltered harbourside houses, have made Charlestown a popular location for the shooting of many well known films and tv period dramas; scenes were shot in Charlestown for 'The Eagle has Landed' starring Donald Sutherland and then in the 90s his son Keiffer returned to Charlestown to star in 'The Three Musketeers' with fellow actor Charlie Sheen.

The village has a range of local businesses including general stores/sub post office, pub, small hotel, restaurants, gallery, gift shop, heritage museum and a park. There is excellent fishing available and locals fish off the harbour wall for Mackerel and Bass. St Austell is approximately one mile from Charlestown, where you will find a wide range of shops together with an out-of-town superstore and sports/leisure centre.

There are several good golf courses within the immediate area and an extensive network of coastal and inland footpaths, which provide many miles of superb walking. St Austell bay boasts several sandy bathing beaches and the world renowned Eden Project is three miles to the North East.

The fishing port and market town of Fowey (pronounced Foy); now a highly popular destination for sailing enthusiasts has been a borough since Elizabethan times.

A chain for the protection of the harbour used to run between Fowey and Polruan on the east side of the river, where there are ruins of a chapel and holy well. The town furnished Edward III with forty-seven ships for the Siege of Calais in 1346 and the French landed here and burnt the town in 1457. St Catherine's Castle at Readymoney Cove, was built in 1536 to protect Fowey Harbour from French invasion, it is one of several fortifications running along the south coast built by Henry VIII. It sits overlooking the Fowey Estuary and can be accessed via a path from the beach. In the town is 'Place', seat of the Treffrys, a mansion originally built in the eleventh century. It contains Tudor panelling and heraldry.

Today Fowey is known for its wonderful variety of stylish shops and restaurants, it has every amenity from supermarket to hair salon, all sympathetically at home in this ancient little port.

The town operates on a one way system; originally built for horse and cart, the narrow streets meander their way through the town with the estuary to the right. There are two car parks on route: Albert Quay and Caffa Mill but if you're not lucky enough to secure a space in one of these, there is additional parking at Hanson Drive.

The surrounding area boasts many National Trust properties including the great house of Cornwall 'Lanhydrock House' and the magical island castle 'St Michaels Mount', whether crossing to the island by ferry or walking the tidal causeway (trying to beat the rising waters), it's an adventure for everyone.

Cornwall enjoys the warmth of the Gulf Stream and is home to many spectacular gardens containing a wealth of rare and exciting plants and trees. The creative genius of the early nineteenth-century Cornish garden owners and their hunger and passion for exotica, led them to sponsor the great Victorian plant hunting expeditions. The seeds and plants which they brought back from all over the world helped create these unique examples of wild and magnificent living theatre.

Families with children won't be disappointed with masses of space and variety of things to do. There are many adventure playgrounds for children to let off steam, they can get lost in the famous laurel maze at Glenurgan or get swept off their feet on the Giant's Stride swing, there's a gnarly Cryptomeria tree to climb at Trelissick and if that's not enough they can walk the plank over the thunderous Devil's Cauldron whirlpool at Lydford Gorge.

Those with plenty of energy and an appetite for the Cornish air should embark on the Camel Trail, a glorious 11 mile' cycle trail along a disused railway beside the River Camel. The trail can be completed in smaller chunks and as a family we enjoy the leisurely Wadebridge to Padstow leg, bikes can be hired at either end but the piece de resistance after arriving in Padstow must be the guilt free enjoyment of Rick Stein's fish and chips, knowing that you're going to cycle it off on the way back!

Art lovers will not be disappointed with the Cornish talent, which naturally exploits our dramatic and rugged coastline, golden sands and intoxicating seascapes.

Mid Cornwall Gallery at Par houses the largest collection of contemporary art in the area and features the work of artists from all over the UK.

The Tate Gallery, St Ives, arguably the flagship of Cornish art, opened in 1993, displays contemporary and modern art in a spectacular building set above the magnificent Porthmeor Beach. The imposing stained glass window by the painter Patrick Heron has won architectural awards and the sculptress Dame Barbara Hepworth's museum is part of the Gallery.

The area has so much to offer, you're promised an itinerary to satisfy everyone's needs.