The Cornwall Blog

Cornwall is becoming well known as a foodie destination, we have fish as fresh as you can get it and great quality meat, veg and scrumptious cakes. To scoop up the best and really get to know the locals, you can't go wrong with a farmers market. Here are a few you can peruse this month: Bodmin, in the heart of Cornwall have a popular market every 3rd Saturday at Bodmin Nursery (who also have a lovely tea room!) Further north at in the dramatic seaside town of Bude you can get your fresh veg every Friday, 10-3pm out on the warfside. Callington, on the edge of Cornwall has a bustling market every Thursday at their Scout Hut selling anything from apple juice to cakes and meat to fresh cut flowers. Towards the Lizard peninsular, at Constantine every second Saturday of every month you'll find the church hall bustling. This month that's the 12th of August, 9.30-12pm. Devoran , between Truro and Falmouth, has its own farmer's market. This little village...

Welcome to a new way to explore the stories of Cornwall. Much loved theatre company, Kneehigh , have just released a free app to accompany you on your journey of discovery of our ancient county. Artist, poet and writer Anne Marie Murphy took the roads less travelled collecting stories and memories from the people she found along the way, welcome to the wonderful word of Wild Cornwall. She says "The stories on the “Walk with Me” app, aren’t ones you will find in the guide or history books. You may find the beginnings of them in an old photograph in a local museum, an over heard conversation in a café, a personal anecdote from one our tale gathering tea-parties. They are the untold, the personal, the sometimes wildly exaggerated, but sometimes not." The app could be enjoyed at home sitting with your feet up (armchair mode) or while walking around towns like Perranporth, Mevagissey and Newquay - the GPS magically triggers a tale as you explore. Soon new walks w...

June is alive with many a festival, the Royal Cornwall Show to name just one. But this month I want to draw your attention to the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival. Quite a mouthful but a really charming event in our Cornish calendar. Running from 16th to the 18th June 2017 this festival is a real celebration of community where the whole town comes alive with music. I was a student in Falmouth and the Sea Shanty festival was lots of fun. Now it is one of the largest in Europe with loads of free music all over the town. Falmouth is a gem of a destination festival or not, with a thriving high street, an ample sprinkling of pubs and eateries, the harbour, a castle, the beach! The roots of the festival started in 2003 when a group of singers wanted to keep alive the stories of the Tall Ships and the tradition of performing sea shanties and Cornish songs. The music with its rhythmic beat served to keep the sailers working together as they did their chores at sea. The ...

Godolphin's bluebell woods   One of the things I love about Cornwall is the fact that Spring comes here early and does so vibrantly. May is the best time to take a stroll through the bluebells and we have plenty of places you can enjoy the delicate blue haze of wild flowers. Lanhyrock House and Garden , owned by the National Trust has bluebells a plenty on their 1,000 acres of land. Formally Victorian gardens gives way to ancient woodland worthy of a wonder. Enys Gardens filled with bluebells Enys Gardens near Penryn are a popular spot to see floods of blue, the gardens include a meadow called Parc Lye which is a sight to behold. Heading Camborne way you will find Tehidy , 9 miles of paths and 250 acres of idyllic woodland and lakes. A café and picnic area make this an ideal spot to wile away some time. Another National Trust gem is Penrose Estate near Helston. Boasting the largest freshwater lake in Cornwall, the grounds are beautiful and this time of year the bl...

Archive note: This article was first published in April 2017. The dates and event details below are retained as a look back and should not be treated as current information. April is usually a busy month in Cornwall. The attractions begin to open up, the coast becomes even more inviting and there always seems to be something celebrating our food, culture or history. Back in 2017, these were three of the events that caught my eye. Falmouth Folk and Cider Fayre 14–17 April 2017 Falmouth is a great place and one I love to visit, so this festival sounded wonderful. There were more than 70 ciders to try, alongside folk music from FolkLaw, Alex Hart, Jonah’s Lift, The Other Band and Sarah McQuaid. As well as the music and cider, visitors could enjoy food stalls, arts and crafts and plenty of local produce. Porthleven Food Festival 21–23 April 2017 Near Helston, this foodie event was quite a draw. More than 90 food and craf...

You may have seen the recent TV commercials for Chanel 4 's reenactment of the famous Mutiny on the Bounty. Head to Falmouth and you can see an exhibition all about the Cornish born Captain Bligh and his impossible voyage. For those who don't know, Lieutenant William Bligh was the commanding officer aboard the HM Bounty in the Pacific and he was cast a float by a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian in April 1789. Bligh and his men were left to die in a 23-foot boat. He managed to sail across 3600 nautical miles of treacherous water from Tonga to Timor in a remarkable survival story. The National Maritime Museum in Falmouth hosts this exhibition, running from the 17 March - 31 December 2017. You can see some original artefacts, like Bligh's coconut bowl, bullet-weight, horn-beaker and magnifying glass used to light fires. There is also a reproduction of the boat the 19 men squeezed into! This story has been passed down, twisted and romanticised, and the exhibition ...

Way down in Penzance we have Penlee House, internationally renowned for its collection of British art, in particular, from the Newlyn School of artists. It was in 1997 that the gallery received a much needed refurbishment and has consequently become a leading regional museum. This month until the 3rd of June the gallery and museum are running an exhibition entitled 'A Casket of Pearls: Celebrating 20 years of collecting' . You can see how their collections have developed over the two decades with a chance to view fine and decorative art, social history, photography and archaeology. There is also free family fun with drop-in workshops every Saturday from 2.30pm-3.30pm, great to get the kids involved! Oh and you can get a locals pass too. Do check out their website to find out about the Newlyn School of art , fascinating to think in 1884 this little fishing village could count 27 skilled artists among its residents!