We were clambering along the bare knuckle of one of Porthtowan's
cliffs when the storm hit.Not just a dousing of English rain, but the full force of Mother
Nature chasing in, throwing a whole bruised sky at us.
And, with nowhere to hide, I just got soaked, took my wet jeans off
and - um, how to say this without being sectioned? - listened to the
voices.

Such is the power of Cornwall. I've always been a beach/bar kind of
girl but I have now had a full-on Shirley Valentine-style lifestyle
conversion. You can stick your safe havens in sunnier climes because
there's nowhere else than this gorgeous ragged coastline have I felt
so... pagan. And for someone who is away with the fairies at the best
of times, that is saying something.

Towan Valley is a family of swish eco-style dwellings which have only
recently sprouted. But far from looking like a barnacle of newness
just up from the surf town, the wooden-clad apartments feel as natural
as a mushroom circle - and just as magical. Created with family play
area, sedum roofs and a low carbon footprint, they are hippie heaven,
but what’s more, inside the pristine apartments are fit for a
princess. Palatial beds and all mod cons and offer warm shelter from
the elements... if you've had your fill of all that weather.

All year round, the Cornish coast is a surfer’s paradise with
Porthtowan’s blue flag golden beach reputed to be the spiritual
birthplace of surfing in the in the UK and neighbouring St Agnes
offering some of the best waves in Europe. But out of season,
Porthtowan is, I now realise, the perfect romantic getaway. A short
scramble from Towan Valley is the Blue Bar. This funky retreat plays
host to die-hard sports nuts and, for the lazier visitors, offers
comfy, wifi-and-chips-fueled windowseats which scoop up the seaside
views. Kids are not only welcomed but embraced (no matter what time of
night their slatternous parents stay drinking the bar dry).

Up on the bracken-covered cliff pathways, you won't encounter hordes
of walkers - you can roam wrapped in smugness and having this golden
bracken wonderland to yourself. The pathways offer miraculous views of
the scenery - dotted with ghostly shells of the tin mines which burrow
into the cliffside ore. Cornwall has a tin heart - with the metal
being mined here since prehistoric times and nearby Geevor Tin Mine,
which was fully working until 1990, the
largest preserved mining site and museum in the UK.

As for food, I now know nothing will lure you through full-on
evangelical rain better than the promise of the cafe tucked into
Chapel Porth’s smuggler cove. Here, we warmed our cockles with hot
chocolate and the legendary hedgehog ice cream. This delicacy is a
mound of Cornish ice cream smothered in clotted cream and dunked into
hazelnuts. Yes, it’s a heart attack in a cone but it’s worth it. And
no wonder that this and the miner’s pasty are ideal fodder to keep you
satisfied all day.

As well as this refreshment, we had one of the best meals of our lives
in St Ives - a mere 12-mile drive away and a world away from
Porthtowan. If you've fallen in love with Cornwall and are planning
your escape there, St Ives is where all the people who’ve had the same
idea as you have landed in artistic style. Impossibly pretty, it is
also a maddeningly cool honeypot for culture vultures - not least
thanks to Tate St Ives. We arrived amid another apocalyptic storm,
hunting down the informal yet multi-award-winning Porthminster Cafe
(out on a limb under a wing of cliff) on a hot tip. It did not let us
down. The Asian-infused squid was sublime, the haddock heavenly and we
still sometimes rave about that sweet, small lobster.

Also worth a visit in this part of Cornwall is the Seal Sanctuary at
the cute town of Gweek which provokes squeals of delight from our
four-year-old - not least for the tank of sea lions ducking and diving
above us, the starfish session in the rockpools and a fairly absurd
otter display.

To refresh the parts other lagers can’t reach, you’ve got to try a
bottle (or five) of Truro’s own Skinner’s which is a mellow fruity ale
even non-ale drinkers such as myself will lap up. Plus, it’s a truly
natural blonde (as its makers at the brewery pointed out - somewhat
pointedly) and is worth drinking purely for the names. Cornish Knocker
or Ginger Tosser, anyone?

With a happy daughter and a full stomach - there
is nowhere in the world I would rather be... and I still hear those
voices telling me to go back.

 

 

THE FACTS:
A week at Towan Valley for a Winter Break starts from £425 for a
2-bedroom property sleeping 4 people with a 3-bedroom property
sleeping 6 people costing £482. The properties are available through
Aspects Holidays (www.aspects-holidays.co.uk) Tel: 01736 754242 and
Michael Paul Holidays (www.michaelpaulholidays.co.uk), Tel: 01275
774705.
Visit www.towanvalley.co.uk

Cornish Seal Sanctuary, near Helston. Tel: 01326 221361. sealsanctuary.co.uk

Portminster Cafe, St Ives. Tel: 01736 795352. porthminstercafe.co.uk