The thing that struck me more than anything during our week in Cornwall was the wildflowers. Anyone who has holidayed in Cornwall will know all about the narrow windy roads with high verges. I have often holidayed in this area in July or August and the verges have been grassy with a few flowers. However, maybe because we were away much earlier than usual and also possibly because of the late Spring, the verges were positively groaning with wild flowers.
I have no photographs to demonstrate this as I was driving but the photograph above was taken by the car park outside Portscatho and this gives you a glimpse of what the verges were like. We say bluebells, campion, foxgloves, various ferns, cow parsley, another unknown umbellifer which had angelica overtones, nettles and goodness knows what else. There has been quite a bit in the news recently about local councils cutting verges destroying habitats in particular Plantlife has criticised councils for cutting verges too often. We did see some verge cutting in Cornwall but this was around junctions in the towns; the countryside verges seemed very much left to their own devices.
Even my sons commented on the meadows on the headland above Porthcurnick Beach, managed by the National Trust. I do hope that other councils will take note of the work, or lack of it, carried out by the Cornwall councils. After all in simple economic terms if they reduced the amount of verge cutting they would save signficant amounts of funds.
Oh and in case you are wondering about Portscatho and why we had visited it, the photograph above demonstrates what a charming fishing village it is. Also I had read somewhere on the internet about The Hidden Hut at Porthcurnick Beach. Apparently it was on a recent television programme about Cornwall and had good reviews. The Hut is located about a 10 minute walk from the car park and is a complete gem.
It has a simple lunchtime menu of focaccia rolls, cooked fresh on site, with various fillings or steak pasties. They also did some hot dishes such as chowders but we opted for pasties and I have to say it was the best pasty I had all week. They also do evening meals on special nights and we spotted large paella pans and a BBQ. It was such a clever and simple concept and delivered incredibly well. Even on a midweek lunchtime outside of the school holidays it was busy and I am sure that they will continue to go from strength to strength.
There can’t be much better than sitting eating a Cornish pasty overlooking the sea on a beautiful sunny day and I think it will be one of the lasting memories of my holiday.
