Page 48 - (DK Eyewitness) Back Roads Travel Guide - Great Britain

46 BACK ROADS GREAT BRITAIN

0 Pencarrow
Washaway, Cornwall; PL30 3AG
Tall conifers from around the world
soar above the long drive leading
to this Georgian mansion, owned
by the same family since it was built in
the 1770s. In spring, rhododendrons,
camellias and azaleas create patches
of vivid colour in the gardens. The
house is notable for its Adam
furniture, upholstered in rose silk
damask that matches the curtains –
“treasure” captured from a Spanish
Above The still waters of Padstow’s harbour ship in 1762. Joshua Reynolds
reflect yachts and wharf buildings 9 Padstow painted many of the portraits on
Cornwall; PL28 8AF show (house open Apr–Sep, Sun–Thu;
VISITING PADSTOW
Fame has been bestowed on this gardens open Mar–Oct, daily).
small port on the Camel Estuary ª From Pencarrow, continue to
Parking
Park on the quay, or at The Lawns. thanks to a fish restaurant opened Bodmin on A389. Several car parks
in a Victorian drill hall in 1975 by a signposted, one on left as you enter
Tourist Information
Red Brick Building, North Quay, local chef, Rick Stein. Now famous town, at end of Camel Trail.
PL28 8AF; 01841 533 449; for his TV appearances, he has four
www.padstowlive.com restaurants in the town, plus Literary Connections
Padstow Cycle Hire gourmet shops and a cookery Westward Ho! is the only town in
South Quay, PL28 8BL; 01841 533 533; school, making it a gastro heaven. England to be named after a book –
www.padstowcyclehire.com Alternatives to eating include clifftop and to have an exclamation mark!
walks, a ferry trip across to Rock, a Charles Kingsley wrote his historical
WHERE TO STAY romance while living in Bideford;
stop at the intriguing fishery (open after its publication entrepreneurs
daily), where lobsters are hatched, or
PADSTOW developed the resort. Daphne du
a visit to Prideaux Place (open Apr– Maurier found inspiration for her
Old Ship Hotel moderate Oct, Sun–Thu). This sumptuously novel Jamaica Inn while staying at
Centrally located hotel with estuary the coaching inn on Bodmin Moor,
views whose bar has live music. furnished family-owned Elizabethan
Restaurant noted for its fresh fish. manor has often been used as the a notorious smugglers’ haunt, in
1930. Henry Williamson’s 1927 story
Mill Square, PL28 8AE; 01841 532 357; location for period films, among
www.oldshiphotel-padstow.co.uk them Oscar and Lucinda, Trevor Tarka the Otter is set in North Devon.
The places he describes in it are now
St Petroc’s Hotel expensive Nunn’s Twelfth Night and several linked by a 290-km (180-mile) long
A short walk uphill from the harbour, Rosamund Pilcher novels. From trail, including a section between
this 10-room hotel in a white wisteria- Padstow bikes can be hired to cycle Bideford and Great Torrington.
clad Georgian building is one of Rick
Stein’s properties. along the River Camel to Bodmin.
4 New Street, PL28 8BY; 01841 532 700; ª From Padstow, return to the A389
www.rickstein.com past Wadebridge towards Bodmin. q Bodmin
Pencarrow is signposted off to the left Cornwall; PL31 2DQ
Below The imposing façade of Bodmin Gaol, 6 km (4 miles) after Wadebridge. Park Guilty or not guilty? Visitors to
which now houses a pub and brasserie in the car park. Courtroom One in Shire Hall (tours
Mon–Sat), the old county court, can
decide the verdict in a realistic
re-enactment of a famous murder
trial held here in 1844, and then visit
the cells. The life of an 18th-century
prisoner is depicted in the former
Bodmin Gaol, a forbidding building
that now houses various eateries. The
500-year-old St Petroc’s Church,
which has a 12th-century font and
the saint’s ivory casket, is the largest
medieval church in Cornwall.
ª Take B3268, signed Lostwithiel, out
past the station. Lanhydrock is signed
to the left after 3 km (2 miles). Park in
the car park.
Where to Stay: inexpensive, under £80; moderate, £80–£150; expensive, over £150
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