A Favourite Thing: Boscastle (Boscastle in general)

Member Name: nikkisly

Product:	Boscastle in general
Date:	28/07/02 (731 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scenic

Disadvantages: Can get crowded

As a child, my parents owned a holiday cottage near Bude in North Cornwall and, for them, no holiday was complete without a trip to Boscastle. Oh, how I hated the place! Two or three times a year, we would follow exactly the same routine. Park in the car park, a leisurely stroll down the riverside to the harbour, not forgetting the obligatory visit to the dank and extremely smelly public toilets half way there. If I had been especially well behaved that day, I might get a knickerbocker glory at the café before we crossed the little bridge and walked up the other side of the river back to the car.

Times change. People change. Boscastle, it seems, hasn't really changed significantly since I was a child but my perception of it obviously has, since it is now one of my favourite places. It's so much more than a boring walk, enlivened only by the prospect of a "Knickerblocker Gory".

Much of Boscatle and the surrounding area has been designated an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Once a working harbour, built by Sir Richard Grenville in 1584, the coming of the railways to Cornwall made it almost redundant. The National Trust stepped in to preserve it and now owns and maintains the harbour and most of the surrounding coastline.

A pay and display car park - with new (and much more fragrant) public toilets - has been built at one end of the village. Located in the car park is a bright, modern visitors centre, featuring displays of local wildlife and selling small gifts, maps and books about the area, many printed by the local Bossiney Press. The staff there can offer advice on anything and everything from accommodation to attractions, including recent sightings of various species of birds and sea life. Here you can also find details of guided walks in the area, including evening 'bat walks' and early morning walks to listen to the dawn chorus.

You can still walk down the side of the river as I used to do as a ch
ild, admire the harbour, cross the little bridge and return to the car park along the other side. But, as I have discovered over the years, there is more to Boscastle than meets the eye.

The casual visitor may well drive straight past the village without stopping. From the road, there is little to see except for a quick flash of the harbour, a horrendous hairpin bend and a stretch of road that might look vaguely familiar due to a car commercial having been filmed there last year. Yet anyone choosing to stop for a while has a wide choice of interesting things to see and do.

Leaving the car park and walking towards the harbour there is a cluster of small shops. Here you will find a gallery of holograms, a teddy bear shop, a shop specialising in leather goods including handbags, handmade shoes and belts and a couple of shops selling items for alternative lifestyles such as crystals, tarot cards, books and essential oils. Many of these shops have been built in a now disused water mill and the mill wheel is still located outside.

Continuing on, you'll see Clovelly Clothing, one of a small local chain of shops that sell outdoor clothes, hiking boots, shoes, fleeces etc at bargain prices. There are a couple of antique shops, potteries where you can actually watch the potters at work, a gallery of local artists, a tiny clothes shop, a greengrocers and The Rock Shop which, in addition to selling Cornish sweets, fudge and biscuits also has a range of locally made ice cream to die for. (I defy anyone to sample the 'White Chocolate and Raspberry' without wanting a second helping on their way back to the car.) 'Pretty Things', a little further along the river, sells just what you would expect from it's name - jewellery, ornaments, glassware and knick-knacks galore, including some made from locally mined tin.

Before we get to the harbour, there is The Museum of Witchcraft to visit. Opened in the 1960's, this is a som
ewhat spooky collection of artefacts connected with witchcraft, beautifully displayed and indexed and is an absolute must for anyone with even a passing interest in Wicca, witchcraft or folklore. Allow at least a couple of hours to see everything and bear in mind that, as a child, some of the exhibits I saw there prompted a desire to sleep with the lights on for several weeks after each visit. Small children may find it boring, even frightening - older children should find it intriguing.

So, we've ignored the numerous café's and pubs for the time being and strolled on, past the National Trust shop, Youth Hostel and a couple more gift shops, right down to the harbour where we can see - and hear when the tide is right - a natural blowhole. We could turn either left or right along the cliffs on the Cornish Coast Path to see the whitewashed lookout tower and the remains of medieval strip farming. We could take a boat trip from the harbour to do some mackerel fishing or just watch the native bird life. We'd probably see razorbills and guillemots and even puffins with their brightly coloured beaks. Chances are we'd also see seals, basking sharks or even dolphins.

Yet, so far, we've only explored the tourist's idea of Boscatle. Suppose we'd followed the river through the car park in the opposite direction, away from the harbour and the promise of a "Knickerblocker"?

Well, we'd have walked along the picturesque Valency Valley, following the river through woodland and meadows rich with wildflowers, butterflies and birds. We could have sat for a while, watching the trout darting in and out of the shallower waters and perhaps caught a glimpse of deer in the woods on our way. Had we been feeling particularly adventurous, we could have crossed the river on the ancient stepping stones and walked across farmland to Minster Church, the remains of an ancient monastery. The Valency valley was a favoured haunt of wr
iter Thomas Hardy and his wife Emma and much of his novel "A Pair of Blue Eyes" was based here.

Or perhaps we could have ignored the road down to the harbour and walked up through the back streets of the village towards Bottreaux, passing dozens of quaint, traditional cottages on our way. Alternatively, if our ultimate goal was the harbour, we could have taken the footpath that runs high above Boscastle, affording a bird's eye view of the cottages and gardens.

If we are in need of refreshment, there are many places to choose from. I've already mentioned the farm made ice cream, but perhaps you would prefer a traditional pasty or a Cornish cream tea? You can still buy a knickerbocker glory, but over the years I've come to prefer the fresh crab sandwiches and salads. And there are pubs, restaurants and café's galore, with menus to suit every taste.

The Wellington, affectionately known as "The Welly", serves a range of delicious food, including the 'surfers special' - chips with cheese. (Don't knock it until you've tried it!). Like many buildings in Boscastle, "The Welly" is reputed to be haunted, having at least three ghosts, including an elderly woman who allegedly occupies room 10. Until fairly recently, "The Cobweb" sported original cobwebs dating back many hundred years, although sadly these have now disappeared, probably due to some EEC hygiene regulations. "The Napoleon" serves excellent bar food and also has "Boney's Bistro" (booking advised) where you can enjoy a proper sit down meal. All three pubs serve a range of traditional beers and frequently offer live music and all are traditional authentic olde-worlde pubs with slate floors and exposed beams.

Boscastle is located on the B3263, signposted off the main A39 Atlantic Highway which runs through North Cornwall. Nearby are Tintagel with its historic connections to King Arthur
and a myriad of picturesque coves including Bossiney. Also well worth visiting while in the area are the Rocky Valley, a steep walk down a river valley to the sea, featuring Bronze Age rock carvings and, directly opposite Rocky Valley, St. Nectan's Glen, a privately owned attraction described as one of the ten most important spiritual sites of the country. The walk down to the 60 ft. waterfall is arduous at times, but well worth it, particularly as the owners offer light refreshments at the end in St Nectans Keeve or Kieve. Information about opening times can be found at www.currantbun.stnectan.

It is fair to say that Boscastle does get extremely busy during the main tourist season, particularly in the school holidays. I'm lucky enough to live a mere ten miles away and can visit at any time - might I suggest that those of you who are less fortunate plan your visit as early as possible in the morning before the crowds build up. Let me know when you're coming - I do an excellent guided tour for the modest fee of one white chocolate and raspberry ice-cream cone. (You should see what I do for a double cone!)

[Jill Murphy asked me to write about one of my favourite things to help her celebrate her fourth anniversary of cancer-free living and to remind ourselves of all the nice things in the world. It takes more muscles to make a frown than a smile you know. If you'd like to join in, whether you've only just joined dooyoo, or you've been here ages, you're more than welcome. Just write about one of YOUR favourite things, make your title "A Favourite Thing: [your choice]" and include this paragraph at the foot of your opinion. And post before Friday, 9th August.]

Here's to a cancer free life!

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