Mevagissey
After yesterday’s full day of excursions in the north of the county, we decided to take things a little easier today, and visit places recommended by friends, who had previously holidayed to the area. And, with some sort of synchronicity, in contrast with yesterday’s proceedings, both the villages of Fowey and Mevagissey are on Cornwall’s south coast.
Fowey really is a delightful place to visit. Between Looe and Mevagissey, and sharing the shores of the River Fowey with Poluran, its most spectacular aspect must be its natural harbour, which can attract up to 7,000 yachts in any one season. Much of the village is built on steep cliff foundations, and the higgledy-piggledy nature of the houses on various levels, all jostling with each other for harbour views is very scenic. As we climbed up behind pastel-painted houses above the quay, and peeped out over the rooftops of neighbouring dwellings below, the vistas out to the English Channel were superb. There’s no doubt about it; this county offers so much to the eye.
Rooftops at Fowey
The rest of the village is a mixture of winding streets, lined with both traditional and boutique shops. Not finding much to take home with us, we stopped for lunch and the largest Cornish pasty of the holiday so far. Sitting by and looking out on the harbour, we both felt really relaxed, and commented that, in common with other Cornish villages by the sea, if the sun is out, and it’s warm, the we could have been somewhere in Mediterranean Europe, with the sun glistening down on the calm water.
Also a major port of the exporting of China clay, Fowey does have to be visited with caution, though. If you’re of a non-hilly disposition, the village is not for you. Those terraced layers of pastel-painted houses may look very hilly, but they are punishing for the legs. All is not lost, though, as a bus will gladly take passengers from the main car park high in the village, down to the quay and harbour area at the bottom.
Mevagissey harbour
Like Fowey, Mevagissey is a place of winding streets and cottages built into the cliffs above the harbour. It’s easy to dismiss all Cornish villages as one and the same, but in reality, they are all quite different. Mevagissey boats the only double harbour in Cornwall, for example, and although we had our doubts when we arrived, these were soon dispelled as we took a late afternoon stroll in the sun, with an almost cloudless blue sky above us.
As the fishing boats bobbed up and down in the inner harbour, and provided platforms on which the seagulls played, the large birds would occasionally stop for a quick dip in the salty water, before circling high in the air if the merest hint of fish odour was wafted from the harbour’s own ice house. Mevagissey still plays host to catches of fish and shellfish, a long-standing and once-rich trade plied in a great many of the places we’ve visited over the last few days.
So, two charming and pretty villages, and another warm day spent in the sun. Is it likely to get better? With more places to visit, and good weather stretching into most of the week, who knows? One thing is for sure, though; it really does feel like we’re on holiday.