All about cornwall

Cornwall Introduction

Cornwall is almost an Island and until the railway was built and crossed the river Tamar in 1859 it was a very isolated part of England.  Thankfully this beautiful county is now linked by road and rail making it an ideal place to base for your self-catering cottage holiday in Cornwall.
This isolated history and self sufficient lifestyle has resulted in a county rich in history and culture. 

Cornwall still has many of its antiquities, its small and rather beautiful fishing ports such as Polperro, its Tudor and Jacobean manor houses and architecture. 

The ancient Cornish language is now not used old Cornish words still find their way in to the English language. 

More recently Cornwall has become a very popular holiday destination and has a thriving tourism industry.  Its full of entertaining and rewarding sights, and for people looking for a location for their self catering cottage holiday is a favourite of all the holiday counties of England.

Cornwall has a great selection of sandy beaches for that ideal holiday by the seaside, Granite hills andmoors provide a spectacular sight, countryside areas such as Bodmin moor will provide an ideal location for countryside walking and enjoying the outdoors.  Cornwall is made up of many small villages and isolated hamlets throughout the county.

Coastal Cornwall

Coastal Cornwall has so much to offer, from the traditional seaside sandy beach holiday to the rougher coastline with beautiful rugged coastline.  The sea also behaves very different depending on the beach or coastal area.  Sandy beaches on the south side of Cornwall provide lovely sandy beaches with gentle seas.  On the north side of Cornwall you get rougher seas which are provide ideal surfing locations on many of the beaches on the north of the county such as Newquay.
Down the coast on the northern rougher side, from the Devon border to Land's End, you have the Atlantic Ocean and the headlands and high cliffs broken up by small harbours.

Cornish Climate

One of the key attractions of Cornwall as a summer holiday location is the warm climate due to its south westerly location.  The south of the county is generally warmer as the winds are lower due to the sheltered locations.  On the north side you tend to get higher winds which help provide the great surfing conditions.

Cornish Architecture & Buildings

Whilst Cornwall is not known as a location for beautiful churches or towns or buildings that are if architectural great merit there is plenty of beautiful towns and villages that are worth visiting.  Cornwall is also littered with the relics of Cornwall's industrial period of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Great examples are the engine houses of abandoned tin and copper mines along the West of Cornwall.  You will find them on the moors, on the cliffs or in the valleys.  Whilst, few would argue they are beautiful, the stony buildings offer an insight to historic Cornwall. No one should miss two of the National Trust properties that are truly lovely.

Cotehele (on the River Tamar) has an early Tudor feeling, furniture, tapestries and provides an insight into Cornwall life just after the middle Ages.  Built a hundred years later was Lanhydrock.  Lanhydrock was built by a Puritan who was one of the wealthiest merchants of Cornwall.