Author: gloversure

Cornwall is full of artisan eateries, from Michelin star restaurants to quaint cafes. Wherever you are in the county you are guaranteed to be fed well and leave happy. However, if you aren’t a local you may walk past a few places that we think you need to discover. We’ve put together a list of great places to eat, drink and watch the world go by all close to our properties at Beach Retreats.

Fistral and Newquay

Martha’s Tea Room
Martha’s Tea Room is a cosy, cute tea room situated in the centre of Newquay, serving a delicious range of homemade cakes, light lunches and cream teas.

Jam Jar
Jam Jar sum themselves up as follows: local Origin coffee, juices, smoothies, milkshakes, granola, Jessica’s homemade gluten free cakes, salads. Eat in or takeaway.

The Coffee Cove
Making everything fresh from locally sourced produce, The Coffee Cove is the new kid on the block with a kick in it’s step.

Our properties in Fistral.

Mawgan Porth

The Park
Experience beach cafe dining that’s relaxed and friendly only a few minutes from the sand at Mawgan Porth Beach. If you love rustic comfort food and deli cuisine then you’ll love The Park.

Our properties in Mawgan Porth.

Bedruthan

Wild Cafe
Driven by the seasons, Wild Cafe serves simple yet contemporary food, extraordinarily grown and prepared.

Porth

Cafe Coast
Located alongside the sand at Porth Beach is Cafe Coast a bright and funky, family run cafe serving traditional beach cafe food from fry ups to cream teas. Well behaved dogs welcome.

Our properties in Porth.

Padstow

Victorian Tea Room
This quaint tea room blends in to the quintessential fishing harbour of Padstow. Serving a huge collection of cakes and breakfasts on victorian crockery.

The Basement
The Basement is set back in a courtyard, with views overlooking the harbour at Padstow. They  prepare all of their food on the premises from the marmalade at breakfast through to the ice cream for your dessert in the evening, using produce sourced from local suppliers.

Rick Stein’s Cafe
“Our café is the sort you’d find on every street in London or Sydney. You can drop in for breakfast or a cake with a morning cappuccino, enjoy a light lunch or three-course dinner as the relaxed informal style of the café is designed for everyday eating.” Rick Stein

Our properties in Padstow and The Camel Estuary.

Cardinham Woods

Woods Cafe
From gooey chocolate cake, tangy lemon drizzle, a blooming lovely carrot cake, white chocolate and raspberry muffins and squidgy brownie, Woods Cafe has it all. Set in the beautiful surroundings of Cardinham Woods, it’s a popular jaunt for cyclists and walkers.

Wadebridge and The Camel Estuary

Relish
One of Cornwall’s best cafe delicatessens, tucked away in the heart of Wadebridge, near the beginning of The Camel Trail leading to Padstow. Relish is best known for it’s coffee, we highly recommend you head in for a cup.

Strong Adolfo’s
Strong Adolfo’s has everything you’d want from a cafe plus a little more, frequently hosting artist exhibitions, guest chef evenings, wine tastings.

Little Plates
Serving food inspired by small dishes from round the globe alongside great wines and beers, classic and contemporary cocktails all in a relaxed, fun atmosphere.

Fancy a surf lesson whilst on holiday in Mawgan Porth, look no further than Kingsurf Surf School.

Kingsurf Surf School has operated at Mawgan Porth, Newquay, Cornwall, as a B.S.A. approved surf school for 11 years. Their base offers warm, dry changing facilities and is ideally situated opposite their own privately licensed beach – guaranteeing uncrowded perfection in a unique, unspoiled location.

1.How long has King Surf been running? Tell us a bit about the school.

Kingsurf first opened in 1999, and I took over the running of it in 2007. We’re so lucky with our position as we’re the main surf school on what has to be one of Cornwall’s loveliest beaches – Mawgan Porth. Our ethos is ‘live the dream’ so we try not to forget why we set up this school in the first place, which was to allow us to be by the sea, surf every day and generally have fun! This keeps us super happy and is then in turn given to our customers through our standard of customer service!

2. How long have you surfed for?

I have surfed since I was 17 (now 29 so I’ll let you do the maths!). Started off bodyboarding when I was 7 and loved the sea ever since.

3. What’s your top tip for a beginner surfer?

My top tip for a beginner is to get advice from someone who has been doing it for a long time. The sea can be a dangerous place for someone with no knowledge of it.

4. Where is your favourite place in the world to surf, bar Mawgan Porth?

I love Costa Rica. It’s my dream place as the temperature is always warm, the people are extremely relaxed and the swells are consistent.

5. What’s your favourite memory of surfing?

When I was 18 the sun was shining, the surf was pumping and I was joined by a pod of dolphins. What a birthday present, thank you mother nature!

6. Sum up surfing in three words.

Lifestyle, fitness, enjoyment.

7. What are the average surfing conditions like at Mawgan Porth?

There’s always swell at Mawgan Porth, if there aren’t waves here, you won’t find any anywhere else in Cornwall! it works throughout the tide and is fairly uncrowded.

8. If you had to pick one surfer that has inspired you or who you look up to, who would it be and why?

There is an awesome surfer called Donovan who has a very retro style and a chilled out attitude to life, and plays great guitar music. He seems like someone who’s living the dream!

9. What’s your trademark move?

My trademark move is a big carvey cut back.

10. If you could take one celebrity surfing who would it be?

We do get a few celebs at the surf school! But I won’t name names. It would be fun to take Will Ferrell in!

You might think you’d have to jet to Los Angeles or seek out the sun in Cannes to follow in the footsteps of A-list film stars, but you can get on the movie trail much closer to home by experiencing some inspirational film locations right here in stunning Cornwall.

“Cornwall is a unique location,” says Rob Harris, a renowned film publicist who’s worked in the industry for nearly 30 years on huge hits like Gladiator, The Perfect Storm and Black Swan. “Its dramatic coastal vistas and charming villages make it a perfect place to capture the beauty of England.”

Time and again location scouts across the film spectrum, from Hollywood blockbusters to classic British films, choose Cornwall to play a starring role alongside the cream of acting talent. “There’s a timeless quality to Cornwall’s landscapes,” says Fiona Frankham, former location manager and South West Screen’s production services manager. “It instils an absolute sense of place when you see it on the screen.”

A handful of Cornwall’s A-list film locations

Falmouth

Undisputed king of Hollywood Brad Pitt, Lost’s leading man Matthew Fox and a boat load of zombies rolled into town in August in 2011, when Paramount Pictures filmed scenes for apocalyptic zombie thriller World War Z , released this year, at Falmouth Docks. Filming took place in and around the harbour and several hundred local people were involved as extras and assistants to the crew. “There was a fantastic atmosphere,” says Jeff Taylor, second assistant director at Paramount Pictures. “Filming went really well and it has been a real pleasure working here.”

Holywell Bay

This stunning horseshoe-shaped bay on the north coast puts in a brief but spectacular appearance in the opening scenes of Die Another Day (2002). Pierce Brosnan, making his fourth and final outing as James Bond, surfs into the bay on an undercover mission and, though the scenery is guaranteed to be just as breathtaking in real life, we can’t promise waves quite as large as Bond’s CGI ride.

Charlestown

If there’s a corset or cutlass involved then Charlestown is the Cornish film location of choice. Its immaculately preserved 19^th century harbour and resident tall ships put it on every locations scout’s authentic period list. Recent big-screen credits for Charlestown include Johnny Depp’s Alice in Wonderland (2010), The New World starring Colin Farrell (2005), The Three Musketeers with Kiefer Sutherland and Charlie Sheen (1993) and the adaptation of Mansfield Park starring Jonny Lee Miller (1999). You might also recognise it from small-screen standouts Hornblower (2002), Rebecca (1997) and Moll Flanders (1996).#

Boscastle

Prague may have provided the main backdrop for the Hughes brothers’ 2001 Jack the Ripper flick, From Hell, starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham – but this striking fishing harbour on Cornwall’s north coast played a supporting role. Boscastle also appeared in award-winning actress Brenda Blethyn’s 2000 film Saving Grace, which later spawned Martin Clunes’s TV hit, Doc Martin, filmed just down the coast in Port Isaac.

Antony House

Tim Burton was looking for “a perfect, pocket-sized mansion; something beautifully symmetrical, with intimate interiors, wide views and landscaped gardens” for his surrealist, Gothic remake of Alice in Wonderland (2010). He chose Antony House near Torpoint from a list of more than 30 houses. The early 18^th century mansion provided the only real location for the film that saw A-listers Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, along with rising star Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre, 2011), transformed into outlandish versions of the favourite storybook characters.

Written by Roo of Roo’s Beach.

Having grown up in the Midlands we have always gravitated to towards the coast  for our family holidays, our nearest coast happened to be North Wales with it’s dramatic mountains, far too many sheep and always more than it’s fare share of fog and rain!! With this embedded in my memories forever, when I first came across the North Cornish Coast much later on in life I wouldn’t get over the similarity to the dramatic beauty of Wales. The most appealing part about Cornwall was its difference in temperature, less rain and when the fog did come it only ever lasted for a day or so as opposed to several weeks at a time!

Our love of Cornwall started when the children were little and we had to try and make the decision whether to follow our best friends to live in New Zealand or whether we could just spend as much time as possible in Cornwall to try and emulate a similar lifestyle – luckily Cornwall won and our relationship with Mawgan Porth began nearly 13 years ago. We happened upon Mawgan Porth and were drawn by it’s huge, dramatic cliff lined beach with crashing surf and endless rock pools, definitely a beach to suit all with something to entertain everyone whatever the weather. I still believe that of all the countries I’ve travelled to and all the beaches that I’ve visited around the world Mawgan Porth is the most beautiful, especially when it’s almost empty with the tide fully out and the sun shining!

Finally we couldn’t bear leaving anymore so we moved lock, stock and barrel in the Spring of 2011 and started our new life in Cornwall; we’ve never looked back! The kids have embraced coastal living, all becoming active members of Newquay Surf Live Saving, King Surf weekly kids club and generally getting into the sea at every opportunity. Having settled fully into the local community which is full of interesting characters and a wonderful mix of eccentric personalities I decided that there was a business opportunity to launch a lifestyle and retail brand bringing together all of my favourite items from the various places that I’ve lived and visited into one place.

Roo’s Beach was born from a collection of ideas to design products that currently aren’t available on the market and to bring brands to Cornwall which don’t have any distribution in the South West. Bringing fashion led design and fun to the North Coast beach scene is our aim! With the recent hot, hazy days in Cornwall keeping us girls at Roo’s Beach out of our sun scorched office the beach has become our perfect excuse for us to come up with new ideas, designs and concepts for the brand. That’s how the Pop-Up on Porth beach came about. We acquired a new plot on the beachfront of Porth and it became apparent pretty early on that it would be a wasted opportunity to not do some over the summer which could ultimately bring fun into the local beach scene. The new Pop-up store looks onto the ever changing seascape of Porth, with a great local community and energy (being in between Newquay and Watergate Bay) the store puts on weekly ping pong tournaments, has a outdoor/indoor seating area and stocks some brands exclusive to Europe.

Note, the Mawgan Porth shop is now closed and Roo’s Beach can be found in nearby Porth