Exploring Cornwall?s coves and coastline was a welcome breath of fresh air for Natalie Milner
The four-star Cornwall Hotel Spa & Estate is nestled in the rolling Cornish countryside between St Austell and the sea. The hotel is set in 43 tranquil acres of parkland ? and it quickly becomes apparent that having this space to explore, play and take a breath of sea air is the key to a Cornish family getaway.
A hop, skip and a few jumps away (a two-mile walk through country lanes) you?ll find Porthpean Beach, offering rock pools and a host of watersports in the summer season. This quaint sandy cove is just the beginning of our trip along a small portion of the South West Coast Path, 230 miles long in total, which you can join at varying points to soak up the coastline. The view towards Duporth beach from the South West Coast Path
Nostalgic Towns and Harbours
We walk north east and scramble down the sea-beaten steps to find the rocky beach of Duporth and, a few pebble skims later, we continue to the late-Georgian port of Charlestown where you can visit the Shipwreck and Heritage Centre, before grabbing a crab sandwich, all to the sound of wetsuit-clad children taking leaps off the harbour into the sea metres below.
The port was built in 1791 to handle the ore from the mines that was soon replaced with the famous China clay, a product entwined with south Cornwall?s history. Nowadays, families can hire bikes or go horse riding along the so-called Clay Trails winding across...