On Boxing Day we had an amazing family walk from Holywell Bay to Polly Joke over The Kelseys. It was a very mild day for late December and felt very warm at some points in the sunshine. The kids even had their shoes and coats off for most of the walk!
We took this route to find a seal cove near Polly Joke. We also hadn’t taken the coastal path to the right of Holywell yet, so it was a new adventure for us.
Continue reading “Holywell Bay to Porth Joke coastal walk with kids”
I didn’t even realise until a few years back that there are seals in the sea in the UK! I guess I’d never seen one before whenever I was on holiday and so I never thought about it. When we went on holiday to Brixham in Devon I saw a seal in the sea for the first time and I was amazed!
Since then we stumbled upon Mutton Cove when exploring the north coast of Cornwall on a holiday last year before we moved to Cornwall. We were amazed to see a few seals on the beach in the summer as I documented in this Instagram post in July 2021:
Continue reading “Seal Spotting in Cornwall in Winter (Godrevy and Porth Joke)”
Since moving to Newquay we have been meaning to walk alongside the River Gannel to Crantock beach and we finally made it a few days ago! Unfortunately, we did not pick the best morning to try and had to abandon our walk just before the beach as the heavens opened and we all got absolutely drenched! It was still a lovely walk and we were able to walk from our home to Newquay boating lake, cross the road to the Gannel River and walk alongside the river, cutting up into some woodland by Penpol Creek and down over some rocks to Crantock beach.
Continue reading “Gannel River walk from Newquay boating lake to Crantock beach”
Ooh, I’ve found another favourite beach in Cornwall – Crantock Beach!
A beautiful vast beach along the River Gannel and its estuary out to sea. It’s a huge sandy beach which is ginormous when it’s low tide. At high tide the beach separates into two with tall, steep sand dunes taking over and looking so impressive.
We spent a day exploring Crantock Beach with the children and also viewing it from Pentire Headland in the late afternoon.
Crantock beach is managed by National Trust and we were surprised to find a parking space at 10am in the summer holidays and even more surprised at how quiet the beach was.
If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the central Newquay beaches then Crantock is a must.
Here are my photos for the day exploring Crantock Beach and Pentire Headland.
Continue reading “Exploring Crantock Beach and Pentire Headland in Newquay, Cornwall”
On Friday evening we drove to Cheddar in Somerset for camping at Bucklegrove Campsite with the kids. Their first request when lockdown was easing was to go camping! We also went to see Cheddar Gorge for the first time. Neither Ben or I had been before, even though we only live around one and a half hour away. Read on to learn things to do in Cheddar Gorge with kids, see the walk we did in Cheddar with absolutely amazing views and also check out where we ate.
But first, things didn’t really get off to a great start for our camping trip away…
Continue reading “Cheddar Gorge family day out + campervan stay at Bucklegrove Campsite”
On Easter Sunday the weather was surprisingly very warm and sunny. After we had been teased with weather forecasts of potential snow and freezing temperatures, we had planned a family day at home watching movies and eating vegan Easter eggs. However, the weather was so warm we decided to pack a picnic for lunch and venture into the countryside. A place we only just found out about, which is surprisingly close to our home, is the National Trust Ebworth Estate with free parking and access to amazing walks through Cotswolds Commons and Beechwoods National Nature Reserve.
Continue reading “National Trust Ebworth Estate + Sheepscombe Common: a family walk + picnic”
On Sunday we went to a beach for the first time in six months, since February! We did the Brean Down coastal walk and visited Brean Down Fort. Read on to learn more about Brean down and see our travel photos.
Continue reading “Brean Down Fort + coastal walk”
Having purchased our annual National Trust membership back in the summer when visiting Stonehenge, we’ve yet to explore all the locations within and surrounding our home county of Gloucestershire.
We did visit Skenfrith Castle ruins in Wales and Polperro in Cornwall thanks to inspiration from the National Trust app, but these are free-to-visit locations for all. To get the most out of our NT membership we also need to visit the locations that charge entry!
Two weeks ago we did just this and gained free entry at Chedworth Roman Villa; a National Trust site in the Cotswolds.
Continue reading “A quick review of Chedworth Roman Villa”