We do not know how long we will be in Cornwall for (long story for another day!) so we decided on our next day off to visit the most southerly village on British mainland. We had been to the most Northerly in Scotland so it seemed the right thing to do.
We were right to visit and had a fantastic day in glorious sunshine.
We parked up in the village at the car park and paid our money in the honesty box. Minimum donation was a pound, unlike most of the other car parks in Cornwall that cost an arm and a leg.
We followed the signpost towards the coastal path and at the cliff edge turned left towards Lizard Point. Right will take you towards Kynance Cove (about 2 miles) it also has a great cafe and has been described as one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the South West.
The Lizard has been designated an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) as has almost a third of Cornwall which is the same status as a National Park.
The wild plants were lovely. One of my favourites is the Thrift. There are over 600 types of flowering plants on the Lizard so well worth a visit just for that. Another attraction is one of England’s rarest breeding bird the Chough of which one pair had nested and recently hatch young. A volunteer national Trust officer was sat near the nest site (a cave) to make sure no one ventured too near as they are very sensitive birds.
Alas we never saw any but they had been spotted that day. We did see a few seals resting on the rocks as the tide went out.
When we got to the Point we found a lovely little place to eat called Polpeor cafe. the food was amazing, not what you would expect on first impression. I had freshly caught crab cakes with Thai chilli sauce and Angela had a Cajun spiced chicken salad. Brilliant food and great views whether sat in or out. As it was a glorious day all of the outside tables were full. Get here early to avoid disappointment. We were told that at the height of summer people queue for ages as it has such a great reputation.
After lunch we had a walk further on to the lighthouse before returning to the car.
Our waitress recommended a lovely little fishing village called Cadgwith on our way back and were were not disappointed.
Only a small place but lots of beautiful thatched cottages, a pub, working fishing boats and we found a great little church called St Mary’s.
We only spent about an hour walking around and I am glad we went. It was like stepping back in time.
