Bovey Castle Hotel
This has been an interesting tour to sort as there is so much to do and see on the peninsula. Of course one of the difficulties as always is finding good hotels with parking, something hopefully I’ve achieved with this having done two extensive reconnoitres so far with another scheduled for the end of January / beginning of February.
To benefit from the weather, and before the schools break up, I decided it had to be June. However this is high season and consequently hotel charges are accordingly higher.
I went down straight from the South Coast and Isle of Wight tour at the beginning of September and it rained throughout, or rather, falling water! The second check in my mobile office a month later was similar, so June a good idea I think!
The itinerary is as follows:
Thursday June 11th. Arrivals at the 5-star Bovey Castle Hotel on the edge of Dartmoor. The use of the swimming pool is included but Spa treatment must be booked direct in advance.
Friday June 12th. Bovey Castle Hotel to Bodmin.After a leisurely breakfast we set off across Dartmoor via the prison museum in Princetown to Bodmin, stopping for lunch at Jamaica Inn, made famous by Daphne Du Maurier.
Of course travelling across Dartmoor you’ll have to be wary of all the ponies meandering in the road but going slowly will enable you to take in the great scenery.
Our hotel for the next three nights is Bodmin jail! However, don’t worry, it won’t be porridge and water. The jail closed in 1927 and became derelict but was converted into a luxury hotel between 2015 and 2020 at a cost of fifty million!
Mileage for day - 60
Dinner 7.30pm
Saturday June 13t h. Eden Project and Wheal Martyn.We take the short drive to the amazing Eden Project, consisting of massive geodesic domes housing plants from all over the world. Outside there is a botanical garden with plants and wildlife from every part of the UK.
In the afternoon we visit Wheal Martyn, which is the UK’s only china clay museum and home to a large array of interesting artefacts.
Mileage for day - 36
Dinner 7.30pm
Sunday June 14th. Multi choice! Today there are numerous choices, one of which is to just chill out and read the papers! However, if you have the inclination to go out and about then there are various options with instructions in the road book.
Option 1. Drive the 13 miles to Liskeard and catch the train down to the pretty fishing port of Looe. I suggest the train as parking in the village is diabolical as I discovered. The train station in Looe is only a very short walk from the centre.
Option 2. If you’ve not had enough of shrubbery at the Eden Project then there’s the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Abandoned during WW1 Heligan’s 200 acres became Europe’s largest garden restoration project. Mileage round trip - 36
Option 3. You could take a trip to Port Isaac, used for filming the TV series Doc Martin, and then on to Padstow, home of Rick Stein’s numerous restaurants! Mileage round trip - 43
Option 4. Take a scenic 13 mile round trip on the Bodmin Steam Railway.
Dinner 7.30pm.
Monday June 14th. Bodmin to Mullion Cove, Lizard Penninsula.
POLURRIAN HOTEL
A slightly higher mileage today taking in some picturesque towns and villages as well as the King Harry Ferry, the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, and the Cornish Seal Sanctuary.
Our hotel is the 4-star Pollurian, overlooking Mullion Bay. Built in 1890 the hotel has an illustrious history with Marconi staying here when working on transatlantic signals and in 1953 Holywood stars Clark Gable and Gene Tierney were guests when filming Never Let Me Go. Winston Churchill stayed at the hotel in the autumn of 1937.
There is also a heated outdoor swimming pool and a walkway down to the beach.
Mileage for day - 72
Dinner 7.30pm.
Tuesday June 15th. Newlyn, Mousehole, Porhtcurno, Land’s End,Minack Theatre (see right)
This is another scenic run taking in St. Michaels Mount, Newlyn, Mousehole, Portcurno Museum of Global Communications, the amazing Minack Theatre carved into the cliff rocks, and Land’s End.
We will be visiting the memorial for the brave RNLI crewmen of the Soloman Browne who lost their lives in the Penlee lifeboat disaster on December 19th 1981.
Mileage for day - 67
Dinner 7.30pm
Wednesday June 16th.St. Ives & Geevor Tin Mine. The run takes in picturesque St. Ives along with the Tate St. Ives Art Gallery, Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Geevor Tin Mine Museum.
Geevor closed in 1990 and is the largest preserved mining site in the UK. It gives a terrific insight the time when tin was a huge industry in Cornwall.
Mileage for day 63
Thursday June 17th. Mullion to Croyde, North Devon.
SAUNTON SANDS HOTEL
The route takes us along the north coast of Cornwall and Devon to our final stop of the tour, the 4-star Art Deco Saunton Sands Hotel, overlooking the bay.
Along the way we call in briefly at the ruins of Wheal Peevor mine just outside Redruth where copper was extracted from the 1800s.
We’ll arrive in plenty of time to relax before dinner.
Mileage for day – 116
Dinner 7.30pm
Friday June 19th. Departure for home. The hotel is situated sixty miles from Junction 27 M5, using the A361. This means hopefully everyone will have an easy run home!
There have already been two checks on routes and venues and before the event there will be at least one more to ensure the road book is correct.
Daily schedules though are extremely leisurely, allowing time to take in the sights at your own pace and also other optional attractions not listed here but which will be in the road book
APPROXIMATE ROUTE IN GREEN
What’s included in the cost?
- 8 nights’ dinner, bed & breakfast accommodation at luxury hotels in Devon and Cornwall
- Pre-dinner prosecco reception at 5-star Bovey Castle Hotel
- Entry to Dartmoor Prison Museum, Princetown
- Light buffet lunch at Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor
- Guided tour of Bodmin Jail Museum
- Entry to Eden Project
- Buffet lunch at Eden Project
- Entry to Wheal Martyn Clay Museum
- King Harry Ferry
- Entry to National Maritime Museum, Falmouth
- Light buffet lunch at location to be decided
- Entry to Cornish Seal Sanctuary
- Entry to Porthcurno Museum of Global Communications
- Entry to Minack Theatre
- Light buffet lunch at location to be decided
- Entry to Tate St. Ives Art Gallery
- Entry to Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Entry to Geevor Tin Mine Museum
- Light buffet lunch at Geevor Tin Mine Museum
- Pre-dinner prosecco reception on Thursday night at Saunton Sands
- Detailed road book
- Rally plates
- Windscreen sticker
- Sundry extras
- Presence of tour organiser throughout to deal with any problems
- Plus more!
Country Lane Tours has provisionally booked and paid deposits for twenty-five rooms at all hotels on the tour. If the number of entries exceeds twenty-five then there may be extra available but as it is high season that might not be the case so early booking advisable. In addition, superior and sea view rooms (Polurrian and Saunton Sands) are limited so will be allocated as usual on a first-come, first served basis.
NEWLYN HARBOUR
DARTMOOR PRISON (NO LONGER OCCUPIED)