North Cornwall Padstow, Bedruthan Steps, Cream Tea

The Cornish coastal path treats you with the most fabulous views. 

I was informed that the below stretch of the coastal path is where Ross Poldark rides his horse for the TV series- unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen during my visit (!) but the spectacular views made up for it.  

Eating a Cornish Pasty is a must do during any trip to Cornwall and I have on good authority that the ones from Porthcothan Bay Stores (located at the beach above) are incredibly tasty. But can I just say - they also do GLUTEN FREE pasties! You have to order from the shop and then wait an hour and they are slightly more expensive - but.... they are available! Hoorah!

Whilst on the beach, we met a very lovely lady who took it upon herself to advise us of the best place to have a cream tea in the area. We followed her very helpful directions and made a trip to Berryfields Farm Shop. 

The staff at Berryfields were incredibly friendly and although national cream tea day has now "scone" ;-) my family were very happy to celebrate it belatedly.

Finally we made it to Padstow - (or Padstein as I've heard it's also called!) 

We arrived early evening and whoa - the sheer volume of people was a bit of a surprise and made it virtually impossible to get a sense of its charm.  

We did manage to find a couple of great galleries as well as some neat little shops like the The Shell Shop 

When the shops closed and the crowds disappeared, my opinion of the town changed entirely. It was totally peaceful and relaxing. There was a low hubbub of noise from the waterfront pubs and eateries, and the splashing of water against the harbour wall. 

I could now see how it had been all those years ago. The buildings have not changed even if all of them have been converted from fisherman's cottages to shops and restaurants and the harbour is really pretty.

Rick Stein's Fish and Chips was also on our check list and sitting around the harbour eating them is a delight - but watch those pesky seagulls, who sit by your feet waiting for a chance to steal your supper.

And then lucky us - out of nowhere the Newquay All Male Choir started to sing, which made the evening all the more special. A fab ending to a fab few days.