Cape crusader
WE ALL LOVE WILD NIGHTS OUT BUT SOMETIMES WE JUST CRAVE A QUIET BREAK. IN A SERIES OF SHORT BREAK FEATURES, SALLY SHALAM TRAVELS AROUND THE UK BY CAR, WITH THE HELP OF LEADING CAR HIRE COMPANY HERTZ, TO FIND GREAT SPOTS TO EXPLORE AND RELAX
Some boutique B&Bs deliver such comfort that tearing yourself from their confines takes effort. Handsome Chapel House in Penzance is just that kind. Pristine acreage of pale-painted floors enhance Georgian proportions. Rooftop and harbour views are framed by lofty sash windows, and the balance of antique and mid-century modern furnishings is spot on. It feels a very grown-up place to stay indeed.
In season, owner Susan Stuart lays on convivial ‘kitchen suppers’ around a long table in the moodily dark basement dining room, a contrast to the lightflooded upper floors, and since nonresidents can also book, an opportunity is presented to rub shoulders with whichever local inhabitants turn up, and glean valuable touring tips in this farflung corner of Cornwall.
There is no likelihood of missing Land’s End, the splendour of Penzance’s Art Deco Jubilee Pool or St Michael’s Mount — best viewed from the terrace at the Godolphin Arms in Marazion over a sundowner (followed by dinner at Ben’s Cornish Kitchen across the road). The inside tip, though, was to drive to Cape Cornwall.
The cape is the wild, wild west of the county. Where the Atlantic Ocean meets the English Channel. Here, the wind whipped and the sea crashed and hurled itself against a rocky shore. From the sturdy, granite village of St Just (where McFadden’s butchers on the market square dispenses fresh Cornish pasties), a skinny lane led to the headland and a weather-beaten National Trust carpark which, on the blustery day I’d set off, provided a perfect vantage point from which to munch contentedly, watching the blue waves swell, below.