Country diary 1926: There was a hoopoe on the lawn
24 April 1926: A rare sight in Cornwall, it was bigger than a mistle thrush, rusty pink against the grass
March 2026
Country diary
Country diary 1926: The gorse has been blazing day and night
27 March 1926: It is burnt to improve the grazing and the hunting but I hate to see it go
‘I have the island to myself’: how to be a castaway in Cornwall
Book an overnight stay in the cosy smuggler’s cottage on Looe Island and you get to enjoy this marine nature reserve after the day trippers have gone home
Country diary
Country diary 1951: The gorse is golden, but Cornwall still wears a wintry look
10 March 1951: There are as yet few early spring flowers and only once or twice have I found red campion and wild strawberry flowers
December 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1926: Every leaf in the garden is straining at its leash
2 January 1926: The year is going out dying on a gale but there are flowers opening even now
Why west Cornwall is the perfect place to mark the winter solstice
With ancient standing stones and modern midwinter festivals, the West Penwith peninsula is a land of magic and mystery
Why I love Portscatho in Cornwall – especially in winter
It’s a far cry from the sun-kissed beaches of Cape Town where she grew up, but the simple pleasures of a seaside village in Cornwall draw the author back year after year
October 2025
The South West Coast Path’s ‘forgotten section’: the quiet pleasures of south-east Cornwall
Country diary
Country diary 1925: The blue seaweed was shining like moonstone under the water
September 2025
Six of the best stress-free UK breaks by train
From a posh Scottish bothy to a new budget hotel in the Lakes, there’s no driving required on these relaxing jaunts
August 2025
The most romantic place on earth? It has to be a sleeper train
Nell Frizzell
The low-key glamour of watching the sunset in the buffet car and being woken with a bowl of porridge just can’t be beat
July 2025
‘Unlike anywhere else in Britain’: in search of wildlife on the Isles of Scilly
Whales and dolphins may have proved elusive, but the islands off Cornwall cannot fail to impress with their subtropical plants and Caribbean-like beaches
April 2025
‘The Salt Path gave us back our life’: walking back to happiness on Cornwall’s South West Coast Path
As a film of Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir The Salt Path is released, we follow in her footsteps along the Cornish section
March 2025
Top 20s
20 of the best spring breaks in the UK
Make the most of longer, warmer days by puffin-spotting in Mull, stargazing in Northumberland, or finding Narnia in the Mourne Mountains
February 2025
Wet and wild: the magic of Cornwall in winter
The crowds have left and the elements reign supreme on an off-season escape to Newquay
January 2025
How I learned to paint in St Ives, Cornwall
A novice painter finds the artistic heritage of St Ives somewhat daunting initially, but expert tuition in a dream artists’ studio soon gets the creative juices flowing
December 2024
What home means to me
On the towering cliffs, my family found a sanctuary. It still pulls me back today
Kat Lister
My grandmother called it the Haven – a shack perched high above the beach. Years later, another special woman rekindled my love of that place, says author Kat Lister
November 2024
Brief letters
Bus fare rise is just the ticket for public
‘Kindle a fire and enjoy complete solitude’; a magical winter cottage in Cornwall
September 2024
‘Secret Garden on steroids’: the Cornish cottage that comes with its own jungle and private beach
Guests staying at a new holiday cottage in the grounds of Trebah Gardens will get after-hours access to this sub-tropical wonderland and its private cove
