A week in Cornwall

Bad stuff first. GrandDaughter1 was very poorly with a horrid throat infection and spent most of the week in bed. By the end of the week, Son-in-law and GrandSon2 were brought down. And GrandDaughter2 and I have come home with sore throats. Plus I only had two ice creams the whole week!

But apart from that, how was your holiday, Mrs Hinds?

Good. Lots of sea swimming, pasty eating, and cream tea judging.

We sampled four cream teas altogether. In reverse order, at no. 4 we had the Harbour Café. Disappointing scones and not proper jam. Didn't really expect anything better as it was in the very touristy on the harbour area. We'd just arrived, too early to get into our accommodation and we wanted to use the toilet!

There wasn't much to choose between the other three.

At no. 3, Rest-a-while café. Very good home-made scones, no complaints.

No. 2, Prideaux Place manor house. Home-made again, and excellent presentation. Sitting eating them with a view of the deer park lifted this above no. 3.

And at no. 1, Bedruthan Steps National Trust café. At first I thought the scones were going to be too hard but I found I enjoyed the contrast of the crisp outside with the soft middle. Lots of cream (all places served clotted of course), lots of jam, and a pleasant cliffside garden in which to eat.

As it was lunchtime we shared a plate of crab sandwiches and a cream tea.

And the inevitable ice cream photo:

Padstow lies on an estuary, and used to be a small fishing village, full of narrow lanes and little cottages. It gained fame when Rick Stein, a television chef, opened a restaurant here. And a chip shop. And a bistro. And probably the corner shop as well. Now it is incredibly busy.

We were six adults, five children, and two dogs, so the house we booked was quite big, the same one as last year.

It includes a hot tub and a snooker room, and it's in the grounds of an adventure park, to which we had access, so the boys spent a lot of time there. Some of us preferred to sit in the shade though.

Lots more to follow but I'll try not to bore you.