With this post I'm taking you back to Cornwall and the pretty village of St Mawes, which is the principal village in The Roseland Peninsula, an area designated of outstanding beauty and that's something I'd definitely second. We arrived on the peninsula on the small car ferry crossing the River Fal, having spent the morning at Trelissick Gardens at Feock, near Falmouth. The crossing was short and fun, as well as smooth as we were there before MOH noticed we were moving, I think he was slightly disappointed by that but I wasn't having an extra couple of trips just so he could experience it knowingly.
St Mawes is right on the southern tip of the Roseland Peninsula and it has a pretty harbour and many pretty cottages. The village is built into the side of the peninsula, like many of Cornwall's coastal villages so that means there's some pretty steep hills to walk up, but when you do you're rewarded with fantastic views across the rooftops and beyond.
There's a large car park in the centre of the village which is reasonably priced and most useful. There's plenty of room for cars and for coaches too, as I suspect this village is high on the list for coach party trips. There's a great sign in the pub's section of the car park which asks people to "park prettily"
There's a castle at St Mawes too, Henry VIII built one close to the waterline to guard the entrance to the harbour. We didn't visit the castle but it has three huge circular bastions arranged in a clover leaf pattern and multiple gun ports providing formidable defences. The castle is intact and no doubt holds many Tudor treasures just waiting to be discovered.
I was more taken with the prettiness of the village. And if anyone suggested sitting outside the cafe on its small pavement, close to the petrol pumps in any other town I'd look at them as if they were mad. Here though, the petrol pumps had their own vintage charm and had long since stopped providing petrol.
Tomorrow I'm sharing another picture from the garage for my weekly black and white photo, so be sure to come back for that.
For me they were perfect for the village, so I had no problem pausing for a moment or two and the ice cream we had was a real treat too. After quite a few snaps we headed off along the coast to admire the cottages, many of which are thatched.