Discover Southern Bliss

When winter days are at their darkest, summer seems a long way off. Cheer yourself up with daydreams of a perfect seaside break, walking the shores of Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula.

- Joe Pontin

In these northern latitudes, summer is an elusive thing. That’s why so many of us go south in search of sunshine. South spells heat, glamour. Some hop on ferries or planes for foreign shores; others take their chances, and set off for England’s southernmost county.

In summer, Cornwall’s population jumps from 500,000 to five million. Most of these visitors head to the county’s northern and western edges: the A-list destinations of Newquay, Padstow, St Ives, Land’s End, Mouse hole, Newlyn, Penzance, Marazion.

Oddly enough, though, the most southerly part of the most southerly county, while not exactly undiscovered, remains largely uncharted by the tourist hordes.

SOUTHWARD BOUND

Draw a line between the harbour at Porthleven and the sprawling creeks of the Helford River; the Lizard stretches south from here. Ten miles across at its widest, and 10 miles long, it tapers to a sharp end at Lizard Point. Arguably, the only really famous place there is Kynance Cove, an idyllic beach with craggy cliffs and smugglers’ caves and turquoise sea. It’s the quintessential Cornish beach familiar from fudge boxes and Poldark, complete with a charming clapboard café run by the National Trust.

Of course, there is a lot more to the Lizard than Kynance. And it would stretch a point to call those areas ‘undiscovered’. Lizard Point itself attracts coach loads of visitors down the winding A3083 to the last village in England, where a clutch of cafés, pubs and souvenir shops await them. There are other beaches – some popular, some hidden. Mullion is well known; and the port of Porthleven is fast becoming a new Padstow, its harbour bristling with good restaurants to choose from on a balmy summer’s evening.