Proper countryside hotel makes the most of gorgeous setting

Martin Hesp returns to a Cornish favourite and finds its new owner may have made it even better than his previous visits

- Martin Hesp

Every region has special corners where geography and landscape combine to make things just a little bit more lovely than elsewhere, and this article is all about one such place. The area around the Helford River really is one of the jewels in Cornwall's crown.

All Cornwall's rias are scenic - a ria, as you'll know, being a flooded river valley rather than a tidal estuary in the normal sense. Both South Devon and Cornwall are notable for their rias, which generally occur along rugged coastlines where they were formed by sea-level rises after the melting of the continental glaciers during the last Ice Age. The main clue, if you're looking for a ria, is that although they can be extensive in themselves, they are rarely formed by large rivers.

At the village of Gweek, for example, you'll find quite a modest stream flowing into the tidal zone - nowhere near big enough to create the expansive fjord-like area that has nearly 25 miles of shoreline. A very beautiful shoreline it is too, as anyone who has ever read Daphne Du Maurier’s Frenchman's Creek will imagine.

This particular creek runs north-south, at right-angles to the main Helford River, and is a wonderful place to explore either by foot or by small boat.