Nicola here, with a post that is part travelogue, part about settings and backgrounds in books.
There’s something about Cornwall, isn’t there. It rivals Scotland in the imagination as a romantic setting for a novel. It's wild, rugged and magical. Perhaps it all started with Daphne Du Maurier and with Winston Graham’s Poldark books and the TV series. I know it did for me. I grew up on the original BBC dramatization of Poldark, though my teenage heart was mostly given to Dr Enys rather than to Ross. When the more recent dramatization came out I felt it couldn’t possibly match the first one but it carved its own niche in our affections as well as raising interest in the ancient skill of scything. And as for Daphne Du Maurier’s books, well, Frenchman’s Creek is still up there on my all-time favourites list, and Jamaica Inn not so far behind. Both Du Maurier and Winston Graham created the atmosphere of historic Cornwall so evocatively that I was desperate to visit (which was neither quick nor easy 40 years ago from Yorkshire!)
Other authors, including Judy Finnegan and Liz Fenwick, have also captured the spirit of 
Cornwall in their fabulous books and the romantic potential has also been recognised in a number of contemporary romantic novels such as the lovely Cornish Café series from Phillipa Ashley. There’s no doubt about it – there’s something about Cornwall, and I should know as I went there for my honeymoon 30 years ago this year and have visited regularly since.
My most recent visit, two weeks ago, was the first time I had seen snow in Cornwall. We were staying almost as far to the south and west as you could get, at Vellandreath near Sennen Cove. The cottage had a spectacular view of the beach and of the sunsets. Fortunately it was also very cosy! It was the perfect spot for relaxing in front of the woodburning stove whilst others more daring than I tackled the surf out in the bay. A footpath took us into the village whilst there were long walks to be had on the beach and the cliff path.
We’d been to Lands’ End before. As the most south westerly point on the British mainland it’s an 
iconic landmark to rival John O’Groats in Scotland but on the day we went the visitor attractions were all closed so we got the authentic rugged sea cliff experience with the waves crashing below and no one else in sight! We walked to Maen Castle, an Iron Age promontory fort that has one of the most outstanding settings imaginable. It must have been cold living there at the top of the cliff, though. On the way back we took in the Lands End miniature village - here's Angus at the pub!
Cornwall is full of ancient, atmospheric sites linked to legend, of course. The most famous castle is probably Tintagel, allegedly the birthplace of King Arthur. On this trip, though, my favourite ancient site was Carn Euny, one of the best preserved Iron Age villages in the south west. (Photo from English Heritage). You can see the ruins of nine courtyard houses that were occupied up until the end of the Roman period and in the 18th century someone built a cottage in amongst all the fallen down houses. I can only imagine what it must have been like to live on that site with all the relics of the past scattered around you! The most amazing part of the village, though, was the “fogou.” I’d never seen one before and it is a cave-like dry stone structure underneath the village accessed by tunnels. Whether it was a meeting place, built for defence or storage or some other purpose isn’t known, but it was fascinating – and not great if like me you sometimes get claustrophobia!
More recent history comes in the shape of Cornwall’s industrial heritage, and the old mining works from the 18th and 19th century 
are still scattered over the countryside. The town of St Just was once the centre of the tin mining industry in the area and has a fascinating history. All the places familiar from Poldark are here – the villages of Morvah and Botallack, and the spectacular scenery of Cape Cornwall with its mine chimney stack on the top of the cliff. Cape Cornwall was my absolute favourite place with a beach full of beautiful stones and a row of 19th century coastguard cottages with walled gardens. It was a place crying out to be the setting of a story, maybe a timeslip novel…
Do you have a favourite book set in Cornwall, either historical or contemporary? What do you think it is about places like Scotland or Cornwall that make them so appealing and "romantic"?
