St Petroc himself  brought Christianity and established a Church here around AD 518. Petroc was a Welsh nobleman educated in Ireland. He set out with his followers in boats, or coracles, and the winds and tides brought him to the river Camel estuary. Here he built a Monastery, with a School, Farm, and Church to serve the monks and to minister to the area that became known then as Petrocstow – now Padstow. Petroc travelled widely and founded more Churches in Cornwall, Walkes and Brittany and converted King Constantine of Cornwall to Christianity.

In AD 916 King Athelstan of England conquered Cornwall, and granted Petroc’s Church the right of Sanctuary, one of just three Churches in Cornwall with that status. In Ad 981 a band of Viking raiders destroyed Petroc’s Church, leaving it in ruins. Around AD 1100 a new Norman style Church was built on this site and the thick walled tower base survives from this period. In the 1400s the Church was rebuilt, using Caen stone from Normandy, and remains to this day.*

*Information from a signboard outside the church

Prideaux Place (Cornish: Plas Prideaux)^[2] is a grade I listed^[3] Elizabethan country house in the parish of Padstow, Cornwall, England. It has been the home of the Prideaux family for over 400 years. The house was built in 1592 by Sir Nicholas Prideaux (1550–1627), a distinguished lawyer,^[4] and was enlarged and modified by successive generations, most notably by his great-great-grandson Edmund Prideaux (1693–1745) and by the latter’s grandson Rev. Charles Prideaux-Brune (1760–1833). The present building, containing 81 rooms,^[4] combines the traditional E-shape of Elizabethan architecture with the 18th-century exuberance of Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill Gothic.

The house contains a fine collection of works of art, including royal and family portraits, fine furniture and the Prideaux Porcelain Collection. The recently uncovered ceiling in the Great Chamber is a masterpiece of the art of the Elizabethan plasterer. In 1968 the estate comprised about 3,500 acres, excluding the St Breock estate situated about ten miles away, also in the family’s ownership, inherited from the Viell family in the 17th century.^[5] The deer park is one of the most ancient in England, containing in 1968 about 100 fallow deer, increased from only about six in 1946 following World War II.^[6]

Land’s End is the most westerly point of mainland England, a dramatic clifftop headland near the village of Sennen where the Atlantic Ocean stretches unbroken towards the horizon.

Edith Pattou

For my last breakfast at the Watermill, I chose the safe small portion option of ‘one’ Belgian waffle. After breakfast we were departing for our next destination, Exeter.

Mr C had planned that we would visit Polperro and Looe on our journey to Exeter. However, we arrived at Polperro to find that car parking was a flat rate of £7 for the day. This was not value for money when we only intended to stay for a short while so we retraced our steps and parked in Looe which was more reasonably priced.

We enjoyed the harbour and mooched around the shops before heading to Oakhampton which Mr C had added to the itinerary after we had decided not to visit Polperro. We stopped in the town of Oakhampton for lunch and noticed the fish and chip shop.

We decided to dine in the restaurant but we were told they were closing in a few minutes but if we knew what we wanted they would take our order or we could go downstairs and order from the takeaway. We took the hint and ordered from the takeaway where I ordered a fishcake and Mr C ordered a fish. The service was almost as surly as it had been in the restaurant upstairs. The food, however, was delicious. My fishcake was battered rather than breaded and we enjoyed our food sitting on a picnic bench in the square. We heard the distant sound of seagulls but thankfully they didn’t get any closer…

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After lunch we drove the short distance to the castle. Mr C was left feeling slightly disappointed that it is one of those that is free to enter and explore, which means no guide book to be had.

When we arrived at Exeter finding the hotel (Indigo) proved to be a challenge. We arrived in the inner-city centre but could not locate the hotel and the SatNav was no help. We parked the car and Mr C set off on foot, located the hotel and asked for directions to the car park. Even with directions the entrance to the car park was elusive.

Whilst we were unloading the car, another car decided to park next to us leaving me with a narrow gap to navigate my case through. At least the driver had the courtesy to ask me if I had enough room, although I did wonder why he hadn’t parked in one of the other empty spaces!

We checked into the hotel; the receptionist helped us with our luggage and showed us to our room on the 7^th floor. The room was amazing, we were lucky enough to get one with a Cathedral Heritage theme; the other two themes being The House That Moved and Colson’s Department Store. Hotel Indigo always has themes related to the heritage of the city in which it is located.

We unpacked our bags and chilled out in the lovely room. We had a pre-dinner drink in Becketts rooftop bar, overlooking Exeter Cathedral before dining in the nearby Sabatinis. I chose lemon sole followed by limoncello tart. After dining we had a circular tour around town, getting an excellent view of the cathedral along the way to find the Ship Inn Which turned out to be just around the corner from our hotel.

On the quest for a smaller breakfast, I ordered only one Belgian waffle in preference to the usual two. This worked, I had just enough on my plate.

The warm and sunny weather was perfect for a visit to the nearby Lost Gardens of Heligan. We chose to do the woodland walk first which took us past famous sculptures and down to the recently installed leaping fox sculpture, Lowarnes (Cornish for Vixen). The sculpture is crafted from a 150-year-old Rhododendron which fell during Storm Darragh in December 2024. As the sculpture ages the red will fade silvery grey in much the same way as a vixen’s fur changes after becoming a mother.

We made our way to the café for a refreshing drink but whilst we were being served at the counter Mr C decided we might as well have lunch. I felt I had to rush to choose quickly rather than taking time to peruse the menu because I was conscious of holding up the queue. I chose a scone with clotted cream and jam; well, we were in Cornwall! With more time to look at the menu I would have chosen something savoury.

After lunch we walked round the formal gardens, along the way noting some of the memorials to men from the estate that had served in the first world war. With no-one to tend to the estate the gardens had been lost to brambles over the years. The gardens were restored in memory of those that tended the garden and estate before departing for the Great War, many of whom did not return.

Before returning to The Waterwheel we browsed around the shop and had another drink in the café.

Back at the Waterwheel we decided to walk through the gardens to the Holy Well. The pathway was blocked by a chain. We weren’t sure if we were on the correct path so we retraced our steps. Later we found out that we were on the right path and we should have negotiated the chain to continue on the walk. Maybe next time…

We chilled out in our room before dining in the Waterwheel. Afterwards we got chatting to another couple about Formula 1 and bucket list travel destinations until it was time to retire for the evening.

Hoping for a smaller breakfast, I ordered just a few items from the full cooked breakfast. This didn’t work as my plate was filled with extras of the items that I had ordered.

After breakfast we drove to Falmouth to visit the National Maritime Museum. The museum has displays of boats along with galleries displaying different aspects of seafaring history. There is also a temporary exhibition space which is currently housing an exhibition on surfing.

The building is partly built below sea level at high tide. You can walk to the lower levels to see the tide level which was at its lowest point when we visited. At high tides these levels are under water.

We finished our visit to the museum in time for lunch but there was not enough time left on our parking ticket to have lunch without moving the car. I was hoping for crab sandwiches which would have been available in the many cafes near the harbour.

Mr C did a quick Google search and found a recommended café, Lizard Shellfish at Lizard Point. As we were driving there Mr C realised that it was further than Google had suggested but the crab sandwiches were well worth the wait.

Next, we parked at the nearby Lizard Point to say that we had been to the most southern tip of England after visiting the most western point of England when were at Lands End.

We returned to the Waterwheel to freshen up before driving to Fowey where we knew there were lots of restaurants suitable for an evening meal. Fowey was also a bit further than expected so when we passed The Bell Inn we decided to stop there. We both had fish and chips, which were delicious.

After dining we continued driving to Fowey. By this time, it had started to rain and the car park was a little way from the bay so we decided not to stop.

We returned to the Waterwheel were we had a nightcap in lounge which was very quiet compared to previous evenings.

For breakfast I ordered the full English breakfast minus a few items, but it was still too big for me.

We visited Truro to visit the Cathedral so that I could tick off another Cathedral in my Pilgrim Passport. We arrived to find that children were practicing music in the crossing. There was a sign saying no photographs but we were told that photographs of the building were allowed, but not to photograph the students.

One of the school supervisors spotted cameras and rushed over to tell us that we mustn’t take photos of the students.

We found the Cathedral interesting but the only part of the Cathedral to have a calm and serene atmosphere was the south aisle, which is the only part of the original parish church that remains. The rest of the parish church, which had been rebuilt and remodelled more than once since the first Parish Church of St Mary was established in around 1259, was demolished in 1880 to make way for the new Cathedral when Truro was announced as a Cathedral city.

Later, after browsing in Waterstones and coming away empty handed, we visited Charlotte’s tearoom for lunch. It is a quaint old-fashioned tearoom. I was still full of breakfast so I chose a lighter albeit more indulgent option, warmed apple and almond cake.

Before leaving Truro, we visited Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery which houses an eclectic collection of artefacts, not all of which are connected to Cornwall. It also has temporary exhibition galleries, one of which is currently displaying, ‘Cornish Myths & Legends’. The theme tied in with some of the things we had seen in the Museum of Witchcraft & Magic.

On the way back to the car, we went into the shop formerly know as W H Smiths. I was looking for the next instalment of a series of books I am reading as I had earlier in Waterstones. Yes, I could order it online but is much more fun to go on a bookshop hunt. I didn’t find that book but I picked up a couple of other books (buy one get one for £1).

We returned to the billet to freshen up before dining in the restaurant. I chose scampi – the portion was enormous! Afterwards we sat in the bar area chatting to another couple.