Helston - stepping stone to West Cornwall


Helston is a unique combination of ancient market town, stepping off point for the Lizard Peninsula and its beautiful beaches and thatched roofed fishing towns, the home of air-sea rescue in West Cornwall, and potentially, using the famous giant satellite dishes at Goonhilly Earth Station,a world wide centre for space exploration.


It is also a town of independent shops with a difference.


Helston is perhaps most famous as the home of Flora Day, held every year on May 8 except when this date falls on a Sunday or Monday.


The entire town is transformed, with a large fairground and stalls selling souvenirs, crafts and food.


Locals and visitors are transformed as well, with celebrations last well into the evening.


The town also has a monument which in today’s world must stand out, as it honours Helston banker and solicitor Humphry Millet Grylls, whose actions kept open the local tin mine and saved 1200 jobs.


Helston Folk Museum, housed in the old butter market behind the impressive Guildhall, features a cannon from the HMS Anson, wrecked in 1807.


This event at Loe Bar,with its loss of life, inspired Henry Trengrouse to invent the Breeches Buoy which is still in use today.


Helston, a town of heritage, is also home to RNAS Culdrose and to Flambards, the West Country's leading family attraction with rides, family fun and entertainment and exhibitions, including The Victorian Village and the Britain in the Blitz.


All the colour and tradition of Flora Day at Helston.


fact that these small communities still depend largely on the sea for their livelihood.


Fishing and farming have always been the mainstay of the local economy, and life has always been a struggle.


Helford Passage,Lizard Peninsula


Lizard Peninsula - unique and stunningly beautiful


To describe the Lizard Peninsula – the most southerly tip of Cornwall and mainland Britain – as unspoiled would be an understatement.


The Lizard Peninsula is unique. This remote corner of Cornwall is stunningly beautiful at any time of the year, and there is nowhere quite like it in any other part of Britain.


It is for this reason that it has been a continuing source of inspiration for artists and writers over the years.


DH Lawrence was drawn here because, he said: ‘It is not England. It is bare, and elemental.’


Even today, it is still remote, removed from the rest of the country, its people self-sufficient, and proud of their Celtic heritage.


Myths, superstitions and customs survive, which have long been lost to the rest of England.


It is an ancient and mysterious place. Surrounded by the sea on three sides, the peninsula stands alone in a very real sense.


In a line from London to Land’s End, the backbone of Cornwall is not a route to somewhere.


The Lizard Peninsula is not a cross-roads, a junction, or a place to drive through, but a destination – a journey’s end.


Standing proud in the sea, the peninsula presents a rugged face to the elements and, yet, paradoxically, the climate is the warmest in Britain.


The air is crisp, clear, and unpolluted by industry. The rocks and cliffs of the coastline offer shelter to tiny fishing villages huddled into their coves, looking much the same today, as they did centuries ago. Small cottages, thatched and whitewashed, cluster around tiny harbours.


Mullion,Lizard Peninsula. www.cornish-visitor.co.uk


Colourful fishing boats, pulled up high on the beach, bear testimony to the


Cornish Visitor Guide - autumn & winter 2012-2013 17


Winter is a quiet time here. The fishermen’s choirs gather in their local pubs to sing, and between December and January even the smallest harbours are decorated with lights and lanterns, often in amusing and quirky tableaux of local significance.


Inside, huge log fires keep out the chill from the sea, when the evenings draw in, and enormous waves can pound into the coves.


Even in winter, there is always colour in abundance. If Ireland has 100 shades of green, Cornwall is not far behind in blue tones.


It is this, and the outstanding quality of light, which draws so many artists to the Lizard. Many have made the area their permanent home, and their work can be viewed all-year round.


The Lizard Peninsula boasts a wealth of breathtaking scenery.


February is spring, on the Lizard Peninsula, and these early portents are soon overtaken by a myriad of other wild flowers, the abundance of which is seldom seen elsewhere.


Along the densely wooded shores of the Helford River, gardens and natural landscape merge to create a horticultural dream.


Much of the area is owned and managed by the National Trust, which ensures that it remains unspoiled.


The South West coastal footpath winds its way around the peninsula, but there are also many circular walks to be found inland, which are less demanding.


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