My Great Escape: Cornish villages

My husband and I have had many wonderful holidays in Cornwall over the years—but one visit in particular really stands out.

Basing ourselves at a holiday park in Looe, we first visited Polperro. The quayside is made up of little cottages while the village itself is home to a street of sleepy shops selling one-off crafty pieces. But it was the ice-cream parlour with its tempting flavours of raspberry pavlova, lime cheesecake and rocky road that really blew our socks off.

Polperro, home to a superb ice-cream parlour

Then we headed to St Just. This tiny village, with its half a street of shops and wide square, slumbered drowsily in the midday sun, while in the distance the ocean sparkled. We came to search for the birthplace of the Cornish pasty—and we found it, at Warren’s Bakery.

 On the third day, we stayed in Looe. Walking through the town, we came across a huddle of holidaymakers ogling a dog. He was lying outside a house with a placard that read: “Ash loves to play catch”.

Ash nudged the ball under the garden gate with a practised flick of his right paw. Then he waited, tongue lolling, for the ball to be thrown back into the garden. Catching the ball midflight, he gave it a quick chew before nudging it back underneath the gate.

The locals walked by and shook their heads as they warned us good-naturedly that the “dog is sly” and will “have us at it for hours”. And they were right.

Sensing that we were about to move on, Ash changed tactic, dispatching the ball through the railings straight onto my shoes. Then he hung at the gate, watching our retreat forlornly.

Polperro may have ice cream and St Just may have pasties—but only Looe has Ash!

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