So much to see and do and see in friendly Cornwall

6:50am Saturday 16th August 2008

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FOR an old girl in sight of her 60th birthday, the Cornish Belle chugged into Falmouth Harbour at such a lively pace that squawking seagulls overhead wisely kept their distance.

“This is the largest natural bay in the world after Sydney,” boomed the commentary above the engine roar, moments after we passed one of Henry VIII's defensive forts, standing on the hills above St Mawes.

A £7 return ticket took us on the voyage from the waterside pub at Tolverne – still a place of pilgrimage for Americans because thousands of US troops set sail from the River Fal here for the Normandy landings in 1944 – and down the drizzly estuary of the Carrick Roads.

Each inlet, including the celebrated Mylor Creek, was crammed with yachts at their moorings as we chugged towards the open sea. We explored narrow streets around the National Maritime Museum then it was back on board for our return to Tolverne.

With the A30 now dual carriageway all the way west to Indian Queens, and low cost flights into Newquay, Cornwall is nearer than ever before.

Our base for the week was the village of Devoran, just off the A39 south of Truro. The Sail Loft, has been converted into a three-bedroom home with a living room/kitchen area at first floor level, beneath a vaulted ceiling and exposed beams.

The location, at one end of a sleepy village where the only shop opened on Monday afternoons, was perfect for a restful week; just across the road was Devoran Quay, an open grassy area for picnics and upturned boats.

Within a dozen miles of the village, there’s plenty to see and do. Around the corner are the magnificent gardens of Trelissick, where 370 acres of parks and woodland, crammed rhododendrons, hydrangeas and maples, have been tended by the National Trust since 1955.

Thanks to an ingenious contraption called The King Harry Ferry, one of only five chain ferries in England, cars and passengers can hop across a narrow stretch of the River Fal below Trelissick for faster access to St Mawes and the Roseland Peninsula.

As a city, Truro is fun because superstores are kept carefully clear of old, narrow streets and alleyways – including the delightfully-named Squeeze Guts Alley.

Head south from Devoran, and Falmouth becomes the gateway to The Lizard with an intriguing array of family attractions, including the Flambards Experience, Poldark Mine and Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station Experience.

Jeremy Gates was a guest of Classic Cottages (01326 555555 and www.classic.co.uk).