A week on my feet – Cornwall

A few weeks ago I was invited to take part in Luxury Flooring‘s ‘A Week On My Feet’ campaign inspired by the gorgeous Instagram account ‘I Have This Thing With Floors’, and I thought it would be a great way to document our recent holiday to Cornwall with my side of the family – a mammoth 16 adults and 10 children. The weather surprised us all and we had some really hot days, with barely any rain, and it always seemed to rain at the most convenient times. We only had to cook once the whole week, and all the parents amongst us got our littles (apart from a couple of babies) in bed early so we could play games, or watch Poldark every single night. Despite all that, I feel completely shattered – why does that happen?

We joined the holiday a day late, as my friend’s delicious baby was being Christened. It was such a perfect occasion – the sun was shining, the BBQ was sizzling and I even took a dip in an outdoor pool. At about 5pm we headed for Cornwall. Ru was asleep within 10 seconds – that is when you know you’ve had a good day!

Our first day in Cornwall was spent cycling the few miles from Wadebridge to Padstow via The Camel Trail. It’s something we’ve done before, and really enjoyed. Win and Ru started off really grizzly, but then gradually improved as the day progressed. I had Ru, Jared had Win and one of my sisters pulled O along in a trailer. In Padstow we ate fish and chips and ice cream, then headed to The Rock by ferry and spent the rest of the day on the beach.

Swimming in the sea is something I absolutely love, and if the weather is fair, the water nags me relentlessly to join it. It honestly makes me feel like a whole new person – relaxed, rejuvenated and free. We slipped a few beach days into our holiday, and at one point I was in the sea with my mum and seven of my siblings, and I just felt so overwhelmingly happy – ‘This is the life’, as my Dad would have said. One beach day was spent at the very busy Constantine Bay Beach – a fantastic beach for kids and I had the best time body surfing, then we spent another at Watergate Bay hiring surfboards and bodyboards. I’m no expert, but it was great fun and the waves were fierce.

My mum wanted us all to come and visit ‘The Lost Gardens of Heligan’ with her, and we all really enjoyed it. We’d all dressed braced for rain, but it turned out to be an absolute scorcher. The historic gardens at Heligan were lost until 25 years ago when they were rediscovered by accident. There was so much to see and do, for both children and adults – woodland walks, no end of gardens, unusual plants and farmland. The natural playground was fantastic too. Somewhere I would definitely like to return to.

The last day was the most relaxing one. We went swimming in the morning and then wondered into town with very little purpose. Four of my sisters and I ate scones with jam and cream (which literally took 9 minutes for us to demolish). The boys went to see ‘Finding Dory’ with their aunt, and baby O and I spent the rest of the afternoon doing very little, whilst Jared played tennis. The day was finished perfectly with an Indian takeaway, a little packing and the final episode of Poldark – well, we were in Cornwall, and he does have nice abs!

What are your favourite things to do in Cornwall?

E xx