Bodmin Cornwall - A Hidden Historic Gem

Before I ever went to Cornwall, I thought of it as a place with pirates and smugglers from the 17th and 18th centuries or Padstow where  Rick Stein's has his amazing restaurants and Tintagel - the purported castle of King Arthur.  But, when I hear the name Bodmin, I mostly think of Bodmin Moor and Bodmin Jail, forbidding places both.   It sits inland, smack dab in the middle, not near the sea or on the main drag.

What I didn't expect about Bodmin was that it has the largest church in Cornwall, its origins dating to the 5th century.  As we drove into the town in the taxi, I noticed that the tower of the church was obviously Norman.  I asked the taxi driver and all he knew was that it was the biggest church in Cornwall and nothing else.  He was also not a good promoter of his town or area as he kept saying disparaging things about it and seemed to have no suggestions of places to go or things to see. It seems to me that taxi drivers ought to make it part of their job to talk up their town or city.

I was on a trip with my lovely friend, Elisabetta, who was going for a meeting in Bodmin and I thought I'd go along for the fun of it and to keep her company.  We were booked into a hotel called the Westberry, which is apparently highly rated on TripAdvisor.  Hmmmm.   It has its upsides, which I'll get to in a minute but,  in the spirit of the article (The 14 Habits of Highly Miserable People) I read on the train about how we should all practice being negative and miserable and which had me in stitches laughing, here we go.

(Speaking of trains, how come First Great Western don't have wifi on their trains?? It's 2013, get with the program, folks)

We were greeted by a rather odd looking man who might not have been so odd looking if he'd had any capacity to crack a smile.  The room was booked by the company that Elisabetta was visiting and was paid for by them.  We had asked for a double room, assuming we'd have a choice of twin beds.  The first thing this man did was start to talk to me instead of Elisabetta as he seemed to not want to listen to her beautiful Italian accent. Since it was nothing to do with me, I thought this was rude.

He finally discovered there was a booking and it was for a double bed so we asked if we could have a twin room. This is December remember, not the height of the tourist season in Cornwall.  Apparently, the hotel was fully booked (not) and there was no room available with twin beds.  I know this cannot have been true but he seemed not to want to be of any service at all.  After all of that and deciding we could cope with sharing a bed, he then asked for Elisabetta's credit card, when it was clear that the company had already paid for the room.  Either he was being thick or just didn't care.  I can't decide which.

Eventually, we got to our room, which was freezing cold.  The bed was  by no means a  reasonably sized double but we didn't realise that till we tried to get comfortable that night!  We spend the night hanging off the edges of the bed!

After our unfriendly start, we thought we'd go and explore the town before it got dark.  Clearly, the man in the hotel was an exception as every person we met during our stay was nothing but friendly and helpful.  We came across a lovely fruit and veg shop, The Vine, where they had lovingly organised all the products into artfully placed tubs.

It was a pleasure just looking at all the bright colours of the savoy cabbages nestled in straw and the Comice pears arranged in a circular tower; the tomatoes organised by colour and the large bunches of fresh herbs all looking enticing.  I was only sorry I couldn't buy anything to take home and cook.

While we were there, we thought we'd check out an apartment for rent, which I had seen on a lettings website.  It was in a converted abbey and had been really tastefully done up.  The real estate agent, Will Gentle (what a lovely name) was very responsive and very pleasant to deal with. I highly recommend him if you're looking Truro and the surrounding areas.  The piece de resistance in the apartment was the third floor, which was wholly given over to the lounge. It was enormous, with vaulted ceilings and raised platforms along two sides, ideal for big lounging cushions.  It also had plenty of room for a grand piano!  Downstairs, the main bedroom had the beautiful arched windows from the original abbey.  It was a steal at £825 per month.  Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large dining room, huge living room, beautifully equipped kitchen and a great location.  In London, it would be at least £2,500 a month.  Sigh.  Here's a link if you want to drool.

We asked along the way about good places to eat and heard several people say that the Steak and Thai restaurant in our hotel was excellent.  I was very sceptical as I have never yet found a place that mixes its food styles that works.  Against our better judgement, we decided it was the best option as Bodmin seems a bit thin on restaurants.  Well, I take it all back, the restaurant was marvelous. Apparently, they had had a Thai chef who taught them everything and a damn fine job he did.  I had a green curry with seafood.  The fish and shellfish were cooked to perfection, i.e. only just cooked.  The curry itself was creamy with coconut milk, spicy but not too spicy.  My only quibble was that the rice was not right. It should be sticky and fragrant. Instead it was separate rice kernels, flavourless and also not enough of it.

Elisabetta had the Pad Thai, which was really delicious and served with a tiny bowl of extremely fiery dried chilli flakes on the side.  We also had a shared platter of Thai starters, which was only £8.50 and enough for a whole meal.  Freshly made, crisp where it should be and soft where you wanted it to be.  We were most surprised and also very impressed with the table service.  So, how come they have a curmudgeon on the front desk?


After a night falling off the edge of the bed, we both got up tired and Elisabetta went off to her meeting.  I had then half an hour to get out of the room because they 'couldn't possibly extend our check out and we'd have to pay for another night'.  Another great way to entice me back to this hotel.....

I left the hotel and went over to a small cafe I'd seen the night before, called The Green Frog, and had a lovely English breakfast and a cappuccino.  That kept me going for the entire day.

The tree where I put a decoration with my mother's name and the candle I lit in her honour.

My intention for the day was to explore the Norman church and its history.  You can see some photos here that I took on the day.  As it happened, they were having the first day of the Christmas Tree Festival so the church was filled with same sized trees all decorated by various groups and businesses around Bodmin.  It was very festive and to make it even better, they had set up table and chairs in the main aisle and were serving tea, coffee, cakes and mince pies.  So I had to have two cups of coffee and a mince pie while I read the leaflet about the church's history.

I also lit a candle and put a decoration on a tree with my mother's name on it.  For some reason, I automatically wrote her Maiden name, Diana Fittall, instead of her married name, by which she has been known since 1942!  It felt nice to sit in the church and contemplate my mother's great age (93) and how much I love her.

A piece of the floor with inscription from a now derelict part of the old Norman church

It was wonderful to sit in this ancient church, which was a monastery in the 6th century founded by St. Petroc and know that hundreds of thousands of feet had stood here worshipping over the centuries. I love to feel part of history and I have found, time and again, that churches and cathedrals are the best place to feel that.

Outside the church is the ancient well of St. Guron.  It's nice to see that the water still runs free there out of the spouts that look like heads.  It comes from a spring with crystal clear water.  Another nice thing about Cornwall is there is no limescale covering everything!  Definitely a plus in my book.

After my excursion to the church, I decided to go back to the hotel and read and do some work as they have wifi there.  I sat in the lounge and there was no one about.  After a while, the man who had been at the registration desk came in and looked startled when he saw me.  I asked if I could have some tea and he went off looking for someone to make it.  On returning, he said there was no one about and he said  ' I suppose I could make you a pot myself.  When he came back with the tea, I made small talk saying what a lovely sunny day it was and he grunted (literally) and said '£2 please' and walked off.  Lovely.  I never got asked if I wanted a top up or some hot water to dilute the dark, stewed tea.  I watched something on my iPad and did some crochet while I waited and decided to ignore anyone who came in.  No one did.

We caught the 19.01 train from the station, which, by the way, is 4 miles outside the town!  Who's brilliant idea was that??  It took 5 hours to get back to London, the the slow train that stops everywhere. It was definitely worthwhile visiting Bodmin and I'd go back again to investigate more of its history, the Jail in particular.  Definitely won't be staying at the Westberry again though.