• England,  History,  Photography,  Travel Blog

    Cornwall Revisited

    Currently enjoying another spell in Cornwall, we are at the same time counting the days to our next overseas adventure, now only just over a week away. Here and now, on the cusp of the seasons, the Cornish Winter clings on while Spring struggles to make its entry. When we first made the arrangements for Michaela’s Mum to join us in Padstow for a few days, we really wanted to be able to show Norma all of the different reasons we love this place, show this place in all its guises, all of its different moods. In true Cornwall style, the first thing to play ball is the weather, and…

  • England,  Travel Blog,  World food

    Padstow And The Rick Stein Phenomenon

    Having been a regular visitor to Padstow over so many years, it’s been interesting to watch the influence of internationally famous chef Rick Stein develop and evolve over the years. Its most obvious effect has been to create a micro economy in a county which generally offers low employment prospects. Rick Stein was actually born in Oxfordshire, but relocated to Padstow at the age of 24, having fallen in love with the area on family stays at their nearby holiday home, even though one such visit ended in tragedy by way of his father’s suicide. Mobile discotheques and night clubs were among Stein’s early failed businesses before the first restaurant…