“BE KIND OR GO HOME”

reads the sign at Canteen. This mess hall restaurant does everything differently! Set up in an industrial unit at Wheal Kitty (the hip address of finisterre and Surfers Against Sewage) Canteen is utilitarian and open with dining at one long table and no bullshit. The menu is easy; the veggie option £5 or the not veggie option £5. That’s basically it. Every day they cook something different and man can they cook! On Saturday there was butternut squash or mince which could be fairly uninspiring fare but no! Spiced and cooked in a way I’d never tasted my plate was clean in minutes. I then finished what the kids left! Really delicious and washed down with good coffee, happy days. We took brownies and buns as walkers and headed off to Blue Hills.

This scruffy (in a nice way) valley is the National Trust managed evidence of a fiercely productive tin industry once upon a time. There are old shafts and remnants of mine buildings all over the place. The wind was howling Northwesterly so we ate our cakes and had a bracing but brief mess about exploring the beach and the rocks.

Sunday was forecast to be windier again in the same direction. Actually there was more West in it and the wind felt quite a bit warmer today. Mean Dad that I am I dragged the family to Daymer Bay so I could windsurf.

As we approached Rock from Wadebridge we passed two massive lorries with DOOM BAR emblazoned down the side. When we arrived at the beach the wind was lighter than the forecast and I could see a couple of windsurfers enjoying riding the waves over on the Doom Bar. With a Westerly wind they had perfect side shore riding conditions (if a little light and just small waves).

I rigged and got out on the water and Claire took the kids off to explore around St Enodoc Church. I bought a new winter wetsuit (O’Neill Psycho Freak) this year and it’s transformed these winter sessions. I’ve never been so warm out sailing in January.

As the wind freshened I worked my way upwind to join the two other sailors on the Doom Bar and had great fun riding the little waves. On one wave I reckon I made 8 bottom and top turns and was grinning stupidly to myself!

This place is stunningly beautiful and always inspiring to visit. You can see why it’s one of the most expensive patches of real estate along the Cornish coast.