It started with a holiday and it led to RICHARD MADELEY and JUDY FINNIGAN being totally captured by the Cornish coast, as Judy explains.
We both truly discovered Cornwall more than 30 years ago when Richard and I first got together. We knew we wanted to be together and we thought the best way of doing it was for Richard to just move in with us.
I had my twin sons, Tom and Dan, from my previous marriage and we thought it best that they got used to us being together while on holiday. So we headed for Cornwall. We were living in Manchester at the time so we rented a beautiful cottage between Looe and Polperro for a week in the hope that we could get used to each other in a relaxed environment. It worked wonderfully and we are still here.
It is a funny thing but Cornwall is like no other place in Britain. It has a spirit all of its own and it calls to you. If you hear that call you cannot help but answer it and then you become one of its own.
The whole of the county is brilliant with so much to see and enjoy inland but it is really the coast that is the clincher, the mighty ocean meeting up with the magnificent beaches and cliffs. It is no wonder that artists are drawn here to try and capture what they see.
Cornwall and its stunning coastline and fantastic fishing villages is amazingly inspiring for writers too – look what it did for Daphne Du Maurier. When I was young I came here on holiday with my parents. Coming from Manchester it was like visiting a different world and I can remember as a little girl, I thought Cornwall was incredibly romantic.
The couple have made their home at Talland Bay. Credit: Sue McQueenie
We live at Talland Bay, near Polperro, that is where we call home. We are here most of the time and Richard likes to walk over the cliff path to Polperro every day. It is a great walk and you get to meet and know local people who have mostly accepted us as their own now.
I think that is one of the wonderful things about Cornwall. Visitors think of Cornwall as a holiday place that’s sweet and pretty, which it is. But it is wild too and mysterious. It does look after its own people though. It has provided for them in many ways since it was first inhabited. It still does today.
I would urge anyone who has never walked the cliff paths of Cornwall do come and experience it for yourself. Let the sea breezes caress your face and mess up your hair, it is well worth it. A word of warning though – it will capture your heart.
Cornwall is unique. Cornwall is, well…Cornwall.
For more of what Cornwall has to offer, and if you want to explore it for yourself, stay at one of these top hotels in Cornwall, or explore Cornwall’s coves.
