A short holiday and a short break to go with it. We haven't been to Cornwall for quite a few years and so decided to sample it out of season. Jenn found one of her famous offers for bed and breakfast and we were off to Portloe on the Roseland peninsula. Now, I'd never heard of the place, a charming, tiny fishing village about 8 miles from St Mawes, but Dawn French got there before us and has filmed her new series "Wild West" in it. No doubt everyone will be going there in the future, just remember you read about it here first.

After a glorious autumn we naturally chose the week when the weather forecast was for gales and unmitigated rain, but it wasn't so bad. We seemed to pack in a lot, including a long visit to the Eden Project which is actually as amazing as its publicity suggests. And on the Wednesday we had virtually unbroken sunshine in which to enjoy revisiting Trevone and Padstow.

The only thing I wouldn't recommend is BP's "greener diesel". In a moment of total madness I managed to fill the Fourtrak with unleaded petrol and that cost us close to £100 (£16 for the petrol, £45 for a tow to the garage and having the tank drained, and £36 to fill the now-empty car with diesel). It also involved a two-hour stay in Camelford which strained the ingenuity somewhat!

However, it was an enjoyable break and our thanks go to Claire and Billy at Pine Cottage, Portloe, for making our stay so enjoyable and providing such delicious food - Bass and Brill will definitely be appearing on our menus in the future.

PHOTO ALBUM