Cornwall, an awe-inspiring canvas of natural beauty.
It is, I think, the best part of the British Isles. It's absolutely stunning. I'll stay here forever.
It's like being on holiday every day. It's because it doesn't feel real.
But it's the people and communities that really give this county its endearing qualities.
I'm Cornish, not English. That's the way it goes with me, I'm afraid.
I just love living here so much and it means so much to me. It's awesome, isn't it?
Look at it all.
I'm Caroline Quentin
and I'm proud to have family roots in this beautiful part of the British Isles.
This summer, I'm heading back to join the throng of tourists and meet the local folk...
- Welcome to St Michael's Mount. - Thank you, darling.
I'm so pleased to be here. I've looked at postcards of this all my life.
...as I explore this enchanting county.
It'll take your breath away.
So come with me, as I head west, on my Cornish adventure.
Tasting wine at half-past nine.
A lot of people are still commuting, on the tube, going to London.
Cornwall.
A lovely sunny day, like today,
get out on the water, peace and quiet - beautiful, priceless.
There's so much I want you to see.
Come on.
Welcome to Cornwall.
There are over 6,500 footpaths in this county and, sometimes,
they're not only the best, but the only way to see some of the most amazing scenery.
Also, it's a good way of reducing your carbon footprint.
This week, one home owner is setting his sights on impressing the girls
at an exclusive letting company...
We've... put a lot of heart and soul into it.
I think I'll be disappointed, Sue, if they don't like it.
I'll be meeting a fisherwoman who knows all about doing her bit for the environment.
I used a tank-and-a-half of fuel in a year.
And that was only driving backwards and forwards to work.
...and, coming up, one of Cornwall's waterside traditions takes on a rather untraditional flavour.
Big reach. Big, strong catches. That's it.
Nice.
In a valley on the north coast is one of Cornwall's more unusual success stories:
The Camel Valley Vineyard.
The running of this business is a family affair and, over the years,
the core team of Bob, Annie and their son Sam has remained the same.
It's a winning formula. The grapes produced here have won the family several wine awards.
I'm really proud of the achievements we've made.
We took on, really, a small farm that it was hard to make any money from.
We planted the vines, didn't know if it would work or not,
and I think we are acknowledged to be one of the best vineyards in the country.
Now, husbands and wives working together can be tricky
but Bob and Annie have found their own way of maintaining matrimonial harmony.
They have his and hers vineyards.
Once the vines got going, we couldn't entirely agree on how to do things,
so we decided that I'd take responsibility for this vineyard,
and he'd have responsibility for the other one.
It has worked out really well because, when you are personally responsible for something,
you do take extra trouble to make it look lovely.
And Annie really does take care.
Unlike most vineyards, her vines are off-limits to anybody else.
She goes out every day, rain or shine,
does 100 vines every day from November until Easter, apart from Christmas Day.
If she's on schedule, we let her in: Glass of wine, Cornish pasty...
Annie's territorial ways have become a running joke.
Bob even set it in stone, to clear up any confusion.
Bob is a complete lunatic.
When Bob put the plaque up, people started to say, 'Is Annie Lindo still alive? '
Well, I think, probably, the vineyard will kill me in the end.
There aren't many vineyards in the world, probably,
that have always been pruned by the same person, as people tend to prune in gangs.
Pottering around here sounds pretty therapeutic, but don't be fooled.
Annie has shunned modern methods of tending to vines,
pruning each one with her own bare hands.
You have to have your back to the wind and the rain.
Your face to the sun, that's the old farmer's prayer.
Today, however, there are some unusual distractions.
A film crew has descended on the vineyard.
We've got a German television crew filming an episode of Rosamunde Pilcher here today,
It'll be different. I'm looking forward to it.
- We got lots of requests for things like that. - And action!
The Germans are huge fans of the Cornish author
and have adapted many of her stories for film, using the Cornish countryside for authenticity.
But Bob and Sam are less than impressed
with some of the modifications the crew are making to the vineyard.
From a design point of view, I wouldn't have that up there, even if I was called Watson.
There's 17 trucks here and that old sign.
For Bob, the initial excitement begins to wear a little thin, six hours later.
To be quite honest, it's just getting to the slightly boring stage, if I'm being really honest.
The novelty has worn off.
At least Annie's having a better day.
The labels have arrived for a new anniversary vintage of her wine.
Very smart indeed. I'd buy a bottle of that.
It's 20 years on all fronts, so it's made in the 20th vintage year since we planted the vines,
and it's 20 years since we made our first wine that we were releasing
and it's grapes just from Mum's vineyard, and I think it's amazing.
It's already won a gold medal.
It's an exciting step forward in the production of this vintage.
It's been a mother and son effort and, in a few weeks, it will be launched to the public.
We'll be back before the end of the summer as the first bottles of bubbly are popped.
Earlier in the series, I dropped in on Jess and Claire,
employees of a prestigious holiday letting agency.
- The master bedroom with dressing room... - Wow!
...and en suite. - Very lovely.
Unique Home Stays is manned by a team of rather glamorous ladies,
who seek out some of the most exclusive properties in Cornwall -
the type of place where you'd happily quaff some of Camel Valley's finest.
I'm calling from Unique Home Stays.
It's not easy to qualify for a place on their books.
These girls have high expectations and the vetting process falls to Kahdine
to ensure that these standards are maintained.
If we didn't feel, from the images we'd received, its location, taking all of that into consideration,
that it could never be a Unique Home Stay, then we wouldn't go and visit it.
We would say no at that stage.
Ooh, tough talk.
Kahdine gets to travel all around the county, viewing properties
that may, or may not, make it onto their books.
Today, she and Claire are paying a visit to Simon and Sue,
owners of a converted barn in the north Cornish countryside.
I think it's more than 90% or 95% of the properties they view, they don't take on.
We thought, 'Mm. I wonder if we'll be in that 90 or 95%? '
So it'll be interesting to see how it goes.
They've spent six months and £100,000 renovating this property,
in the hope of getting a high return from holiday rentals.
We both drew down a bit of pension and it's all gone, hasn't it? It's all gone on the barn.
We couldn't do it too cheap. We had to make it feel a quality conversion.
So we're not quite finished, as you know. The kitchen probably is.
Kahdine's job is to be objective.
The clients who book homes like these will want nothing but the best.
And will there be a gated entrance, so there's no access to your property?
It will be gated off completely.
We've... put a lot of heart and soul into it.
I think I'll be disappointed, Sue, if they don't like it.
So this is the main bedroom and there's an en suite just here.
- So power shower, built-in loo... - OK.
...basin. - And you've got the double doors outside.
- So this is going to be the living area. - OK.
- Ah. - And you're obviously looking out at the view.
We've got a glass balustrade coming in here. That'll be in, in about a week's time.
The neighbours here, how many do you have nearby?
We have just... well, two neighbours.
- They're sufficiently far away that... - That you wouldn't know that they were there.
Simon is a month away from completion
but he needs the heads-up on whether he's in with a chance of making it.
Once it is complete, send you a final report, with a final proposed tariff, and everything like that.
All being well, both parties are happy and we would go ahead.
With its location and what they've done so far, it would be a yes,
- but dependent on the finish. - Yeah.
- We wouldn't just take them on for politeness. - No.
So, you know, what they do over the next month is crucial.
It's a positive viewing, but Simon's not quite there yet.
We'll find out later in the series if he makes the grade.
Cornwall has over 300 beautiful beaches dotted along its coastline.
Everybody loves a bit of bucket and spade action, don't they, eh, boys?
- Yeah. - They do, yeah.
They do.
Of course, there are plenty of other ways of having fun by the sea,
and the Cornish are experts at all of them
but, perhaps the most traditional is the gig rowing scene.
Justin Halliwell grew up in Cornwall,
and is now captain of one of the 29 gig crews across the county: Team Devoran.
For him, life by the waterside is the key to a sociable and rather enviable lifestyle.
I love the fact that I can walk down the road and I can say, "All right, my 'andsome" to somebody.
But, always, Cornwall's part of your... you know, it's in your heart.
Then, once you're born here, you kind of have an affinity for the place, really,
and, you know, good old Cornish craic.
And there's no better craic than an evening on the water after work.
That's nice. Right, just, 60%. Warming up.
Think about your breathing, then relax through your return.
It's great, after a really hard day's work, you come down here, all your mates are here,
a lovely sunny day like today, get out on the water, peace and quiet - beautiful, priceless.
OK, start leaning back. Lay.
These boats may be used for racing nowadays, but they originated centuries ago
from a racing concept of a different kind.
Well, originally, Cornish gigs were used in the 1800s to ferry the pilot out to the ship.
Gigs from different communities would race out to get to the boat to get the pilotage first
but, then, slowly but surely, the motors developed,
so gigs were left rotting on the beaches, but now it's used for a race.
And racing is what the Devoran gig team are in training for this evening.
It's sports like the gigs that really pull communities together.
You'll have teachers, you'll have solicitors, you'll have builders,
and, once you're on the start line and the flag goes down,
it doesn't matter how much money you've got, how many cars you've got...
it's up to you for a 15-minute race to do your best, really.
In a week's time, it's Devoran's turn to host the annual regatta
on the waters of beautiful Mylor.
This team is legendary, but not for its rowing.
♪ ... will know the reason why...
We've got the finest selection of real ales you could possibly imagine,
all licensed on the shore, ready for thirsty gig rowers, really.
Well, I don't know about skills, but these lads'll need to brush up on their singing before then.
We'll join them later to see if the day is a winner.
I quite fancy captaining a team of young men like these myself.
♪ Oggy! ♪ Oi!
♪ Oggy, oggy, oggy! ♪ Oi! Oi! Oi!
Come on, Cornwall!
Further west, in the village of Helford,
for Lorna Bean, the Cornish seas exist for business, rather than pleasure.
She works as a fisherwoman for her father Chris.
As the high season arrives, Lorna's second job kicks in,
selling cream teas by the truckload from this charming little tea shop
- with her business partner Ottie. - That's your tea, with the Earl Grey.
But Lorna has a regular reminder of her other life,
as the café is the perfect pit stop for her dad.
It's the ideal arrangement.
A cup of tea in exchange for a bit of crab.
His boat's based in Helford.
He's kind of obligated to drop it off every morning, so we only sell fresh crab.
I'll be looking forward to having her back in the winter.
Now that she's married, perhaps she has to get permission to come on the boat, I don't know.
We had some foreign customers. I think they were from London, actually.
They asked for a crab sandwich and they had asked how fresh it was.
Coincidentally, my father had just turned up in the fish van on the way back from sea
and stuck a live spider crab, which is massive, long legs,
in between these two slices of bread, put it on a plate and took it out to them.
Yeah, they realised it was rather fresh, but they were quite shocked.
Mm. I bet they were.
This village is like a second home to me, so I couldn't resist popping in to say hello.
- Hello. How are you? - Really, really good, thank you.
- Can I grab a cup of tea? - Cup of tea or coffee?
- Cup of tea, please, for outside? - Yeah.
I dip in and out of this village whenever I can
but meeting people like the Beans really helps me to get to know the Cornish way of life.
You do fishing in the winter and the café during the summer.
- Two quite odd, disparate things. - Yeah. It's brilliant.
It's really nice, having two different jobs.
Going to sea every day for six years, or almost every day, becomes really monotonous.
If I was here without a winter break, I don't think I could cope doing that, either.
The people I know down here often have... sometimes three jobs, four jobs.
I know some people that will fish, but will also be carpenters.
Will bake, will... will find...
- Ooh! - Talking of baking...
- Thank you very much indeed. - Thank you.
- What way am I meant to eat it here? - Jam first, cream on top.
You see, that's just surreal.
- That's the way to do it, jam and then cream. - Yeah.
- So delicious. That's so delicious. - Lovely.
Yes.
- Would you ever move? - No.
This is home. I like the idea that I can jump in my boat and go fishing, even if it wasn't for a living.
I've got a boat, my husband's got a boat.
We can both finish our day's work and, with a couple of hours left of daylight,
go fishing, or cove beaching or, you know, make the most of that time,
without having to travel from A to B before doing it.
I've got my poly tunnel and garden just there.
- Have you? - Loads of potatoes and salad and vegetables.
- You've got everything. - Don't need to go to Tescos. Too lazy.
- Too lazy. - Yes, she's right.
I do a Tescos trip before Easter, before we open at the café,
and then I go again in November, when we close.
So you go to a supermarket twice a year?
First year I opened here, I used a tank-and-a-half of fuel in a year.
And that was only driving backwards and forwards to work.
That's exemplary. This is how we're all meant to be living, isn't it?
What a great life. I'm glad I've met Lorna and Chris.
I hope I've made new friends here in Helford.
In the picturesque setting of Mylor harbour, on the south Cornish coast,
the Devoran Gig Rowing Club has descended.
It's the club's annual regatta today, which means they'll be hosting 13 other Cornish clubs,
and taking part in some serious oar action.
Right, can I go and get changed? I need to find out where my clothes are.
As the teams limber up, it's not quite the serious tension I was expecting to see.
It's fancy dress today.
It's all a little bit less serious but, then, saying that,
once you're on the water, flag drops, it's all serious stuff.
There will be cursing and shouting and... It'll be great. It'll be a good day.
Still, Justin is holding back his trump card.
The only chance we'll ever have is because this is our river, we know where the channel is.
Well, we're supposed to know where the channel is.
As the tide comes in, boats might be running aground, but we'll be flying off,
because we'll know where the deeper water is.
Other than that, we haven't really got a hope in hell, but we'll celebrate it all the same.
Te tracksuits and the T-shirts are off, and the men that I'm coxing,
we're all dressing up as hippy, art student girls.
Big Man Joff. He's a vet, you know. Could you imagine him turning up, like that?
I don't think we're gonna do very well today, but at least we're gonna have a laugh.
It's not only Justin and his boys who are happy to make an exhibition of themselves.
Everybody is getting into the spirit of the event.
This is what gig rowing's all about. Big, muscular, masculine sport.
Training all through the winter.
Going out, freezing temperatures.
Getting up at eight o'clock in the morning before the sun's even got up.
A bit of cross-dressing.
They may all be three sheets to the wind, but now they need to get themselves together.
The race is about to begin.
Right. Ready! Set! Go!
Don't forget your timing, Ally!
Ooh. Hang on a minute. All that training looks like it's paying off.
Cadgwith are still there!
Let's go!
Oh. Maybe not.
- The boys are in a dog fight, not to finish last. - That's it! That's better!
Keep it long! Leaning back!
Keep the left! Six!
Seven!
Eight!
Oh, if only they'd put as much effort into their rowing as they have done their make-up.
Oh well, it's about the taking part, not the winning, after all, boys.
We had a good start. We were up along Falmouth crew for a little while.
I think a little bit too much alcohol
and a bit of endurance fitness might have lacked a bit there.
- Well, I think we did all right, considering. - Yeah.
You know...
Considering we were all in dresses, I think we did all right.
They may have lost the race but, in a community like this, everyone's a winner.
That's what Cornwall is about - should be about - the fact that we all get on
and we all know each other and it's a great laugh and it's a big, social event
and there's a bit of rowing, as well.
As with so many Cornish events, the day ends in the bosom of the boozer
and a good old knees-up.
♪ ... with a hosepipe on him Put him in the cellars with a hosepipe on him
At least the singing's improved.
♪ Early in the morning
Another eventful day in Cornwall and the summer has only just begun.
Ripped & Corrected By mstoll March 2017
Ripped & Corrected By mstoll Released on www.Addic7ed.com