1936 On the Continent

Quality, rather than quantity, has been the aim of those responsible for its amusements, and in this they have been well advised.
Its Favoured Position
    Situated in a delightful bay, sheltered on one side by St. Alban’s Head, and on the other by the Isle of Wight, it occupies a singularly favoured position. What strikes the visitor most, perhaps, is the general atmosphere of quiet cheerfulness; the feeling that one can be happy here without any artificial stimulus. The public gardens, tastefully laid out, have an air of calm dignity that is distinctly restful to those who seek relief from the bustle and turmoil of business. And, of course, there is the fragrance of the pines mingled with the tang of the sea, the effect being, in spite of the seeming contradiction, both restful and bracing. And just as some towns give the impression of being rather dirty, or at least soiled, so Bournemouth gives the impression of being clean; clean air, clean atmosphere, clean streets, and clean buildings.
Attractions and Surroundings
    It has, of course, its theatres, cinemas, concerts and so forth, all of which are first-class, but one of its chief attractions is the facilities it affords for delightful trips and excursions. Among the places well worth visiting is P OOLE (only five miles away), whose age it would be difficult to compute exactly. In the opposite direction, and also five miles distant, is C HRISTCHURCH with its ancient Priory Church. D ORCHESTER —a Mecca for all true Hardy pilgrims—is only 28 miles away, and Bere Regis, which dates back to Saxon times, is also well known to Hardy enthusiasts.
    On all counts, therefore, Bournemouth ranks high among holiday resorts, and its motto might well be (though it isn’t)
Nulli Secundus
.
The Cornish Riviera
    Though doubtless well meant, it was less than just to dub west Cornwall “the Riviera,” for, unlike its Continental namesake, it has no dreaded
mistral
. That is to say, one need not fear stepping out of warm sunshine into shade and being instantly chilled as a result. The temperature is extremely mild throughout the winter and there are none of those sudden variations which one experiences on the Côte d’Azur. There are, it is true, terrific storms occasionally, but they do not affect the general mildness of the atmosphere, though they do provide a magnificent spectacle when viewed from, say, Land’s End or the Lizard.
    P ENZANCE may be regarded as the principal town of the Cornish Riviera, not only because it is the last town in Cornwall, but also because it makes a convenient centre for trips inland and round the coast. The town itself, though it possesses several first-class hotels and boardinghouses, does not lay itself out to cater for the holiday visitor as do most other seaside resorts. This may well be because there is so much to see in and around the place that a programme of conventional amusements would be superfluous. Apart from its fine seafront looking out on Mount’s Bay, with St. Michael’s Mount standing out majestically like a huge sentinel, and the Morab Gardens, in which various tropical plants flourish in the open all the year round, it has no particular attractions. But N EWLYN —which is a sort of annexe to Penzance—will keep the visitor pleasurably occupied for quite a time.
Newlyn and Mousehole
    Though it has a fine harbour and is an important fishing port, Newlyn is still hardly more than a village with a quaint main street winding and struggling up a steep hill lined with picturesque cottages. It continues round the face of the cliffs, providing a magnificent view of Mount’s Bay, and finally drops down into the romantic shing village of M OUSEHOLE . This, with its little semicircularharbour and old cottages, is one of the most delightful villages in Cornwall. The chief object of interest historically is the Keigwin Arms where, however, neither beer nor spirits are sold. The architecture is Elizabethan, and it was a mansion when the Spaniards descended on Mousehole in 1595 and burnt down the church of St. Paul.
    The return to Newlyn can be made by a different route and through the old village of Paul, in the churchyard of which is buried the last person who spoke the Cornish language.
Land’s End
    L AND’S E ND , only ten miles from Penzance, is, of course, a place that no visitor misses, though some declare that it is not to be compared in magnificence with the scenery on other parts of the Cornish coast. Visible from it on a