Alex fixes it for The Chough Bakery

Our favourite Padstow pasty shop The Chough Bakery got the TV treatment when it called on the services of BBC Two’s The Fixer Alex Polizzi.

Alex has turned her no-nonsense approach to struggling family businesses and wanted boss Elaine, daughter Luisa and the rest of The Chough team to put bickering and rivalry aside to concentrate on making their bakery successful all year round.

After delivering some slightly painful home truths, Alex helped the family pull together and the programme ended on a high – with Rick Stein and Port Isaac singers Fisherman’s Friends joining in the celebrations.

It made for riveting viewing and more importantly has given The Chough a shop window nationwide. If watching made you feel hungry, you’ll be pleased to know that the award-winning Cornish pasties can be ordered online for home delivery. You can also get a delicious Cornish cream tea delivered to your door.

Well done to the Chough for being brave enough to let Alex and the cameras in and wishing you every success in 2012.

Celebrity Cornwall, Food and Drink, Our favourites

February 13, 2012 at 1:44 pm | No comment

Great Days Out – Port Isacc

 

These days, many people associate the pretty Cornish village of Port Isaac with TV hit Doc Martin. And we’re as guilty as everyone else by wondering up the hill to gawp at the cottage which doubles as the grumpy doctor’s surgery.

But Port Isaac has plenty of other delights to offer for a good day out – pubs, bakeries, gift shops and narrow quirky alleyways to name but a few.

Braver souls than us drive down to the harbour in high season as, for some reason, it’s not a one-way street  and vehicles struggle to squeeze past each other and avoid the pedestrians on the narrow, hilly and winding lanes.  And be careful to keep an eye on the tides if you park on the beach or your car could be washed into the Atlantic!

Port Isaac is about 40 minutes from our self-catering holiday cottages in Padstow and well worth a day trip.  You might even see a few famous faces!

Celebrity Cornwall, Our Cottages, Our favourites, People and places

January 27, 2012 at 2:04 pm | No comment

Daphne du Maurier’s Cornwall

ITV have announced that a  classic novel by Cornish author Daphne du Maurier is to be turned into a new drama.

The Scapegoat is to be made by a production company run by Dominic Minghella, who created Doc Martin – itself set in Cornwall fishing village Port Isaac.

The adaptation is set to renew attention on Daphne du Maurier, who spent much of her life in Cornwall. The county and the area around Fowey in particular was the setting for some of her most famous books including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and Frenchman’s Creek. Visitors flock to Cornwall each May for the annual festival celebrating the author’s life and work.

The Scapegoat, originally adapted for cinema starring Alec Guinness, is a thriller telling the story of two men with identical appearances. They meet by chance and swap lives after a boozy night, with dark consequences. The new version will star Eileen Atkins (currently appearing in Doc Martin) and Matthew Rhys.

Fans of du Maurier may also be interested in visiting the real Jamaica Inn coaching house, which has stood high on Bodmin Moor for four centuries.  It’s worth a stop on your way to our self-catering holiday cottages in Padstow, for lunch or a trip around the museum which houses a collection of smuggling artefacts.  You may even see a ghost or two!

Celebrity Cornwall, News and FAQ, Our Cottages, People and places

October 27, 2011 at 10:43 am | No comment