West Cornwall: Sykes’ Boslow Cottage

 

Oldest daughter is sitting her GCSEs this year with her first Art exam immediately after Easter Break. She wanted to take a few days off to just chill out before she spent the rest of the break studying in earnest. The poor girl has 22 exams over 2 months! I find the UK education system for teens unecessarily stressful, but that’s a whole other discussion.

Our challenge was to find somewhere in the UK a teenager could unwind. She likes surfing, and has never surfed in the UK, so we thought we would check out the famous surf culture in West Cornwall. We found a Sykes Cottage in St Just, which is the closest town to Lands End, and the gorgeous Sennen Cove! So off we went to wild and rugged windswept West Cornwall!

 

 

 

 

I’ve reviewed Sykes Cottages for a while now and have been delighted with each one we have stayed in. I trust their rating system (we always go for 4 or 5 ticks). Each of their 10,000+ listed properties have been personally inspected and approved. If you have ever booked that “perfect cottage”, only to find out that it was no so perfect when you arrived, you will appreciate how important this it.

Boslow Cottage in St. Just suited us well. A traditional 1800s granite terraced house that overlooks the sea, it was close enough to walk to the centre of town (5 minutes) or to the stunning Cape Cornwall Coast (1 mile easy walk). If you are feeling ambitious, the coastal path to Lands End is a 2-hour ramble.

Boslow was recently extended and completely renovated, adding space and luxuries including a gorgeous kitchen and underfloor heating, while at the same time preserving original features like the granite fireplace and floor boards. The effect is a very comfortable cottage to cozy up in when the West Cornish elements rage outside.

 

 

 

 

Boslow sleeps 6, with 3 bedroom upstairs (1 x king-size double with TV and en-suite; 1 x twin with T;. 1 x double with TV). There’s a family bathroom with heated tiles and 15-jet jacuzzi bath – just the thing a teen needs after an afternoon surfing. There are fabulous view over headlands and to the sea from the upstairs bedroom where you can watch the sunset.

 

 

 

 

The ground floor has a sitting room with leather sofas and a large wood burning stove with lots of logs, kindling and newspapers and everything you need to use it. We made several fires and really enjoyed them. The living area connects to a beautiful kitchen that has everything – including wine fridge! This year I brought several premade meals from COOK, which made meal times very easy.

 

 

My 14-year-old’s perspective

Every night we had dinner at Boslow. Mum brought everything we needed, including some yummy pre-made dinners from COOK. All we had to do was put it in the oven! One night we had a pasta bake and mum forgot the cheese so my sister and I walked into town to get some.

 

 

 

Owners Sharon and Adrian are very proud of Boslow, and they’ve left several helpful laminated notes around the house, almost answering your questions before you ask them. “Please mind the towel radiator, it can get very HOT” or a note on the mirror to wave on the lights (how else would you know). 

 

My 15-year-old’s perspective

Boslow was very cozy, yet spacious, and the perfect place to come back to after a long day surfing! I got my own room (with an en suite!) But I liked to use the other bathroom too because it has a bath with jets!

 

 

 

 

Boslow has two outside areas with lawns, and a patio, barbecue pit and garden furniture. My only niggle was the parking. There’s room for 2 cars through a very narrow lane (6 feet 7 inches to be precise). Our car (Volvo XC90) fit within millimetres, but my husband found it too stressful to attempt a second time so we opted to park on the coastal road for the remainder of our stay.

 

 

 

About St Just

Boslow is situated on the very edge of St. Just, a quaint mining town with galleries, restaurants, cafes, a Post Office, butchers and bakers and 4 family friendly pubs. St Just is the nearest town to Land’s End and is about eight miles west of Penzance. The town is an ancient settlement and is stepped in tin mining history. In the centre of the town is Plain-an-Gwarry, a theatre used for miracle plays in medieval times, and more recently for the Lafrowda Arts Festival.

 

 

 

 

Things to do in the area

Make sure to ready my post 14 Things to do with kids in West Cornwall. Meanwhile, here are a few highlights:

• Cape Cornwall, where the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean meet, is about a 20 minute walk from the the cottage.
• From St Just, the coastal path leads to dramatic Land’s End within a two hour ramble or head northwards to Pendeen Watch lighthouse.
• Four miles away is Sennen Cove, a beautiful stretch of light sand, blue sea and rock pools. It’s also home to the ultracool Sennen Surf Centre, Sennen surf shop and Ben Tunnicliffe’s foodie eatery. 
• Penzance is about 20 minutes sway, with St Michael’s Mount, colourful harbour and Art Deco Jubilee Pool. It’s just a bit further to Mousehole.
• Porthcurno Beach with its Minack Theatre carved in the granite cliff above are also must-see attractions.
• Arty St Ives, with its galleries, museums, restaurants, cafes and beaches is about 20 minutes drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My 13-year-old’s perspective

We could walk to Cape Cornwall from our Sykes Cottage, it was only about 20 minutes. We passed cows and horses on the way, and ended up at Cape Cornwall. Cape Cornwall is very where 2 bodies of water meet. There was a sea lido there (where you could swim if you were brave!) and also a nice place to get cakes which my mum liked.

 

 

 

IF YOU GO

 

Sykes Cottages sykescottages.co.uk A huge choice of over 10,000 personally inspected holiday cottages to rent in the UK and Ireland. We were really pleased the with high quality of our rental Boslow.

Cape Cornwall St Just area, Land’s End Peninsula, Cornwall, TR19 7NN https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cape-cornwall

Pendeen Watch Lighthouse St Just, Pendeen, Penzance TR19 7ED

Levant Mine and Beam Engine Pendeen, Trewellard, Penzance TR19 7SX https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/levant-mine-and-beam-engine

Sennen Surf Centre Sennen Cove Penzance TR19 7BT +4401736 871227 http://www.sennensurfingcentre.com

Ben Tunnicliffe Sennen Cove Cornwall TR19 7BT +44 01736 871191 http://benatsennen.com

Tate St Ives Porthmeor Beach, Saint Ives TR26 1TG +44 01736 796226 http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-st-ives

Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden Barnoon Hill, St Ives, Cornwall TR26 1AD +44 01736 796226 http://www.tate.org.uk/

Leach Pottery Higher Stennack, Saint Ives TR26 2HE ≠44 01736 799703 https://www.leachpottery.com

Porthmeor Beach Cafe Porthmeor Beach, St Ives  TR26 1JZ
https://porthmeor-beach.co.uk/cafe/

St Ives Bakery 52 Fore St, Saint Ives TR26 1HE +44 01736 798888 http://www.stivesbakery.co.uk

Porthcurno Beach Porthcurno Cornwall TR19 6JX

St Michael’s Mount Marazion TR17 0HS +44 01736 710265 http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/st-michaels-mount

Jubilee Outdoor Bathing Pool Battery Rd, Penzance TR18 4FF +44 01736 369224
https://www.jubileepool.co.uk/

The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno, Penzance TR19 6JU +44 01736 810181
https://www.minack.com

 

 

Disclosure: Our stay at Boslow was provided by Sykes Cottages for the purposes of this review. All opinions are my own.

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