This is the very first of my blog posts that I want to occasionally do on here, starting with where I live and the surrounding area! I have called this section “Journeys in Ink – An Adventurer’s Guide to Drawing in:”, and I will take you through my fave places to draw, eat, walk and explore!
A lot of my inspiration comes from my surroundings, the coastline and what the world’s natural beauty has to offer! I know I have chatted about it a lot in zooms over the last few years and how lots of you visit/want to visit Cornwall, so thought I would start by sharing my fave places with you!!
I have also popped some pictures for inspiration along the way 😊 I hope you enjoy giving this a little read and would love to know if you have been to any of these places and what you think!
Journeys in Ink: An Adventurers Guide to Newquay and Padstow:
I live here in Newquay, Cornwall so what better place to start! Newquay sits right on the North Coast of Cornwall, and is inundated with beaches, as well as offering a harbour full of gorgeous little coloured fishing boats, places to eat, wildlife and wonderful walks! Padstow sits just up the coast and is famously known as ‘Padstein’, after the TV chef Rick Stein, made Padstow famous (and now very expensive!) for it’s food. This brings A LOT of tourists to the area, so if you really want to enjoy it, make sure you come outside of school holidays! It has a large harbour that the little town is centred around, shops, bakeries and a lovely walk round to a long stretch of golden sand. Idyllic right? So here we go…
PLACES TO DRAW
Newquay:
Newquay Harbour – this is my favourite place to draw here in Newquay as the boats are so colourful, you can watch the fisherman come in with their catch, followed by the resident wild seal! (The other day there were 3 having a little nap floating in the safety of the harbour!). When the tide is out this harbour is all sand, so make sure you get an incoming/high tide to see the boats at their best! This is also when the fishermen come in and you can watch them unloading their catch which I love to do!
On one side of the harbour (down from the Red Lion Pub), there is a little walkway with steps down onto the ocean. I often go and sit there as its blocked off past that so people aren’t walking past you constantly which makes it a nice quiet place to draw. You can also have a little swim on a high tide if you fancy it too, as there are steps that go right into the water! (See below)
BONUS TIP:Â You can grab a drink and food from the boathouse on the other side of the harbour, where all summer they have a variety of delicious food trucks and sit with the perfect view to sit and draw from! – This is perfect if you are with someone else who doesn’t draw as they can enjoy sitting and chatting and eating with you while you draw.
Drawing on any of our beaches is always fun as there is so much going on in the summer months! You can sit and draw people as they play, surf, walk and snooze!We have 10 beaches from Watergate to Crantock, so PLENTY to choose from!!
Beach names in order from North to South: – Watergate – Whipsiderry – Porth – Lusty Glaze – Tolcarn – Great Western – Towan – Little Fistral – Fistral – CrantockIf you are here in winter, the beaches will be deserted but there is likely to still be a bunch of surfers in the sea! This is great for taking in the landscape and the beauty it has to offer without the clutter of people. Sometimes, we even get snow!!
(Holywell Bay Beach, Jan 2023)
Fistral Beach – here you will have a great view of the Headland Hotel (which featured in the original Witches film by Roald Dahl!).It has gorgeous architecture and is a joy to draw! Pssst! They also do a lovely cream tea in there!
(Not my photo)
 If its cold and wet and you want to draw inside, I fully recommend the following places with a view!
 – The Boathouse and harbour view (as above as its under shelter!) – Bedruthan Hotel – Incredible selection of cakes and amazing views of Mawgan Porth (Just round the corner from Newquay!) – Watergate Bay Hotel – for a high up view, go into their snug/living space restaurant, get yourself a hot chocolate and cake and sit and draw the winding headland from the (massive) windows! If you want something closer to the beach – especially if you want to draw people – head to their Beach Hut restaurant on the front. Grab a warm focaccia and oil, a glass of wine/hot beverage and draw away! TOP TIP: If you can, get a seat in their conservatory as its all glass so the best views!
Padstow:
Padstow Harbour – Im a sucker for a harbour so you will see lots on here!! This one has much bigger boats than the Newquay one but I love how you can sit anywhere around the edge and dangle your feet while you draw! Lots of tourists here in the summer to draw too. It’s a really popular crabbing spot so you can draw families as they dandle their buckets into the water, munching on ice creams (that are more often than not stolen by seagulls), and take in the hustle and bustle of life. If this freaks you out because you worry you’ll be watched – don’t worry, no body seems to notice what you’re doing as they are too busy looking at the view/chasing the seagull that stole their ice cream!
However, if you want it quieter, make sure to come out of peak season to have it to yourself!
Just around the corner past the harbour is where the Ferry to Rock comes in! Its a bright yellow and white Ferry and fun to draw – I took some photos and drew from them later as it moved surprisingly fast!
If you want to draw landscapes, carry on round the coast towards St.Georges Cove, where you can take in the vast landscape and sea, dotted with little houses.
PLACES TO EAT
Newquay:
Sabzi Deli does DELISH lunches of veggie salads and Dahl – my go to is a latte and a snack box with a spoon of dahl on top, a pita bread and a cookie for pud! You will leave FULL from here and it will give you energy all afternoon!! They ALSO do the best granola I have EVER had!! It is only on until 11 so make sure to get there for breakfast!
Pizza Jockeys – Delicious pizza – make sure to get their basil and garlic dip too!
If you are up at Bedruthan Hotel – they have 2 restaurants, Oyo and their hotel restaurant. I have eaten at both and they are equally delicious!! You can have a spa day with lunch and get a daily changing menu to suit what’s in season and its blooming scrumptious!
Padstow:
The Cornish Pasty Co just tucked behind the front of the harbour has the best pasties in Padstow!
AVOID Rick Stein’s Fish and Chips!! They’re ‘famous’ because of his links to the area, but are average and SO overpriced. You will be paying £20 each for fish and chips, and if you want any sauces like mayo – they’ll whack on an extra £4!!
Watch out for your food and ice cream! The seagulls here are MENACES and will swoop right over your shoulder and take the lot in one go.
PLACES TO WALK
Newquay:
You can walk from town right around the headland to Fistral beach, and then beyond onto Pentire point to see beautiful views!
We have 10 beaches here in Newquay and they’re all lovely to walk on! All dog friendly (apart from Porth which is not dog friendly in the day times in summer).
 You can also do a little circular around Crantock which starts from the National Trust Carpark on the beach, then heads down the gannel through lovely woodland, where you can ogle all the multi million pound houses on the other side, up through lovely quiet back roads and down through Crantock village which is super pretty!
Watergate beach – you can either walk along this long stretch of sand, or above it on the coast path for more panoramic views
Watergate – Mawgan Porth. This walk is around 3.75km each way! If you start at Watergate carpark, you can walk to Mawgan Porth, get a pasty and a pint and then head back! Stunning views – just make sure to stay clear of the cliff edge as there have been lots of rockfalls!
Padstow:
There is a really gorgeous walk around the headland from Padstow. I recommend downloading the All Trails app (free and can be used around the world!!) to see where this walk takes you! If you fancy something shorter, you can walk up from the town (to the left if you are facing the sea) and see a lovely view point! You can walk a little further and reach a ling stretch of beach!
THINGS TO DO & ANYTHING ELSE
Newquay:
Our garden centre is small but cute – with a great selection of houseplants (perfect to replenish your dying collection in your studio if you are anything like me!) and has a lovely cafe!
If I ever need to clear my head and get inspiration, I will either walk the coast path, or head inland a bit to be around wildlife, trees and flowers! The Sang near Nansledan is a heap of wildflower meadows (in spring) and lovely to walk around as the swallows and swifts swoop around you. We have also seen Barn owls hunting here at dusk! There is a little free carpark there too 😊
Skate parks – we have 3 skateparks in and around here (but also lots in Cornwall!)
Go surfing!! Watergate Bay is my all time fave place to surf (best at high tide!)
Padstow:
Get the Ferry over to Rock and explore the area where the royals and many other celebs spend their holiday! Have lunch or dinner at the Four Boys restaurant – delicious sea food!!
Spend an hour or 3 crabbing!
Rent bikes and cycle down the camel trail to Wadebridge (or vice versa!) This is a super safe and family friendly flat cycle path that used to be a railway. Lovely views and there is little a little food and ice cream truck half way between Padstow and Wadebridge! There is also Camel Wine Vineyard on this route (past Wadebridge) so you can do a spot of wine tasting!
Well thats it for this one!! I hope it’s given you lots of things to add to your list!!
Comment below as I would love to hear your thoughts 😊 😊
They ALSO do the best granola I have EVER had!! It is only on until 11 so make sure to get there for breakfast!
