Cornwall is a land beyond England, in Simon Jenkins’s happily ambiguous phrase. First, prosaically, it protrudes: with a coastal path of 300 miles and with no village more than 16 miles from the sea, the Cornish peninsula extends mainland England far to the south and west. Second, in some less definable way, it feels palpably distinct. Much of the landscape and streetscape is unmistakeably and intensely English, but equally unmistakable is a pervasive all-enveloping Cornishness.

The physical reality of slate and granite gave rise to tough economic realities; except at the height of the Industrial Revolution, Cornwall has usually been among the least prosperous parts of the country, mining and fishing and marginal farming providing hard ways to earn a living. Redolent of struggle and privation, the county provides a less luxuriant version of the traditional English scene – reminiscent in many ways of the England of a generation or two ago.

There are moorland and coastal landscapes of rugged beauty, but also vistas of heart-stopping charm. There are dramatic cliffs, becalmed valleys with patchwork emerald fields, fecund gardens in sub-tropical microclimates, dour yet impossibly pretty fishing villages and architectural gems among country mansions and proud little towns.

With seven coastal and country walks of between two and seven miles this certainly merits the description ‘walking tour’, but that’s only half the story. On average, over half the active part of the day is not spent walking: the usual MRT activities of looking and learning fill up the rest of the time. The lecturer is a marine biologist, though as a Cornishman who writes on a range of subjects he is an ideal companion for this wide-ranging tour. We also bring in local experts to enlarge on specialist areas.

Cornwall’s maritime heritage is a major theme of the tour. Gardens are another thread, a southerly latitude and the Gulf Stream conspiring to ensure that exotic flowering shrubs flourish. Archaeology, architecture, country houses, the vernacular architecture of town and village and the many literary associations also feature prominently.

Cornwall has a special place in the history of British art. Drawn by scenic beauty, rural simplicity, the drama of the sea and the special quality of light, artists have come to live and work here from the 1880s to the present day. The fishing villages of Newlyn and Falmouth were at first the most important colonies, but in the twentieth century St Ives became a significant outpost of the avant-garde. Bernard Leach, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and Terry Frost are among the artists who settled here.

We have striven to include a representative sample of each category, which usually includes the best, while avoiding those spots excessively clotted by trippers. The walks have been selected from among many we tried and tested.

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