For her, it was almost love at first sight. In 1926, while walking in the countryside where her family had settled after spending many holidays there, Daphne du Maurier, a successful writer, discovered a hidden estate in the woods on the south coast of Cornwall, Menabilly. Fascinated, she lived there for a while, renovating it with enthusiasm, but never succeeding in becoming its owner. And she makes it the manor of Manderley, the one where young Rebecca will face the ghost of her husband’s first wife. English literature found one of its masterpieces there, and Cornwall, this region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, where Daphne du Maurier will locate the majority of her work, their most famous voice. Wild moors, dozens of sandy beaches, small ports, immense cliffs, a sort of little Britain located at the bottom of Great Britain.
In five and a half hours by train, we dive from the suburbs of London to the beach of the small port of Penzance. After the incidents of a departure where, first class carriages having been eliminated, the beneficiaries of these places wander around looking for the equivalent, the London suburbs fade away and the countryside passes by. Green and flat, it follows a canal; we discover the suite of 1950s Taunton warehouses, the all-wooden Totness station, behind which stand brick factory chimneys, the tunnel which precedes the arrival at Plymouth and the impressive Royal Eye Infirmary.
But it is from Saltash that the beauty of Cornwall appears. The very beautiful Royal Albert Bridge, an escape on the Tamar River, a canal covered with small boats offer the first view of the coast. The landscape becomes much hillier. Another beautiful arch bridge spans Liskeard. The end of the line is very beautiful. The stations are close to each other: the village of Par, where the ashes of Daphne du Maurier were scattered in the sea, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle. And we arrive at Penzance, the extreme tip of Cornwall. Further away is the Atlantic. An engraved stone marked with a few words of welcome welcomes travelers.
Penzance (20,000 inhabitants) has the charm of small, distant ports. If there are a few monuments there, it is the stroll that guides the traveler. In the morning, having a coffee at Harbourside, a small building on the water’s edge, becomes enchanting. The boats rock, courageous swimmers jump into the water at the bottom of a slipway. “Is it cold?” » “Yes”, say the intrepid ones with a smile. The cafe owner calls you ” Mon Amour “, serves you at its own pace. Time seems to flow by itself.
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