Cornish sightseeing in London

Editor Nigel Pengelly takes some time away from Royal engagements to explore the capital of England.

London is a place I don’t get to often enough; being in Cornwall it seems like an uphill stank to get to the big smoke.

However, as I was invited to a Buckingham Palace tea party for my contributions to the Cornish community, I thought I would make the most of my trip.

I flew to London from Newquay with Air Southwest and, I must say, it is the way to travel.

The check in time is quick, the flight of around one hour ten minutes is comfortable and you land at London City Airport in the heart of the capital.

This is such a convenient and inexpensive way to travel to London. The train takes five hours and a drive is six hours (and then you have the inconvenience and expense of having a car in London).

I shall never drive or take a car to London again.

So once my meeting with the Queen is over, it’s off to explore the city.

I’m staying at the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes on Baker Street, which was recommended to me a comfortable and reasonably priced establishment.

The Sherlock Holmes has a lovely, relaxed but efficient atmosphere. It’s a four star hotel worthy of a higher accolade and has to be one of the most presentable places I have stayed. The room is spotlessly clean and spacious with all the trappings of a modern, city hotel.

So I trek on a Cornish tour of London.

There are many things to do in London of a Cornish flavour and I had made a list before I went away.

However, I only managed three items on my itinerary.

I’ve always wanted to see the Rillaton Gold Cup that is currently housed in the British Museum. The cup is a bronze age item found on Bodmin Moor in 1837, and is considered one of the most important finds ever to be unearthed in the Duchy. Workmen plundered a burial cairn for stone at Rillaton and inside found a stone-lined vault containing human remains, the gold cup, a Bronze Age dagger and several other items. The cup is more than 4,000 years old and has Aegean style metalwork, suggesting cultural and trading links with the Eastern Mediterranean.The cup was lost but turned in the dressing room of King George V as a receptacle for his collar studs.

The cup is impressive to see and there have been recent calls to return the cup, and other gold hoards discovered in Cornwall, to be returned to the Duchy.

Other items of interest to be found at the museum are Roman pewter made from Cornish tin, a silver chalice found near St Austell, porcelain items made from Cornish clays and a pioneering marine chronometer made by John Arnold from Bodmin.

Next on my tour is the stained glass window in Westminster Abbey dedicated to the Cornish engineer and inventor Richard Trevithick.

The window was unveiled in 1888 and depicts St Michael and nine Cornish saints: Piran, Petroc, Pinnock, Germanus, Julian, Cyriacus, Constantin, Nonna and Geraint. The head of St Piran appears to be a portrait of Trevithick and the figure carries a Cornish banner. The window includes images of angels carrying scrolls, on which are Trevithick’s great inventions: the tramroad locomotive, the Cornish pumping engine, the steam dredger and the railway locomotive. It’s an impressive sight and an inscription reads: Richard Trevithick born 13 April 1771 died 22 April 1833.

Finally, before heading back to Baker Street I visit the site of the Battle of Deptford Bridge. There is a commemorative plaque near to the entrance of Greenwich Park in Kernewek and English remembering the events of June 17, 1497. The battle was the climax of the Cornish rebellion against Henry VII and his taxes. Cornish archers blocked the way of the King’s men at the Deptford Bridge, but the Cornish army was eventually overpowered and forced to surrender. Michael Joseph An Gof of St Keverne and Thomas Flamank of Bodmin, the leaders of the rebellion, were executed at Tyburn.

Back at the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes I settle down for dinner at the Sherlock Holmes Grill and opt for the recommendations of the food and beverage manager Adam.

The food is spectacularly fresh and the mozzarella and basil puree with beef tomatoes is one of the best starter dishes I have ever had. At £13.95, for a two-course meal this is a good deal and among some of the best presented food you are likely to find in the capital.

Mysterious tunnels, castles and antique shops leave Gemma Viant a lot to explore in Lostwithiel.