Cornwall

What a fabulous Travel Section that arrived with the March 9 Los Angeles Times! We especially enjoyed the beautifully written articles about north Cornwall by Paul Dean and Gloria Lopez, and hope more articles will be forthcoming from them. One year ago an article by Lopez was featured in your section; she wrote about the marvelous inn at Castang in the Dordogne region of France. Since our visit to Castang last spring was so perfect, we would never hesitate to follow Lopez's recommendations.

For a member of a supposedly extinct species, Craig Wetherill does a pretty good impression of the living. He responds to premature reports of his demise by launching into a local fairy tale. "Y'n termyn eus passys, 'th era tregas yn Selevan den ha benyn yn tyller cries Chi an Hordh. . . . " The story he's recounting is "John of the Ram's House." The language he's speaking is Cornish.

The "Cornwall district of England?" You couldn't have picked a phrase more guaranteed to deeply offend the Cornish than this one ["In Cornwall, an Eco-Vision of Eden," July 27]. Apparently, author Deborah Seaman and your editors were misled by the old Anglo-English view of history and the world that Great Britain is England and England is Great Britain. In fact, Cornwall is an ancient Celtic nation that predates Anglo-Saxon England. The other Celtic nations of Great Britain -- Scotland and Wales -- finally won devolution (basically getting the equivalent of a state legislature)

Maj. Bruce Shand, 89, father of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, died Sunday at home in Dorset, on England's south coast, her spokesman said. The cause of death was not disclosed, but Shand had been battling cancer for some time. The former cavalry officer was credited with giving his daughter steadfast support when she was publicly vilified as the cause of the tensions that led to Charles' 1996 divorce from Princess Diana.

For a member of a supposedly extinct species, Craig Wetherill does a pretty good impression of the living. He responds to premature reports of his demise by launching into a local fairy tale. "Y'n termyn eus passys, 'th era tregas yn Selevan den ha benyn yn tyller cries Chi an Hordh. . . . " The story he's recounting is "John of the Ram's House." The language he's speaking is Cornish.

Re Stan Delaplane's "Bit of Cornwall History" (Oct. 25). His article amused me, as a 63-year-old Californian who lives in Cornwall for five months each year. Using self-service gas pumps in Cornwall, as well as in California, I find there is no difference in their basic operation. They all have automatic cut-off features to protect against overfilling. But more important, as Delaplane's rented car held 10 imperial gallons, he had 250 miles available in the tank. Cornwall is 70 miles long from the Devon (Tamar River)

Thanks to Paul Dean and Gloria Lopez for their excellent articles on Cornwall, England, and the Bodard Hotel (March 9). We spent four wonderful days there. The praise they lavished on this out-of-the-way spot truly deserves reiterating. The owners are ever so friendly and accommodating, the food is unbelievably delicious, and the area is a unique experience. After walking through St. Enodoc golf course to the town of Rock, we took the ferry across Daymer Bay to Padstow for a memorable day. Eighteen holes of golf on the St. Enodoc course will not be forgotten; one bunker is 60 feet straight up. MARTHA and ERIC TELLENBACH Glendora

Having returned from a vacation to England, prompted in part by two Times articles--"Walks With Wordsworth" (April 3, 1994) and "England's Capital of China" (Sept. 11, 1994)--I read with great interest, "England's Pagan Landscapes" (Sept. 3). It was discouraging, however, to read in the Guidebook that room rates were $115-$185 per night. In the August high season in Lake Windermere, my husband and I stayed in a clean, nicely decorated, well-located hotel for about $60 per night, including full breakfast.

If you want to experience England's rugged Cornwall in luxury, stay at Well House in St. Keyne, near Liskeard. Proprietor Nicholas Wainford will welcome and cosset you. He'll ask you to share his beautiful old house, along with his chef, who was formerly with the Capitol in London and whose kitchen is one of the best. The view from any of the seven bedrooms is not the bleak cliffs of the Cornwall coast of literature.

Attend the long express from Waterloo That takes us down to Cornwall . . . On Wadebridge station what a breath of sea Scented the Camel valley! Cornish air, Soft Cornish rains, and silence after steam . . . As out of Derry's stable came the brake To drag us up those long, familiar hills, Past haunted woods and oil-lit farms and on To far Trebetherick by the sounding sea . . .

The "Cornwall district of England?" You couldn't have picked a phrase more guaranteed to deeply offend the Cornish than this one ["In Cornwall, an Eco-Vision of Eden," July 27]. Apparently, author Deborah Seaman and your editors were misled by the old Anglo-English view of history and the world that Great Britain is England and England is Great Britain. In fact, Cornwall is an ancient Celtic nation that predates Anglo-Saxon England. The other Celtic nations of Great Britain -- Scotland and Wales -- finally won devolution (basically getting the equivalent of a state legislature)

It was a barrage on the senses. The hot sun drew beads of sweat on my face. I heard the rush of a nearby waterfall and yearned to feel its cool mist. My eyes feasted on the purple Cryptostegia grandiflora blooming beside a path and other exotic foliage layered like strokes of a paintbrush. In the distance, jungle drums rose to a crescendo. As my family made its way through this foreign forest, I had to remind myself where we were: the Cornwall district of England.

Many footpaths in Britain were closed earlier this year in fear that hikers would spread foot-and-mouth disease, which devastated the country's livestock. Most of those trails, including some in scenic southern England, have since reopened, some only recently. That's cause for celebration (and this special column). Among the paths that had been closed is the 162-mile Cornwall Coast Path, one of the best-maintained trails in the country.

I started my search for King Arthur on a local train in the company of a bunch of surfers on holiday from gritty Manchester. We all were going to Newquay, and they wanted to talk about the Jerry Springer show. It was hard to picture Arthur and his knights in the flat green landscape of Cornwall rolling by outside. I've always been fond of Arthur's story and the promise of Camelot, even though it is a bittersweet tale without a happy ending.

Having returned from a vacation to England, prompted in part by two Times articles--"Walks With Wordsworth" (April 3, 1994) and "England's Capital of China" (Sept. 11, 1994)--I read with great interest, "England's Pagan Landscapes" (Sept. 3). It was discouraging, however, to read in the Guidebook that room rates were $115-$185 per night. In the August high season in Lake Windermere, my husband and I stayed in a clean, nicely decorated, well-located hotel for about $60 per night, including full breakfast.

I go to Penwith, at the southwestern tip of England, to take a journey back in time. It is there, in the Cornwall district near the Land's End cape, that I walk amid the earliest evidence of humans in Britain. From massive, free-standing monoliths to burial chambers dating back 4,000 years, Penwith contains the greatest concentration of ancient monuments in the British Isles.

Camelot is alive and well, tucked away among the ancient hills and jagged cliffs of Cornwall. The magic has been enshrined in Tintagel, a coastal village 275 miles southwest of London in a setting so enchanting that it might have been designed for the artist's palette or the photographer's lens. But to attract a steady, year-round stream of visitors, Tintagel relies not on nature but on romance.

If you want to experience England's rugged Cornwall in luxury, stay at Well House in St. Keyne, near Liskeard. Proprietor Nicholas Wainford will welcome and cosset you. He'll ask you to share his beautiful old house, along with his chef, who was formerly with the Capitol in London and whose kitchen is one of the best. The view from any of the seven bedrooms is not the bleak cliffs of the Cornwall coast of literature.