Sunshine in Winter - Newquay - Concerts - Hotels - The Journey

Those who marry in winter can find sunshine and soft air without leaving

England. Is there not the Cornish Riviera ?

A honeymoon spent at Newquay, for instance, offers beautiful scenery, splendid air, and even amusements, all at a trifling expense as compared with a trip abroad.

There are many first-class hotels and houses where rooms are to be had, and charges are very moderate in the winter.

The Attractions Of Cornwall

With regard to Cornwall, one of its great charms, after its liberal allowance of sunshine, is the wonderful colour of the sea - bright emerald under a sky of vivid turquoise, or deepest sapphire, according to the time of day. The land scenery varies from wild and rugged, with sparse trees slanting away from the shore, to hills and dales of greenest verdure. In sheltered places myrtles, fuchsias and geraniums grow into trees, and roses bloom all the year round.

In windy weather the seas are grand, breaking over the rocks in great clouds of foam, and tossing delicate wafts of spray high in the air - a splendid spectacle.

In Newquay there are two public halls, and good concerts are occasionally held there. The Dance of Flora is an open-air function, and is quite peculiar to Cornwall.

A quiet and beautiful little place is St. Columb Porth, this latter word signifying a long stretch of sand out into the sea. Like many other romantic spots in Cornwall, it affords that solitude to which the usual honeymoon couple so markedly incline. There are beautiful walks with fine views all the way, and there are many points of interest to be reached by driving. But should solitude pall upon them, they can go to the Cavern Concerts held in a hall that is Certainly unique. It is an immense cavern, with an entrance so little hospitable that the visitor has either to crawl in or else be carried to a higher opening above the water line on a boatman's back.

The piano has to be lowered over the cliff, and slid into the opening above the water by means of an ingenious arrangement of planks. Visitors are requested to bring their own campstools and candles. The music sounds most beautiful in this Banqueting Hall, as the great cavern is called.

Perranporth, equally quiet, is wild and rocky. The sea encroaches there, and two churches have been buried in the sand.

Cornish Fare

At the hotel here one can have a Cornish tea, a most delectable and satisfying meal, the price of which is ninepence. For this modest sum is provided not only the beverage itself, with bread-and-butter, but also a local dainty known as "heavy cakes," and a liberal allowance of clotted cream.

Hidden away between two headlands, East and West Pentire Points, is Crantire, an ancient haunt of smugglers, another quiet village. Apartments can be had in Crantire. In walking from Newquay one has to cross the River Gannel, that at low tide can be forded. About it are to be seen the curious little birds, unlike any others, called "shrikes," and believed by the superstitious to be inhabited by the souls of sailors lost at sea. The cause of this belief is probably the peculiarly plaintive cry of these little brown birds.

The journey from Paddington to Cornwall is a pleasant one, lying through pretty scenery. If the honeymoon couple have spent the night in town, as so many of them do, they can catch the 10 a.m., and they will be well advised if they ask the guard to order a tea-basket for them at Plymouth. Should they go by the 1 o'clock, or 3.30, the order would be for a dinner-basket,

A man's best fortune, or his worst, is his wife," according to an old proverb.

The truth of the saying has been proved beyond question. It is in the power of a wife to help her husband daily and hourly in his career, and indirectly, too, in the influence of her character on his; she it is who makes or mars him. History is full of examples of wives who have devoted their lives to their husbands in much more than a domestic sense.

For instance, to take an example of our own time. there is Lady Roberts. For over fifty years she has been a real helpmate to her husband; she has never allowed her personal wishes to stand in his way; she has never claimed the privileges of a wife when they would have interfered with his duty or his advancement.

From the very beginning she showed of what mettle she was made. While she and Lieutenant Roberts were on their honeymoon in May, 1859, he was summoned from Scotland to Windsor to receive his Victoria Cross. He meant to have resumed the honeymoon tour after this honour had been conferred on him, but he received a notification that if he took the three months' extra leave for which he had applied, he would lose his appointment in the Quartermaster-general's Department. Without hesitation his bride urged an immediate return to India, and, after a hasty visit of farewell to county Waterford, the young Irish girl, accustomed to the cool and gentle Irish climate, set out with her husband to face the Red Sea in July.

Her fortitude was well tested. So exceptional was the heat that twice the captain turned the ship to steam against the wind, in order to revive the passengers, some of whom were absolutely suffocating.

After this experience, the next was the monsoon in the Bay of Bengal - rudder broken, all guiding lightships blown about drifting helplessly, anxiety as to provisions and coal - in short, an adventure of the most thrilling and uncomfortable description.

Mrs. Roberts, worn out and ill, may have cast thoughts back to Nora Bews, the lighthearted girl who rode to hounds in county Waterford, but if she looked back, she was nevertheless indomitable.