RAME HEAD/MOUNT EDGCUMBE

And so we come to the opposite ‘bookend’ of Cornwall to Lands End – the Rame Peninsula, tipped by the wild and windswept Rame Head. Rame Head is very different from its brash western opposite number, with not a theme park or entrance turnstile in sight, just an 11th century monks’ chapel and an assortment of animals, including deer and Dartmoor ponies.

Further round the Rame peninsula, on the Western shore of Plymouth Sound, is the stately Mount Edgcumbe Estate, an 865-acre country park surrounding a tudor mansion, Mount Edgcumbe House. Plymouth and its surrounding area was badly hit during the Second World War, due to the strategic importance of its naval facilities, and sadly, Mount Edgcumbe House was caught up in the blitz in 1941, with many of its treasures including paintings and furniture lost in the resulting fire. Rebuilding started in the late 1950s, and now the House is open for visits, while the Estate offers wonderful walks with fantastic views over Plymouth Sound.

Map of the area.

Rame Head from the sea. Photo by Mark Murphy, via Wikimedia Commons.