Liskeard - An authentic Cornish Town

[@faithg9766]

Well done for getting out bright & early to show us this interesting town. The sunrise had a Turneresque quality about it.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Faith! Glad you enjoyed the tour around the town. I was impressed with the colours of the sunrise - it was an unexpected delight! Cheers, Paul

[@royedwards8713]

Hi Paul thanks for the tour round ,and have a good week 👌

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Roy! Hope you are having a great week too! Just catching up with some editing of the videos that I filmed when I was away. Take care, Paul

[@JessesGrandDaysOut]

I'm impressed by your commitment being up so early and already being productive but worth it for those sunrise photos (they looked like an explosion of colour!) Thanks for the tip about the cafe and the facts were so interesting.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Jesse! Yes, I was trying to avoid traffic noise and the hustle and bustle of the town. I was rewarded by the sunrise which I was not expecting! Take care, Paul

[@hvee4]

Ah, that’s a nice tour of this small Cornish town, it’s not a town I am familiar with or even visited but it was lovely to walk around with you and yes I hope your video has restored some balance and I am sure it has, thanks for sharing Paul 👍🏻👍🏻

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Lee - I am just editing Severn Way 21 at the moment! Yes, it often gets overlooked - which is a real shame - but it does mean it is not spoiled, and it still feels authentically Cornish. Thanks so much! Take care, Paul

[@ian4iPad2]

Interesting tour of Liskeard, Paul, not a town I’m familiar with. Great sunrise captured too! I just saw my first advert break on your channel. I don’t mind ads per se but this one interrupted you in mid-sentence during a fascinating explanation. I wonder whether editing content allows you to control where ads can appear instead of suddenly and randomly. I’ve had this before on other channels; not a huge problem really but it would improve the viewing experience. Regardless, I’m still a fan of your videos. Keep creating! 👍

[@westcountrywanderings]

Hi Ian, Thank you for pointing that out. Appreciate the feedback. It should not have done that, but I have now changed it so there is no longer a mid video ad break there. Thanks so much! Glad you found the tour interesting. It is a town I am very fond of and one of the few that still has a traditional Cornish feel to it. Take care, Paul

[@michaelpilling531]

Hello Paul - greetings from Poland Thanks you for the early morning g visit to Liskeard. I agree. Worth a visit. Your timing was superb. No people about which I'm sure suited you and very little noise. Beautifully photographed with an excellent commentary.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Michael! Hard to believe now, but prior to 1971 and the bypass, the A38 went right through the middle of the town! It can still get congested, but early filming avoids the worst of the traffic noise. Thanks so much for your kind comments. Take care, Paul

[@tohm9070]

Lived in St Austell my whole life and honestly never knew there was anything other than a train station at Liskeard

[@westcountrywanderings]

It is well worth the shortish train ride from St. Austell - just 25 minutes I think. It has got much bigger since the 1980s - just like St. Austell has. Cheers, Paul

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

Looks a great place to visit - and with a rail station. I think you capture the early morning atmosphere very well, especially the sounds of the traffic etc breaking the sleepy silence. It looked rather chilly!

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Malcolm! Yes, Liskeard has very good public transport links - including busses to Polperro and Downderry (lovely beach!). It wasn't too cold thankfully - Cornwall being somewhat milder than the other counties that I cover. I think that time of day (or earlier, if it is lighter) is the best time for doing urban walks and filming. Thanks for watching and commenting. Take care, Paul

[@SouthWestSundays]

That was fabulous Paul! A really interesting and engaging tour of Liskeard! So many fascinating facts and you showed us some lovely buildings. As usual you presented it so well. That veggie cafe sounds like they do yummy food and the sunrise was the icing on the cake! I will definitely take a look at Liskeard next time I am in that area and great to know you can get a bus to Polperro from there. It’s so handy being on the train main line.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Louise! This lovely town appeared in that ugh Turd Towns series, which really annoyed me! Completely off target, because there is much to appreciate in the town, and, apart from Andrew & Sarah's Cornwall Walking Trails video on Liskeard a while ago, there aren't really any videos on YT about the town. It is well served by public transport and it has excellent coast nearby too - including Seaton & Downderry (video coming soon!) and Polperro & Looe. The Veggie cafe is excellent and there are some good coffee shops too, as well as the garden 'inside' Stuart House. Busses are great options with the £2/£2.50 single fares at the moment. Thanks so much! Take care, Paul

[@WanderingwithWatto]

Just watched as looking for inspiration for our visit in a few weeks. Definitely worth a wander around the town. Very interesting. Good stuff Paul. Looks Like you had a glorious morning for it. 👍🏻🚶🏻‍♂️🚶‍♀️

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Watto! If you do go to Liskeard, don't miss the museum or Stuart House, with its wonderful hidden garden, tunnel and tea rooms inside. It is also handy to park in the town here and catch the train to Looe - much cheaper than parking there! Hope you both have a good time in Cornwall in a few weeks time. There is much to see on Bodmin Moor as well, and I should be putting out a video from Bodmin Moor in a week or so. Cheers! Paul

[@joemomma6347]

Great video!!! Saw my flat!! :) subscribed

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you! Thanks for the subscribe too. Cheers, Paul

[@davidberlanny3308]

Mornin' Paul, You certainly got up early on this one and were well rewarded with the silhouette in the opening scene. I must hold my hand up for having been through Liskeard and never actually stopping, I do remember the railway viaduct though. Its got some lovely details such as the pipewell, the restored cattle market and the mosiac. You often see ceramic tiles depecting scenes all over Spain, in the centre of Granada there is one commemorating the setting up of the pilgrammage to Rocio by my wifes late uncle. Just a small scene inset into one of the churches where he preached. Very interesting to see the sett stones outside the museum and the old style shops especially the iron mongers, I can imagine the smell in my minds eye🤔🤔😅😅. I wonder what the reason is for so many masonic lodges in such a small place? I spotted the fluer de lys used as the emblem for the town and went to have a look and mispelled the town and then spotted what might be the origin of the symbol. According to cornwall live the modern day name for the town of Liskeard is taken from the Cornish words Lys Kerwyd. I also spotted that there was a canal down to loe which is now disused, have you been there to explore yet? Great video, I hope you got back to make breakfast for your daughter!! Have a great week!

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you David! Hope you are well. Yes, I did the early start to avoid traffic noise - the sunrise and light effects were all unplanned and a happy bonus! I have no idea just why there are so many masonic lodges in one smallish town! Very odd indeed! Freemasonry tends to be quite a big deal generally in Kernow - and has been since the mid 1850s. Yes, as I mentioned the Lis or Lys part of the town's name means Royal Court, but who Kerwyd was is lost in time! I have featured, briefly, the Liskeard to Looe Canal on one of the videos that I have done about the Looe Railway Line (Terras Crossing) but sadly very little remains of it, mostly built over by the later railway. Thanks for a lovely comment - always good to hear from you. Take care, Paul

[@michaelmiller641]

Thanks for that tour of Liskeard. I've never been there.although, when I drove to Plymouth a couple of years ago, I saw signs to Liskeard, and was surprised how near to Cornwall I'd got! My only trip to Cornwall was as a schoolboy CCF cadet heading to RAF St. Mawgan!

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Michael! I remember Liskeard for another RAF reason. In the early 1980s, I was billeted at RAF St. Mawgan (but based at RAF Portreath, about 25 miles away) and we decided to do a sponsored walk around the whole of Cornwall to raise money for a local hospital. I sprained my ankle walking along the A38 Liskeard bypass! Spent the rest of the walk in a wheelchair! Plymouth is probably the best way to enter Cornwall, particularly if you are on foot, via the Cremyl Ferry into the beautiful Mount Edgcumbe Country Park. Sadly, as you probably already know, RAF St. Mawgan is no more, but the enormously long runway lives on as Newquay Cornwall Airport. Thanks for watching! Cheers, Paul

[@NaomisAdventures]

Good tour

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Naomi! Glad you enjoyed the tour 👍

[@DarylW426]

Hello Paul. I am so so glad you did this little tour of Liskeard. Had you not, I probably would have bypassed this wonderful town on our vacation for next year. We certainly would have missed a gem. But not now. Thank you so much.👍

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Daryl! Yes, most visitors (and a fair few Cornish residents too) miss this delightful and 'Proper Cornish' town. There is a lot of interest in the area, including The Hurlers, The Cheesewring, King Doniert's Stone, Trethevy Quoit (as on that mosaic) as well as a huge lake/reservoir at Siblyback. Take care, Paul

[@rolandhawken6628]

He missed the Henry Rice buildings ,Rice was a local Victorian Architect he walked straight pass some of the fine examples of his buildings . There is a list and photos of them in Stuart house ,they are all in comfortable walking distance from the central car park .

[@westcountrywanderings]

@rolandhawken6628 I am saving that for a future video - I love Stuart House and I have visited it many times. The garden is a gem. I am often in the Liskeard area. Cheers, Paul

[@beverlynBarnes]

Stuart Andrew Gray walk these hills We walk to Marlborough i was so tired we row slaggin each other off🥺✋🌹😎🤓🤣🤣❤️❤️😜🤯🤯🤴😔😩🤧😢😢i get thr bus back After a belly full at the church cafe ❤😂🎉 Sweet pop soup Good waitrose 🍞❤😂🎉 Lifetime warranty love bit ❤❤❤😂🎉

[@westcountrywanderings]

Okay...

[@garrywatts9665]

O Cornwall, I love you. I will have to return again. This brings back memories. They need to stop the well off buying second holiday homes there. They are stopping actual cornish young couples keeping it Cornish and iis a sort of micro genecide. Such a shame! But that said thanks for the great video.

[@westcountrywanderings]

I couldn't agree more - St. Ives passed a local law about planning a couple of years ago - not sure why it can't cover the whole of Kernow. Thanks for watching and stopping by to comment. Hope you can get back to Cornwall again soon. Cheers! Paul

[@davidclover2248]

Thanks

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you! That's very kind of you. Paul

[@gdkey8025]

nice video

[@westcountrywanderings]

Cheers, thank you!

[@cathydyer3774]

I hope the Liskeard tourist information appreciate this video Paul.😊. Thanks for this early tour. I think that mural is by David Whittley. I read a book years ago about Admiral Nelson and I remember reading about the long ride from Cornwall but not the French surname.. Capt John Lapenotiere. I remember it was a little schooner Pickle. Great name. Capt L was dropped off by small boat 2 miles south of Pendennis Head to start his long land race to the Admiralty in London.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Yes, Capt. John! I am not sure how he came to have a French surname when he was Cornish and came from Menheniot - although, the surname 'French' is common around Liskeard, and yes, she does! From the nearby village Catchfrench, I believe (I am referring to Dawn French - I used to work with her daughter - long story!). Wow! I am impressed that you knew that the mural was by David Whittley - he also did the amazing mural in nearby Saltash - I should do that one sometime. Thank you Cathy!

[@cathydyer3774]

​@@westcountrywanderings actually I think I am wrong! I think it was done by Julian George! Maybe someone can confirm!

[@davidberlanny3308]

Couldn't resist rising to the challenge and did two searches. Julian George certainly comes up as the artist who created the scene in question (1996). But the same search on David Whittley came up with another mural in Liskeard, with more than one panel, well worth looking at, the second panel has a steam engine emerging from the viaduct (1998).

[@westcountrywanderings]

@@davidberlanny3308 Oh, brilliant! Great bit of detective work there David! Well done! I don't think I have seen that second mural - sounds fab! I will most definitely look out for it and post a photo of it on my Facebook Group and on Instagram next time I am there. Cheers! Paul

[@cathydyer3774]

​@@davidberlanny3308thank you 🙂

[@dianarolph1770]

I am never up that early to see such a magnificent sunrise! Mind you if I lived there those noisy seagulls might wake me! Glad they departed in the latter part of the video! I think I saw a video about Liskeard years ago because the well stirred memories. I have never been to Cornwall only Bude so am looking forward to more Cornish videos. I did try to watch the Fern Britton documentaries on TV recently but I missed a couple(there were 6) I caught a glimpse of the P.O. at the beginning- it looked very large and modern-ish! Even in most of our large towns the P.O.has debunked to a WHS! We still have our rather large P.O but for how much longer?

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Diana! Glad you enjoyed the video - yes, I got up about 6am to film it. Bude is one of my very favourite places in Cornwall, and I holidayed near there earlier in the year. Yes, Post Offices! Both the nearby cities of Truro and Plymouth have lost their 'Crown' Post Offices, and are both in local WHSmiths now! Amazing how the one in Liskeard keeps going - it is often busy when I have been past - probably because ones in nearby villages have sadly closed. I got up early for it to be quieter to film - the sunrise was an unexpected bonus! Thanks so much, Take care, Paul

[@dianarolph1770]

I should imagine that main road there gets very busy so filming early was necessary and a bonus to capture that sunrise! It’s good to explore the towns in a holiday area not just the ‘honeypot’ tourist attractions! Thanks Paul!

[@trevelmond793]

I am still culturally and ethically connected to Liskeard, as I have been since the middle sixties. It is the town in which | finished my secondary education, before tertiary college atSt Austell, I am in full sympathy with all of its changes, not all good ones, and have seen the sad disappearance of the descendants of the original inhabitants, replaced by the property grabbing eastern unwelcome who think they have found paradise but have found nothing except their own delusions.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you. I can relate to a lot of that. My daughter now lives in Liskeard, having grown up in Redruth in the 1990s and 2000s . I came to Cornwall in the early 1980s when I was posted there by the RAF, and stayed in the area until the late 2000s - other factors, mainly work, forced a move over The Tamar. My ex-wife is true Cornish, and all of her family too, complete with the traditions and accents that that entails. When I moved to Cornwall in the early 1980s, a Cornish accent was common - now it is exccedingly rare. I can think of no other county that has completely lost its identity in this manner so rapidly. It is very sad. The reason that I like Liskeard so much is that, like Redruth, it is where there is still some Celtic feeling, despite the many changes that you mention. Thanks for a great and heartfelt comment. Paul.

[@colin125gwr]

great video nice and quiet that time of day

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Colin! Yes, it is a perfect time to film towns, I feel. The very colourful sunrise was an unexpected bonus. Thanks for watching and commenting. Take care, Paul

[@kentcyclist]

Horrible place

[@westcountrywanderings]

I can't agree, but you are welcome to have your own opinion. It a Cornish town without a proliferation of tourism, thankfully. It is deeply ingrained in Cornish culture and built of Cornish history. Yes, it has some poverty and some issues, but thankfully it also has a great sense of community. Cheers, Paul

[@Ihaterentals]

Wouldn’t walk about on your own at night on the weekends🤷‍♂️

[@westcountrywanderings]

Ah, this was in the morning, not at night - about 7am - hardly anyone around. Cheers, Paul.