All Rivers Run Free

Travel Guide

Cornwall

Natasha Carthew:

The North Coast of Cornwall is famous for its long sandy beaches, rugged cliffs and far reaching views of the Celtic sea and in All Rivers Run Free it is the place where we first meet Ia. In the story it is a place to be feared, it is an alien place compared to the softer South Coast from where she comes from.

Like all Cornish folk, Ia knows the River Tamar well. The Tamar’s source is less than 6 km from the north Cornish coast and I made sure to site Ia’s caravan at this location so she would be able to find the source of the river and walk it from the north to the south coast.

The river flows southward and its course runs across the peninsula. The total length of the river is 61 miles which Ia walks and navigates by boat until she reaches her childhood home on the south coast.

During her 61 mile journey, Ia comes across several places that are derelict and fallen into disrepair, in All Rivers Run Free the economy has collapsed and society has fallen into further depths of social deprivation, it is a story of survival and nobody has time or money to visit places on the tourist trail. In reality this are places that are well worth a visit.

The ancient borough of Launceston Town is one mile west of the river and features the famous castle built in 1070 to control the surrounding area.

Further down river Ia lands her boat at Morwelham Quay an historic river port on the Devon side of the river that was developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal, and has its own copper mine.

Not far from the Quay Ia travels toward Cotehele House and Gardens where she spends the night. The mediaeval house is situated in the parish of Calstock in the east of Cornwall. It is a rambling granite and slate-stone manor house on the banks of the River Tamar that has been little changed over five centuries. The grounds stretch down to a quay on the river where there is an outpost of the National Maritime Museum. There are a number of formal gardens and a richly planted area in the valley; features include a medieval dovecote, a stewpond, a Victorian summerhouse and an eighteenth century tower, all of which feature in the book.

Further on as the river widens, Ia comes across the Tamar Bridge and the famous Royal Albert Bridge, in her story the first bridge is inhabited by caravans, whilst the second has collapsed into the river. In reality The Tamar Bridge is still a major road bridge over the River Tamar into Cornwall so don’t worry! The Royal Albert is the railway bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1848 and built 1854-1859.

At its mouth, the Tamar flows into the Hamoaze before entering Plymouth Sound, a bay that leads into the English Channel and the stunning South Coast.

The South Coast of Cornwall is where Ia returns home and is also where I was born and raised. On her final journey she passes the beautiful gardens of Mount Edgcumbe, the fishing villages of Kingsand and Cawsand, before spying the iron age fort of Rame Head situated on the coastal headland that loops around into Whitsand Bay and Freathy Cliffs, where she finally finds home.