Malpas

Malpas sits a couple of miles downstream of Truro, at the wooded point where the Truro and Tresillian rivers meet and broaden on their way to join the Fal. The name comes from the Norman-French mal pas, meaning bad passage, a nod to the tricky old ferry crossings that once linked the village to the far bank and the Tregothnan estate beyond. It has long been a place defined by water, with a history of boat building and of cargo being transferred between ship and barge on the run up to Truro.

The setting is gentle and deeply green, with creeks and steep wooded slopes folding down to the water and the whole stretch from the city protected as the Malpas Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest. The tidal mudflats here are important feeding grounds for wildfowl and wading birds, so at low water the river edge becomes a quiet stage for herons, egrets and curlew, while at high tide the deep, sheltered channel fills with moored yachts.

Today Malpas is best known as a calm sailing and boating centre and as a lovely spot simply to be beside the river. Visitors come to watch the boats, to walk the wooded riverside paths, and to settle in at the waterside Heron Inn, which looks out over the moorings and serves local Cornish produce and sustainably caught seafood. It makes an easy, pretty escape from nearby Truro, with the city's cathedral just upriver.