Here is a copy of the weekly newspaper column I write for the Western Morning News and Western Daily Press - as published on Saturday October 12, 2024. I then cut and pasted it into an A.I. app asking it NOT to rewrite anything but to present it in a way which would be more fitting for this website. It kind of did what I asked, but disregarded my request and totally rewrote the thing. I put the two versions up here for anyone who is interested in what AI can and will do. I wo

When in Rome... well, you know the rest. In the spirit of embracing local culture, when I was down in Cornwall last week, I did as the locals do—I bought some fresh, local fish. Why wouldn't I? Cornwall, with its coastline jutting into the Atlantic, is teeming with an abundance of fabulous, fresh, and sustainable seafood, arguably the finest in the UK. It would be a shame not to take some home! One of the best places to source fresh seafood in Cornwall is the Great Cornish Fo

An article describing how journalist Martin Hesp met an interviewed Tony Hibbert who founded Trebah Gardens in Cornwall

Balance is an interesting word. The older you get, the more you realise just how important the idea of balance can be.  In China, where I’ve been recently, they talk about yin-yang, so on the plane home I was inspired to practice a bit of balance and harmony.  For example, I’d been in the Far East, so why not counter-balance that by going to the Far West? In UK terms, that means Cornwall. So, I thought, west of the Tamar I shall go…  But, also in the search for a bit of harmo

Some people have an incurable curiosity when it comes to the landscape. For example, if they see an interesting or picturesque place from afar, they automatically think: “Right… One day I’ll go to that place and see what it’s all about.” This article relates to exactly that sort of journey.  But there was a reason why it took me so long to embark on the particular journey of discovery, even though I had several times found myself being attracted to an obscure corner of the So

The 450-year-old Rock Inn - as mentioned in the neighbouring article - stands just a few feet from the young River Tone. Travel a few miles upstream, higher and deeper into the hills, and you will come to Clatworthy Reservoir, which is not only one of the oldest drinking water lakes in the region, but one of the prettiest. Two facts which perhaps go hand-in-hand. The building of a giant reservoir causes a major disruption to the ecology and environment, and it takes many year

It’s not quite a case of “if you go down to the woods today you’ll be in for a big surprise”, but this story has that kind of vibe about it.  Let’s put it this way… There are a great many well-known parts of the much-visited West Country and, conversely, there are even more hidden, out-of-the-way, corners which very few tourists ever get to see.  Given that this is the case, you might imagine that someone wishing to expand a new concept in the world of food and hospitality wo

Having stayed at the wonderful Victoria Hotel in Sidmouth recently, we enjoyed a couple of fantastic local walks. Here’s one to the east of town… Each time I embark on one of these hikes the West Country seems to shrink. Slowly, gradually, an enormous mental jig-saw puzzle is falling into place piece by piece. Distant hills that were once nothing more than an amorphous horizon are now old friends which have been tramped, researched and written about. Great vales and vistas we

There was a reason why Egyptian pharaohs, Roman emperors, Indian moguls and many others down the gold-leafed annals of the great-and-good insisted on having facilities in their palaces dedicated to the pampering of royal flesh and bones. Such human pampering was - and is - relaxing, pleasurable, and it does you good. Fast forward many centuries and we British, in particular, became curiously shy of having our well-wrapped-and-safely-covered limbs manipulated, massaged and gen

Dulverton "Hunting, hunting, hunting," said a local councillor once when I asked him what I could write about Dulverton. Back in Lordy Holcombe's day the answer could have been: "Poaching, poaching, poaching." But you get the underlying message - Dulverton is surrounded by deer, deer, deer.  Exmoor is home to England's last large herd of wild red deer and Dulverton is capital of the hills. As such, deer - and the killing of deer, legal or otherwise - has been the town's centr

Some places have a special corner in the nation’s collective heart. It might be that they will forever be linked to some glorious historic event, or maybe they’re known through sporting fame or they’re just so plain gorgeous and good looking that people love to visit. Penzance is one such place. It is mainly famous for being at the end of the line, but it is a truly wonderful terminus. It is the town famous for being situated where Britain ends and the great wild ocean begins

Imagine a small coastal town where you can have one of the best dinners in the entire region and know for a fact that you could carry on dining extremely well during a week-long stay if you were to visit other venues dotted around the local harbour. I was fortunate enough not to have to imagine such a thing. I knew I had found a genuine foodie-hot-spot as I looked out of a restaurant window while dining out in Porthleven. For those who don’t know it, the old fishing village o

In this weekend's newspapers, my Hesp Out West feature is all about the wondrous food you’ll find in the little harbour town of Porthleven, down there on the Lizard’s north-western shoreline. I first went there to write about the place nearly 25 years ago in an article for an old newspaper series called Hesp’s Harbours, in which I visited over 50 West Country ports. So here’s the article I wrote all those many long years ago… There's a famous photo of the Bickford-Smith Inst

The majority of tourists heading west in pursuit of seaside adventures tend to aim for Devon, Cornwall or Dorset. Somerset’s Bristol Channel coast often gets overlooked. However, there is a corner of the county’s littoral which, in terms of scenic beauty alone, could compete with any shoreline in the world.  The wild and untamed sweep of Porlock Bay, punctuated only by the tiny picturesque harbour at Porlock Weir, is surely one of the most exquisite jewels in all of England’s

A grand afternoon tea is a wonderful thing - there are people in this world who’d survive on it and nothing else if they could - but most of us like to ring the changes. And when we’re somewhere as maritime as Cornwall, we like to eat as much seafood as we can. Cornwall’s seafood capital, Newlyn, sits snug in the most sheltered corner of Mount’s Bay just a mile or two west of Greg’s high tea. It is one of the largest and most important fishing ports in England, and I love the

Strange how trends come around. The classic afternoon tea has had its ups and downs over the years - there were times when it seemed to have passed almost completely out of fashion, holding on in just a few upmarket traditional haunts like The Ritz. When I was a boy, a posh afternoon tea was the ultimate dream for people like my mother and her Westcountry friends but, decades later working as a food writer, I somehow managed to ignore the existence of these very British and g

I began the last Hesp Out West article by saying that sometimes it’s a good idea to climb a mountain or hill in order to get a better view of the world that surrounds you. Being up high can literally lift your spirits and somehow help to put the complexities of life into perspective.  The South West region has a variety of summits which will do the job, but some are better than others when it comes to supplying the drama of that all-round 360-degree panorama… Five West Countr

Discovering the Quantock Hills 🌳 There are times when it’s a good idea to climb a mountain in order to get a better view of the world that surrounds you. The right kind of hill will do. Or a ridge, escarpment or, indeed, any eminence that is capable of giving you an overview of the world in which you live. The point is that being up high can literally lift your spirits and somehow help to put the complexities of life into perspective.  The South West region has a variety of

We had all endured weeks of dark skies leaking copious amounts of rain - but in our case the weather, and indeed the season, seemed to change in one startling, blinding, beautiful moment. I was lying on a large, comfortable bed, about to have a snooze after a long day out in Cornwall, and suddenly the hotel room was filled with the brightest sunlight we’d seen since last summer. So bright that my wife was forced to put on her sunglasses. It was that bright, even indoors! Mull

Easter walks offer a healthy, enjoyable alternative to intense fitness regimes. With longer days and warmer weather, walking in the UK's beautiful landscapes is a perfect way to increase fitness. It's a popular, simple, and social activity, suitable for all ages and abilities, with no special equipment required. This article highlights three easy, scenic springtime walks in the West Country, each under three miles, ideal for beginners and showcasing spectacular views