Crème de la Coast
Saturday, 28 March 2011
Forget the crème de la crème. The Scarlet is the crème de la coast.
Pimpernel is proud to report that we have won the best boutique hotel by the sea category in the 2011 Coast Awards.
Marketing manager Claire Invest and marketing co-ordinator Olivia Harris were at the Country Living Fair in London to collect our award from TV presenter Michaela Strachan and Coast editor Clare Gogerty.
Olivia said: "It was great to meet Michaela. She told us that she was very keen to come and stay at the Scarlet and enjoy a spot of stargazing from our swinging pods."
The Coast awards celebrate people and places that are innovative, valuable and exciting around the British coastline.
Coast Editor Clare Gogerty says, “We are delighted to join with Joules once again in celebrating an especially strong line-up of seaside talent.
"The quality of this year’s nominations is proof that the visitor experience and lifestyle to be had by the British coast just keeps on getting better."
The winners of the Coast Awards 2011 in association with Joules,are:
Best British Beach – Coast readers’ vote
WINNER: Holkham in Norfolk
RUNNERS-UP: Studland in Dorset and Botany Bay in Kent
Best Seaside Holiday Destination – Coast readers’ vote
WINNER: St Ives, Cornwall
RUNNERS-UP: Bournemouth in Dorset and Brighton in East Sussex
Best Boutique Hotel by the Sea
WINNER: The Scarlet in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall
RUNNERS-UP: The Reading Rooms in Margate, Kent
The Rosevine, near Portscatho in Cornwall
Best-Loved Pier
WINNER: Cromer Pier in Cromer, Norfolk
RUNNERS-UP: Brighton Pier in Brighton, East Sussex
Southwold Pier in Southwold, Suffolk
Best Coastal Pub/Café
WINNER: East Beach Café in Littlehampton, West Sussex
RUNNERS-UP: Hive Beach Café in Burton Bradstock, Dorset
The Lord Nelson in Southwold, Suffolk
Best Seaside Restaurant
WINNER: Fifteen Cornwall in Watergate Bay, Cornwall
RUNNERS-UP: Eddie Gilbert’s in Ramsgate, Kent
Urban Reef in Bournemouth, Dorset
Joules Award – Best Coastal Path
WINNER: Norfolk Coast Path
RUNNERS-UP: Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail
South West Coast Path
Best Green Marine Campaign
WINNER: Marine Conservation Society, Beachwatch
RUNNERS-UP: Surfers Against Sewage, Blue Flag Campaign
Thanet Coast Project
Best Seafront Cultural Attraction
WINNER: The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex
RUNNERS-UP: National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall
Tate St Ives in St Ives, Cornwall
Unsung Coastal Hero
WINNER: Dan Thompson, Revolutionary Arts Group in Worthing, West Sussex
RUNNERS-UP: Dani Church, Walberswick Ferry in Southwold, Suffolk Conrad Humphreys, Blue Mile Project in Plymouth, Devon
Coast magazine was inundated with thousands of votes from across the UK and, searching for the very best Britain’s coast has to offer, a panel of seven experts: TV presenter Michaela Strachan, director of The Twentieth Century Society Catherine Croft, managing director of Joules Tom Joule, restaurateur, fishmonger, writer and chef Mitch Tonks, vice president, sustainable markets, SeaWeb Melanie Siggs, travel writer Christopher Somerville, director of strategy and communications at Visit Britain Patricia Yates and Coast editor Clare Gogerty.
For full details of the Coast Awards 2011 check out the June issue of Coast, on sale 25 April.
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Berlin Here We Come!
Monday, 09 March 2011
The Euro Star leaves every hour(ish) from London St Pancras for Paris and Brussels, so your guess is as good as ours as to why we decided that the 06.19hrs departure was the best option!
A little bleary eyed, we were delighted at the ease and speed of our check in – flash of a ticket, bags through a scanner, show of a passport, up an escalator, and 12 minutes later we were sat in large, comfy chairs with our small picnic breakfast unpacked.
We sedately changed trains at Brussels and Koln, the leg room and squishiness of the headrests increasing with each move.
At each change over we had time to stretch, buy coffee, lunch, European plug adapters (least we remembered before actually running out of battery) and for Suzie to do a spot of recycling - she just can’t help herself and actually rummaged through her bag to find something to place in the right, colour coded bin at Brussels Station.
We had bought a pack of cards, books and magazines to keep ourselves occupied, I think we read about 5 pages between us; there was too much distraction outside the window...
Our distractions:
- Sunrise over the frosty south east of England.
- Church spires watching protectively over surrounding houses and the French countryside.
- Weak, wintery sun creating shadows in the furrows of pale green and yellow fields.
- Claire, camera at the ready, waiting for something stereotypically French, such as a man wearing a beret and a string of onions cycling on his bike, to appear.
- Wind turbines adding movement and height to the otherwise vast and flat landscape.
- Rivers meandering, slow and steady.
- The pitched roofs of so many red brick houses being covered with solar panels.
- If honest – we did also watch the insides of our eye lids for a short while!
- The everyday-ness of life: canal boats with curls of smoke lingering on chimney pots, tractors in far off fields being chased by clouds of birds, people in towns and villages shopping for groceries, 4 railway workers having a break with sandwiches and hot drinks, 2 boys racing bikes, cars glinting in the sun waiting at level crossings as we rush on by, small children outside their school at playtime, a paraglider dipping on the thermals above an ancient hill side monument, other passengers (on their way to work? on holiday? visiting friends?) waiting at stations we whizzed through, an old man leaning on his bike watching his dog forage in a hedge row, two women walking arm in arm whiling away the afternoon, people on their balconies drinking coffee, watching us watching the world (well, France, Belgium and Germany) go by.
We arrived in Berlin on time, feeling relaxed and like the journey had gone by quickly.
Just wish we would have included a little stop over in Brussels or Koln to add to the adventure – but we can always do that next time...
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The Journey Begins...
Sunday, 08 March 2011
With a suitcase brimming with far too many clothes for a week and a handbag full of too many books for the journey, I felt my arms breathe a sigh of relief as the train to London came round the corner and pulled into the station.
Once settled on the train the time soon passed with views of Dawlish by the sea and the rolling countryside passing me by. There were no changes so I could comfortably sit back in my seat, cup of coffee in hand, until we arrived in Paddington.
As the train approached the ‘big city’ I felt myself wishing that the silhouette of the rooftops in the bright sunshine were the dark shadows cast by the rugged cliffs at Mawgan Porth. Then I reminded myself that the whole reason for this trip was for myself and Suzie to spread the word about two special hotels with that beautiful view of those cliffs and beach below. I was inspired with the feeling of wanting to share our not so well kept secret….it was just as well as we had to get up at 5am the next morning to get our train to Berlin.
Claire Invest, Makreing Manager
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Auf Wiedersehen Cornwall!
Wednesday, 04 March 2011
I bid a fond farewell to the sunny Cornish coastline today as it is my last day in the office today before embarking on my journey to Berlin next week! My mission is to go and spread the word about our two fabulous hotels, the Scarlet and Bedruthan Steps, and tell everyone what we have to offer (I think the view is going to be a good talking point)!
Luckily I am not tackling this trip alone- Suzie Newham, our Sustainability Manager otherwise known as Queen of all things green, is coming with me. Suzie is always full of great ideas and one day when I was talking to her about our impending trip to Berlin she had a eureka moment…‘Why don’t we go by train!?’
The more we thought about it the more it felt like a great plan was about to be hatched. Instead of waiting in a brightly lit airport staring at a departures board and buying expensive perfume that we didn’t need, we could be sitting listening to the steady rhythm of a train whisking it’s way through Europe whilst watching the scenery pass us by. We were sold.
We want to try and inspire some of our German visitors that travelling to us need not be a chore, it can be an adventure as well as a little kinder to our planet. Watch this space to see how the journey goes, what we see along the way and how many German phrases Suzie can teach me before we arrive in Berlin!
Claire Invest, Marketing Manager
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Scarlet Hotel Ltd
tredragon road, mawgan porth, cornwall, tr8 4dqcall
01637 861800