Cornwall was the very definition of my childhood summer holiday and still embodies the notion of summer even now. We have visited on countless occasions with the back roads, the small towns and villages, and of course the coastline so familiar and yet I had never ventured across Bodmin Moor in the winter months. With our close friends looking to move away, this might be our last trip visiting them in their corner of this ancient place.

So back in February, off to Cornwall we went. Through lashing rainstorms turning roads to rivers and wind tearing at us like leaves in autumn. What were we letting ourselves in for? The closer we got to West Penwith, to Marazion and Penzance, the more the weather eased until at last the sun shone over Mount’s bay. Inside the car, it was easy to believe it could be 20c outside, memories of summer easy to recall. But the wind still blew to remind us that the benign months were still far off. Sand raced across the beach chasing small wading birds and later, as we sat watching crashing waves at Sennen Cove and Cape Cornwall, the drama was breath taking; something so rare on our summer trips. St. Ives provided respite with its sheltered, narrow streets and Mousehole sat slumbered under the watchful gaze of St Michael’s mount.

I think we were treated kindly but if this is Cornwall in the winter, I love it just as much as my summer idyll.

For the photographers out there : all images shot on a Leica M3, Summicron 50mm and Kodak Portra 400.