Saltash

Saltash is the first town in Cornwall, sitting on the western bank of the River Tamar in east Cornwall. Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge, completed in 1859, dominates the waterfront and carries the railway into the county alongside the modern Tamar road bridge. The town marks the starting point of the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which stretches north through wooded, formerly mined countryside.

The town itself is a working community rather than a tourist destination, with a high street running steeply down to the waterfront, a handful of pubs and cafes, and views across the Tamar to Plymouth. Saltash has been a crossing point for centuries - the medieval ferry operated here long before Brunel arrived. The waterfront area around the old Mary Newman’s Cottage (reputed birthplace of Sir Francis Drake’s first wife) is worth a wander, and the small Ashtorre Rock garden gives peaceful river views.

The Tamar Valley, stretching north from Saltash, is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and offers excellent walking, cycling and kayaking. The valley was once intensively mined for copper and arsenic, and the industrial remains add character to what is now quiet, wooded countryside. Plymouth is literally across the bridge for shopping, restaurants and nightlife, while the Rame Peninsula to the south is one of Cornwall’s best-kept secrets.