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Poldark's Cornwall
Winston Graham's saga of Cornish life in the 18th century has established itself as a classic and the television series kept large audiences enthralled all over the world. This book provides illustrations of the Cornish setting. Its manor houses, ruins, paths, views, towns related to the Poldark saga.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
About the author
Winston Graham
153 books1,191 followersWinston Graham was an English novelist best known for the Poldark series of historical novels set in Cornwall, though he also wrote contemporary thrillers, period novels, short stories, non-fiction, and plays. Born in Victoria Park, Manchester, he moved to Perranporth, Cornwall in 1925 and lived there for 34 years. Graham published his first novel, The House with the Stained Glass Windows, in 1934 and married Jean Williamson in 1939, who inspired the character Demelza in Poldark. During World War II, he joined the Auxiliary Coastguard Service. Graham became a member of the Society of Authors in 1945, serving as chairman from 1967 to 1969, and was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, receiving an OBE in 1983. His Poldark series began with Ross Poldark in 1945 and concluded with Bella Poldark in 2002. He wrote 30 additional novels, short stories, and non-fiction works, including the acclaimed thriller Marnie, adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964. Several other novels, including The Walking Stick and Fortune Is a Woman, were adapted for film. Graham also wrote plays, some adapted from his novels. His works have been translated into 31 languages, and his autobiography, Memoirs of a Private Man, was published posthumously in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 16, 2017
This book is not about our lovely Poldark from the show. There are two pictures of him in the book and one of Demelza. This is about beautiful Cornwall and Winston Graham talking about growing up there, the show and other things. There is a book about the current show and all that goes on there. I forgot the name, but it's on my Amazon wishlist =) I got this for the beautiful pictures.
I'm going to be adding some of the pictures that I took from my own book. I will add the captions from the pictures.
There is a nice little forward by Winston Graham's son.
Now onto some pictures =) I would like to add that I really, really, really want to visit Cornwall and all of the UK but I can't, just sayin'.
The above picture is a ruined engine house at Minions on Bodmin Moor. I think it's lovely
The above picture is St-Just-in-Roseland Church. There is a really sweet ghost story that goes with this church but I'm not telling you =)
The above picture is of Castle Giver Cove, near Navax Pointe. I didn't get the whole pictures of these scenes so just know they are larger than they appear.
The above picture is of a man engine, a moving ladder used to transport miners underground and back to the surface, Dolcoath mine, Camborne, 1893-5
The above picture is the remains of Wheal Coates Mine.
The above picture is the Men-an-Tol standing stones near Penzance. Local legend says that passing through the holed stone can cure many ailments. <-- I need to go there and walk through that stone about 10 times!
The above picture is of a sunset over St Michael's Mount and Marazion.
The above picture is an abandoned farm on Bodmin Moor. I love this one too!
The above picture is the remains of the engine house at Levant Tin Mine.
The above picture is of Aidan Turner, as Ross Poldark, on location in Cornwall.
The above picture is an old lighthouse at Portreath in Cornwall, also known as the Pepperpot. It was once used as a huer's hut where a spotter, the huer, would alert and direct fishermen when shoals of pilchards were spotted.
The above picture is of where Hart Wood adjoins Lanhydrock.
The above picture is of Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays Demelza in the television series, on location in Cornwall.
The above picture is of a sunset (I couldn't get the whole page) on the cliffs at West Pentire above Crantock Bay.
The above picture is of a lane across Bodmin Moor. I love this picture so much.
I hope you guys enjoyed some of the pictures I have added. They are so much better when looking at the book! Rest assured there are tons more pictures in the book. I think this book is beautiful and I'm so glad I got it.
Mel ♥
I'm going to be adding some of the pictures that I took from my own book. I will add the captions from the pictures.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE.
The text in this edition of Poldark's Cornwall is as it was written by Winston Graham in the early 1980's. References to towns and locations in Cornwall are therefore as they were at that time and do not include recent developments. The only alterations of significance are the omission of sections substantially concerned with the filming of the two Poldark TV series in the 1970's. All the changes were made with the agreement of Winston Graham's family.
There is a nice little forward by Winston Graham's son.
Now onto some pictures =) I would like to add that I really, really, really want to visit Cornwall and all of the UK but I can't, just sayin'.
The above picture is a ruined engine house at Minions on Bodmin Moor. I think it's lovely
The above picture is St-Just-in-Roseland Church. There is a really sweet ghost story that goes with this church but I'm not telling you =)
The above picture is of Castle Giver Cove, near Navax Pointe. I didn't get the whole pictures of these scenes so just know they are larger than they appear.
The above picture is of a man engine, a moving ladder used to transport miners underground and back to the surface, Dolcoath mine, Camborne, 1893-5
The above picture is the remains of Wheal Coates Mine.
The above picture is the Men-an-Tol standing stones near Penzance. Local legend says that passing through the holed stone can cure many ailments. <-- I need to go there and walk through that stone about 10 times!
The above picture is of a sunset over St Michael's Mount and Marazion.
The above picture is an abandoned farm on Bodmin Moor. I love this one too!
The above picture is the remains of the engine house at Levant Tin Mine.
The above picture is of Aidan Turner, as Ross Poldark, on location in Cornwall.
The above picture is an old lighthouse at Portreath in Cornwall, also known as the Pepperpot. It was once used as a huer's hut where a spotter, the huer, would alert and direct fishermen when shoals of pilchards were spotted.
The above picture is of where Hart Wood adjoins Lanhydrock.
The above picture is of Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays Demelza in the television series, on location in Cornwall.
The above picture is of a sunset (I couldn't get the whole page) on the cliffs at West Pentire above Crantock Bay.
The above picture is of a lane across Bodmin Moor. I love this picture so much.
I hope you guys enjoyed some of the pictures I have added. They are so much better when looking at the book! Rest assured there are tons more pictures in the book. I think this book is beautiful and I'm so glad I got it.
Mel ♥
June 19, 2025
Beautiful & absorbing, this is a very personal, very idiosyncratic travel journey from the author of the Poldark novels.
I read the second edition, which means there was an introduction by the late author's son Andrew. He writes that his normally reserved father revealed far more about himself in this book than he did in his official autobiography, Memoirs of a Private Man
(the photo on this cover also appears in this book.)
If you read this book wanting more information about the Poldark novels you are likely to be disappointed. There is very little & only three photos of the actors from the second series. The first edition has photos of the original Ross & Demelza & it is interesting that Graham later became very good friends with both of them - he & his wife, Jean, even went on holiday with them! This was quite a turnaround as Graham hated certain changes in the first series.
Graham also isn't a fan of mass tourism & writes with distaste (for example) on the affects of small villages with narrow roads. I had to laugh at a picture that shows the village of Treyarnon with two caravans. I wonder how many there are now? (I googled & there are at least two caravan parks) I know mass tourism hasn't always been a positive thing in my own country.
The majority of the stunning photos are the same as the photos in the first edition that was published in 1983. I am very glad that I visited Cornwall in 1975 when it was relatively quiet. I was (of course) a literary tourist. I hadn't read Graham, but I had read Daphne du Maurier & Victoria Holt & they inspired my visit. I enjoyed every second of it.
There is a totally non spoilerish quote from
near the start. This is the last book that was filmed & I am hoping to read it later this year. You don't have to worry about any book spoilers & can just enjoy the journey with Winston Graham.
Edit; & I have bumped my star rating up to 5. Can't think of a single reason why I was intending to give it less.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
I read the second edition, which means there was an introduction by the late author's son Andrew. He writes that his normally reserved father revealed far more about himself in this book than he did in his official autobiography, Memoirs of a Private Man
(the photo on this cover also appears in this book.)If you read this book wanting more information about the Poldark novels you are likely to be disappointed. There is very little & only three photos of the actors from the second series. The first edition has photos of the original Ross & Demelza & it is interesting that Graham later became very good friends with both of them - he & his wife, Jean, even went on holiday with them! This was quite a turnaround as Graham hated certain changes in the first series.
Graham also isn't a fan of mass tourism & writes with distaste (for example) on the affects of small villages with narrow roads. I had to laugh at a picture that shows the village of Treyarnon with two caravans. I wonder how many there are now? (I googled & there are at least two caravan parks) I know mass tourism hasn't always been a positive thing in my own country.
The majority of the stunning photos are the same as the photos in the first edition that was published in 1983. I am very glad that I visited Cornwall in 1975 when it was relatively quiet. I was (of course) a literary tourist. I hadn't read Graham, but I had read Daphne du Maurier & Victoria Holt & they inspired my visit. I enjoyed every second of it.
There is a totally non spoilerish quote from
near the start. This is the last book that was filmed & I am hoping to read it later this year. You don't have to worry about any book spoilers & can just enjoy the journey with Winston Graham.Edit; & I have bumped my star rating up to 5. Can't think of a single reason why I was intending to give it less.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
February 16, 2020
This is a gorgeous coffee table book for anyone who enjoys armchair traveling to gorgeous landscapes. Windswept Cornwall reminds me a lot of Cape Cod or coastal Maine with their rough rocks and sandy beaches but apparently, Cornwall is much warmer and rainier. Winston Graham reflects on his wonderful years in Cornwall and his visits later in life after he moved away. He discusses some of the inspirations for the locations and characters in the saga. Did you know Demelza and Warleggan are place names? An introduction from his son explains the only sections omitted from this reprint have to do with the filming of the 1970s Tv series. Fans of that show won't be too disappointed though. Winston Graham does discuss a bit about how the show came to be and his involvement. It was fun to learn more about what happened to the real life people featured in the saga, like the Trevannions. (Caerhayes Castle is a real place but Cuby is not).
The photographs in this book are AH-mazing! Cornwall looks so beautiful! I recognized some of the locations that inspired the TV crew of the 2015 series even if they weren't used in filming. You can easily see how Winston Graham was inspired to write the saga from the places and landscapes he was familiar with and how the TV people used his words to find locations that looked very similar. I really, really want to go there more than ever now. Fans of the show Doc Martin will also recognize the village where the show is filmed. I think my dad needs to take my mom on vacation to Cornwall. I wish I could go!
The photographs in this book are AH-mazing! Cornwall looks so beautiful! I recognized some of the locations that inspired the TV crew of the 2015 series even if they weren't used in filming. You can easily see how Winston Graham was inspired to write the saga from the places and landscapes he was familiar with and how the TV people used his words to find locations that looked very similar. I really, really want to go there more than ever now. Fans of the show Doc Martin will also recognize the village where the show is filmed. I think my dad needs to take my mom on vacation to Cornwall. I wish I could go!
January 6, 2008
Once you have fallen in love with the Poldark family, I recommend this non-fiction book written by the author of the the Poldark series. It is full of wonderful photography of Cornwall. I found it in the Durham, North Carolina library.
July 24, 2017
Poldark's Cornwall is a memoir of Winston Graham's love and life of Cornwall. He lived in Perranporth for a time and was inspired to write his Poldark series, which I love. The book is full of historical information and anecdotes of his life as well as information for the Poldark fan (of course) about places that inspired the locations in his books and the characters.
Reading this book you don't just gain the urgent need to discover Cornwall for yourself but you also gain an insight into the mind of this amazing writer. His humour comes across in his opinions: "Superb beaches if you could only ignore the town." I love his honesty, that he holds nothing back in his opinions of places. He says of Tintagel that: "It's no worse or more vulgar than Jerusalem; but to attain any sense of linkage with its mythical or semi-mythical past you have to go out of season and preferably at night when the moon is up and the wounds of cheap building are part healed by shadows."
Although writing a factual book his writing is still as beautiful and scenic as Cornwall itself: "... which in sunshine has an emerald sea and dazzling sands, and much further east Lamorna Cove at the foots of its bracken-and fern-grown valley, the walnut brown cliffs giving depth and quality and iridescence to the sea they guard."
This book is a great memoir of Cornwall, it's obvious how much Winston Graham loved the place, he says that the "scenery of Cornwall that had got into my blood". You can see for yourself how beautiful the 'scenery of Cornwall' is, throughout the book are stunning photographs worthy of setting on canvas and framing.
This is a must-read for any Poldark fan: it's not a serious history of Cornwall but I'd say more of a memoir with interesting facts and anecdotes. An absorbing read: the work of a great writer!
Reading this book you don't just gain the urgent need to discover Cornwall for yourself but you also gain an insight into the mind of this amazing writer. His humour comes across in his opinions: "Superb beaches if you could only ignore the town." I love his honesty, that he holds nothing back in his opinions of places. He says of Tintagel that: "It's no worse or more vulgar than Jerusalem; but to attain any sense of linkage with its mythical or semi-mythical past you have to go out of season and preferably at night when the moon is up and the wounds of cheap building are part healed by shadows."
Although writing a factual book his writing is still as beautiful and scenic as Cornwall itself: "... which in sunshine has an emerald sea and dazzling sands, and much further east Lamorna Cove at the foots of its bracken-and fern-grown valley, the walnut brown cliffs giving depth and quality and iridescence to the sea they guard."
This book is a great memoir of Cornwall, it's obvious how much Winston Graham loved the place, he says that the "scenery of Cornwall that had got into my blood". You can see for yourself how beautiful the 'scenery of Cornwall' is, throughout the book are stunning photographs worthy of setting on canvas and framing.
This is a must-read for any Poldark fan: it's not a serious history of Cornwall but I'd say more of a memoir with interesting facts and anecdotes. An absorbing read: the work of a great writer!
Read
September 8, 2015A beautiful journey through Cornwall taken with a writer who had an enduring passion for the Duchy.
August 18, 2016
Beautiful photos of Cornwall, but the title was misleading---too little of the book was devoted to the Poldark novels. I was hoping to discover where Mr. Graham had set Nampara, the geographical layout in his head of the prominent manors in the novels and the towns referred to. Only a basic map on the last pages oriented one and it took determined efforts to find towns in the novels and towns photographed in the book. As so often happens with beautiful books of the type, it appears the photos are laid out irrespective of the text, so discussion of Mousehole would be many pages after the photos of Mousehole. It required constant paging back and forth, plus consulting the map at the end, to appreciate Cornwall and the one chapter on filming the 1970's Poldark series was too brief.
September 2, 2012
This book is a must for anyone who has fallen in love with Cornwall through Graham's books. He talks about his own experiences there and many of the features that appear directly or indirectly in the novels. I read it before I visited Cornwall for the first time, and it gave me very good direction in terms of seeking the places I wanted most to see.
April 24, 2015
Some stunning photographs of Cornwall with updated information and pictures for fans of the new BBC series.
June 10, 2020
This book contained some beautiful pictures. It helped me visualize the setting as I was reading the book. Loved Loved Loved these books and also the movie on Amazon Prime!
June 11, 2024
Another wonderful picture book of the Cornwall countryside, narrated throughout by Winston Graham and originally published when he was still alive, back in 1983. I love that it’s been republished with more current photography (2015). It all provides fodder for my wildest dreams… to someday visit Poldark’s Cornwall!!
Especially enjoyable for me were the autobiographical sketches of Graham’s time visiting Cornwall as a child, eventually living there for a time, and then coming back to visit in later years. The people, places, and history of the land shaped not only his historical novels, but also who he was as a person. He loved all three dearly, and that shines through all of his wonderful storytelling.
Especially enjoyable for me were the autobiographical sketches of Graham’s time visiting Cornwall as a child, eventually living there for a time, and then coming back to visit in later years. The people, places, and history of the land shaped not only his historical novels, but also who he was as a person. He loved all three dearly, and that shines through all of his wonderful storytelling.
March 13, 2018
Written in the 1980s, this is a memoir of the author's time in and love for Cornwall. Both the writing and the photographs are beautiful, capturing the wildness, the simplicity that he felt there. There are stories about his life, historical information, and insights to the Poldark series. I read it because I'm going to Cornwall soon and want to visit Poldark sites; he has given me more than enough to fill my days.
March 13, 2019
Always enjoyable to feel lost in the time and setting of Cornwall with the Poldark’s. Interesting to see the story continue with George Warleggan and the Poldark children. I lack the vocabulary of Graham and knowledge of old English but I love the flowery language and feel like I can mostly follow what is trying to be said. Always feel like I want to reach into the story and control the characters but it actually make me love the stories even more.
June 30, 2018
It's a tribute to Winston Graham with the re-publication of his original non-fiction with a lot of breathtaking photos taken nowadays! Some experience is nicely described, like the gradual liking to be Cornish, and some statements are really timeless, like the description of happiness being less newsworthy and fashionable, yet this should flourishes in the world!
April 21, 2019
I’d been hunting for this book for some time and it didn’t disappoint with beautiful photos and the links – real and imagined – between Ross and Demelza’s world. It also contained a couple of pages of useful advice for authors. Most pertinent to me seemed: “…risk of becoming too preoccupied with history… But novels are about life.” I think I should pin that up on my wall.
August 9, 2019
This book is a wonderful companion for the Poldark novels, but I believe that it can be enjoyed by anyone who loves that westernmost county of England. Filled with wonderful photographs and beautifully written anecdotes, Poldark's Cornwall gives you a wonderful insight not only into those coves and villages that populate the county, but also into the mind of Winston Graham.
October 20, 2021
Much of the narrative is difficult to follow, but this is greatly assisted by the map in the back and the breathtaking photographs accompanying the text. I was going to give the book four stars but the photographs elevated the book to above a five star level! I’m now ready to complete the 12-book Poldark saga!
September 29, 2017
The pictures are very beautiful. I hope I get to visit Cornwall some day :).
May 28, 2020
I'm a huge Poldark fan and grew up in Cornwall and I picked up a second hand copy of this book last time I was in Cornwall. It's an interesting read with lots of great photographs.
December 19, 2023
Beautiful photography!
May 30, 2023
This is a wonderful book of remembrances written by Winston Graham about his love of Cornwall and its influence on his life and on Poldark.
The photos could have been better but the writing is terrific.
The photos could have been better but the writing is terrific.
April 16, 2018
This was an interesting companion book. It is dated, 1985, in that the current Poldark series is not included in the author's notes. The pictures are lovely and the commentaries are enjoyable.
Read
March 6, 2017A beautifully published and intimate look at Cornwall, England, continuing my obsession with Cornwall.
August 29, 2020
As anyone who has been captivated by the BBC series, Poldark, knows, Cornwall itself is a character in Winston Graham's engaging tale. The rugged wind-blown cliffs, the pounding sea, the empty beaches, the haunted moors. Graham's Poldark's Cornwall was first published n 1983. A new 2015 edition, with an introduction by Graham's son Andrew, is replete with stunning photography of Cornish land ans seascapes. Even a cursory read displays Graham's way with words.
March 10, 2016
Lots of gorgeous photographs of Cornwall and many little tidbits related to place names and character names in the Poldark series. I often look at this book while I'm reading one of the Poldark novels just to get a better visual image of the places Graham is referring to, such as Caerhays Castle. A really nice addition to one's library if you happen to be a Poldark enthusiast.
Read
June 10, 2011lots of good ideas for our trip
April 22, 2012
A beautifully illustrated book with descriptions of place in Cornwall associated with the Poldark Novels
December 7, 2016
A beautful insight to Cornwall, and one of my favorite authors.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews