It is such a long, long time since I have sat by the beach as darkness descended that I had no idea of the excitement which would erupt when the setting sun slipped beneath the Atlantic waves in our quiet Cornish bay.

Suddenly, at 9.55pm, diners leaped from their seats to photograph the tiny, sinking slither of blazing red on the far horizon. Children paddling towards Camel Rock turned back to the shore and playful terriers at last stopped kicking up the sand with their hind legs.

As for me, I paused for moment or two to savour a meal prepared by Thinh Nguyen Nho, chef at The Beach House and Hotel on Widemouth Bay.

When you look at a map, this corner of north Cornwall looks a fair way from the big attractions like the Eden Project or The Tate at St Ives.

But Bude, a breezy clifftop walk away from Widemouth Bay, is an elegant seaside town, famous for its Sea Pool, refreshed daily by the ocean. There are acres of sandy beaches, one reaching inland for hundreds of yards, swathes of public lawns, a mini castle and a canal surrounded by cobbled walkways.

Widemouth Bay became a natural bolthole after our first clifftop picnic.

Somehow the whitewashed 1970s bungalows, the cars resting in the dunes and the irregular line of restaurants and bars dotted along the clifftop road looks the perfect backdrop for a family holiday - leaving the 'Chelsea Tractor' brigade to hurtle on their way to glitzier Newquay and St Ives.

It's an area perfect for the simple pleasures, like fish, chips and mushy peas on an outside table at sunset.

By car, along the Atlantic Highway(A39), we had short expeditions to Clovelly, Morwenstow,the superbly restored Boscastle, and magical Tintagel Castle, a breathtaking treasure enhanced by the tender touches and wooden walkways of English Heritage.

From its highest rampart, you look far out to sea and for miles along a deserted coastline, and then vertically down to shallow blue waters.

This is the spot where King Arthur and Merlin might have convened Camelot ... and it had us under its spell.

  • Jeremy Gates stayed at Kennacott Court, Bude, part of Premier Cottages 2013 programme, where a week’s stay starts at £249 in a unit sleeping two. A week’s stay in The Granary, sleeping six, costs from £600 per week. For reservations, call 01288 362 000 or email phil@kennacourt.co.uk.
  • Travel Republic (020 8974 7200) currently lists rooms at The Beach House Hotel, Widemouth Bay (01288 361 256) from £32 per night.