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Bosinver Farm Cottages Beautiful interiors that reflect Cornwall / 44 Inside Out 45 Inside Cornwall Magazine / May 2007 / THINK GLOBAL, SHOP O n the surface it may seem that Pat Smith, who runs Bosinver Farm Cottages, and Janie Cooksley, of Lower Barn guesthouse, Bosue, are two ladies who simply love to shop. But a tiny scratch below the surface reveals two passionate women, acutely aware of Cornwall’s richness, actively doing what they can to fight for the survival of Cornish local products. When Pat and Janie first entered each other’s homes five years ago, they soon realised they had found a kindred who shared their passion to keep it local. Both Janie’s guesthouse and Pat’s 19 cottages at Bosinver are filled with all things Cornish, with objects from Cornish craft shops, to prints from Cornish galleries, framed locally. More organically, they are dotted with pebbles and items handmade from driftwood, reclaimed from Cornish beaches. The eye to detail is exquisite, from one of Janie’s walls covered completely in individually found hearts, from craft shops spanning the county, to some of Pat’s bathrooms covered in tiles etched with beach-huts, fish and lighthouses. Their innovation has not gone unnoticed; Janie won the AA’s ‘England’s best guesthouse’ award in 2006, and in 2005 and 2006 Pat won ‘best self-catering award’ from the Cornwall Tourism Awards. “I love Cornwall, so for me it is amazing to be able to reflect the cottage interiors with what you find in the exterior, in Cornwall itself,” says Pat. “When people come on holiday they want to experience something different and part of their holiday experience is the flavour of Cornwall coming right into their rooms.” Pat and Janie believe that a visitor to Cornwall will gain far more from their holiday by staying in a place that celebrates local talent, rather than finding themselves in a room, indistinguishable from the previous one in which they stayed. “The philosophy of sourcing things locally makes things far more personal. Our places are not incarnations of department stores. People come here, they see what talent and beauty Cornwall has to offer and it uplifts them. Everyone wants to take some part of Cornwall back with them, from a trinket to a grain of sand.” Both Pat and Janie feel that as well being a creative approach, sourcing locally can also help Cornish communities long-term. With local businesses there is accountability and a quality that is unique. “Without local craftspeople, without local food, art and even furniture, we will be unable to escape uninspiring uniformity. It is all about the corner shop,” says Pat. < Info Bosinver Farm Cottages,Trelowth, St Austell. 01726 72128 www.bosinver.co.uk Lower Barn, Bosue, St Ewe. 01726 844881 www.bosue.co.uk The common sense of shopping locally ● The ‘vacuum cleaner effect’ of economic globalisation, according to the New Economics Foundation, means that any flourishing local economy is quite literally sucked up by a wealthy global elite, serving only to enhance the divide between the rich and the poor. In a world where it is now normal to buy your tulips from Timbuktu, 350,000 more people are working a 48-hour week than a decade ago, so that Britain can keep up to global trading scratch. In turn, Britain’s consumers feel increasingly powerless to reverse the trend of a globalised economy. So why should we, when against the odds, fight for the survival of our local services? Why shop locally when you can arrive with ease and leave with fuller pockets elsewhere? The answer is simple; local shops offer far more than just a service. When you buy anything from independent businesses, you are automatically engaging in the life of the community. At a glance BACK TO BASICS Main One of the stylish and contemporary cottage interiors at Bonsinver Above The finishing touches Right Pat Smith shows a charming wooden ornament part of the holiday experience is the flavour of Cornwall coming right into their rooms Cornish self-catering cottages and guesthouses inspire from the inside out Words by Naomi Glass Photographs by David Griffen LOCAL
