Coronavirus lockdown may be easing, but when will we be carefree again?

In the latest of his reflections on place and pathway, Will Gore recalls a night-time railway journey to Cornwall, and wonder if he will return this summer

Beatrix in the sea at St Ives, Cornwall, August 2016 (Will Gore)

We’re supposed to be going on holiday to Cornwall this year. It was booked long ago for early August, so we might have a chance. But will the beaches be too crowded to venture to? Or will they empty through fear?

I’ve not often travelled to England’s most westerly county. It always feels an unnecessary further step when Devon is, in its own way, just as delightful. Still, we’d been looking forward to exploring it this year, staying in a cottage halfway between St Ives on the northern coast and Marazion to the south.

My daughter was particularly excited, feeling almost proprietorial towards Cornwall after an expedition she and I made there four years ago.