THE ESSENCE OF CORNWALL

Joy and Sally Evans, mother and daughter and well-seasoned European travelers, would not tell. They resisted the prying American who was demanding the name of their favorite vacation hotel. It’s much too special, they teased, to share with anyone who might not appreciate its homelike qualities.

This hotel does not serve nouvelle cuisine , they warned. Would any American tourist tolerate a room without a telephone or television? Never. And Hilton-trained Southern Californians, they insisted, just would not be interested in a hotel owned and managed by two young couples adhering to the British tradition of a “family-run” establishment.

Then the Evanses surrendered. . . .

The Bodare Hotel at Daymer Bay near Trebetherick in north Cornwall is their spot; a place to relax, enjoy, be at peace, was its promise.

Daymer Bay would have been simple to find--in the daylight. But at night, in a fog, skinny, finger-like country lanes became a Dickensian maze. Then signposts and traveler’s luck led to a whitewashed general store, a short hill and a gravel path pointing to a sprawling two-story country house.

Lights shone pale yellow from the wooden-framed windows, and laughter drifted from within the ivy-covered walls into the foggy night. Entering the house, there was a comfortable sitting room which had a fireplace, chubby armchairs and a man. He sat, legs stretched in front of him; a book in one hand and a glass of sherry in the other. There was no reception desk.

Could this be the wrong house?

“Excuse me, sir, is this the Bodare Hotel?”

Answered the man with the sherry: “Yes, it is. Neil should be here in a moment.”

A moment went. No Neil.

“Let me show you to the pub. Neil is probably there.”

We walked down a short corridor and into a larger sitting room with more comfortable chairs, writing tables and a television set. A sharp right and through a door was the “pub.” Neil was behind the bar.

“Oh, hello. Friends of the Evanses? They phoned and we’ve been expecting you. Long drive? You must be tired. Have a seat. Get you a drink? Have you had dinner?” rattled Neil in one breathless greeting.

The pub was filled with guests enjoying after-dinner drinks. It was a family atmosphere. In a corner, kids were playing a video game and adults, gathered around small tables and at the bar, chatted. Introductions were brief, informal, and so was the registration procedure. No sign-in and no immediate deposit. No credit card imprint and not even a discussion of room rates. You’re here, seemed to be the philosophy, so you have to know how much.

“Registration? Oh, that can wait till morning,” said Neil as he left to get our bags and show us the room. “We trust you.”

It was a cozy double room ($33 per person, per night, including breakfast and dinner) with a large bathroom and ample closet space. And it noticeably lacked a phone and TV.

Management is a stuffy word to describe Della Welch and Kate Painter, sisters, who, with their husbands, Stephen Welch and Neil Painter, own the Bodare Hotel. For they are young, attractive, enthusiastic, friendly, tireless and they smile a lot.

Six years ago they searched for a hotel to buy in nearby Port Isaac and Polzeath before discovering Daymer Bay and the Bodare. Built around the turn of the century, it had been a private residence until 1930 when it was converted into a hotel.

“The price had gone down $28,000 and we just had to buy it,” recalled Stephen Welch, 35, waiter, manager and jack-of-all-jobs. “We never wanted a big hotel and this place has 19 rooms, 2 1/2 acres and it’s all the four of us can handle. And it always needs work.

‘Secluded and Quiet’

“It’s almost ideal. The hotel is secluded and quiet. That makes it right for retired people, but it’s ideal for a husband and wife with kids. The beach is safe, ideal for surfing and water skiing and, of course, there’s the St. Enodoc golf course next door,” continued Welch, a strapping man with thick auburn hair who, while he spoke, brushed a bit of lint from his spotless red waiter’s jacket.

While Stephen interacts with guests in the dining room, Della Welch, with cropped, chestnut hair accentuating large hazel eyes, prefers a less populated atmosphere: the kitchen. At 31, she is the chef and sous chef responsible for all meals.

“I take the best of British cooking and plan a 15-day menu, so that people who stay a fortnight won’t get duplicate meals,” explained Della.

Meals are prepared from Cornish recipes with fresh produce and meats bought from local sources. The fish comes from Padstow and Port Isaac, meat from Polzeath and even the herbs are handpicked.

“When I need wild dill, parsley or thyme, I just raid the hedges,” said Della with an impish grin.

Kate Painter, 23, shares her sister’s soft beauty and is the hotel’s breakfast and dinner waitress. Kate believes in a personal touch and a sense of humor when dealing with guests. Not only will she ask you how you slept and how you feel but she’ll make sure baby’s formula is warmed.

‘Always Pleasant’

“I think I’m always pleasant . . . it’s my nature,” she said. “I give people attention and treat them the way I’d like to be treated. And that’s a lot more than just shoving food at them.”

Kate’s husband, Neil, tall, slim, is the hotel’s wine steward, bartender, water-sport expert, and on Friday nights in the pub, he’s the stand-up entertainment.

“I come to life at night. I’m a born party person. A busy time in the pub is like a night out for me. There are good folk here and I truly enjoy what I do,” said Neil, 25.

But there are instances, Stephen remembered, when courtesy and friendliness are not enough when dealing with difficult situations. Such as the “retired major incident.”

“The bed was never right for him. We changed the mattress a couple of times and then we changed the bed. Twice. We tried everything . He was never satisfied. I finally told him that there was no possibility of making him happy and that he should leave. I thought we’d never see him again . . . he came back every year after that,” recalled Stephen with a laugh.

And when the Welches and Painters are not working seven days a week, 10 hours a day, how do they relax? Their pleasure derives from enjoying north Cornwall. Della rides horses across the moors. Stephen relaxes on the golf course, just steps from the hotel. It’s a difficult course, he says, the wind coming from the west and that makes the 15th hole a bit tricky. There’s great water skiing at the nearby village of Rock, claims Neil. And Kate? Her inner comfort comes while being curled up in a corner with a book.

Beautifully Sullen

Nothing is more satisfying than discovering a new environment, especially one as beautifully sullen as Daymer Bay.

Camel-colored sand butts against a cold, gray sea and the wind, shattering the morning quiet, slaps tall sea grass against the rocks. In the distance, a boy and a whippet run against the wind. The whippet, with ears flattened, outraces the boy across the lonely beach and, as if delighted with its victory, the dog rolls in the damp sand in celebration.

Clouds mock the spirit of the sea and a climb up the slate cliffs and onto grassy moors provides a glimpse of nature at her most capricious. Surely, any moment now, rain will fall. But nature’s mood swings, and shards of amber light streak the sky.

A morning walk provides the appetite needed to face breakfast in the Bodare’s dining room, which overlooks the garden. The multicourse meal consists of an assortment of cereals, eggs, fat sausages, tomatoes, and toast with marmalades. And after breakfast, if you’re fortunate enough to be invited by the regular guests, there’s rounders on the beach.

Annual Visitors

Rounders, a English school game of paddle baseball, of sorts, and the gesture of inviting newcomers to play, is just one example of what makes the Bodare so special. Couples and families visit annually. So each holiday period, whether in the busy month of August or the off-season months of April through early June and October, becomes a constant reunion of friends. And every new guest becomes an addition to the family.

Consider the family-feel of an afternoon devoted to such leisures as playing tennis-ball cricket in the garden with children while Maude, a black Labrador, tirelessly fetches a stick. Teen-agers William and Alex Slack round up a foursome for a game of tennis doubles while brother Richard catches a ride with the visiting Californians to nearby Padstow.

Parents Chris and Eleanor Slack sunbathe, and baby Harriet, in her pram, naps. In the kitchen, Della Welch secretly bakes a chocolate cake for a surprise birthday party for one of the guests.

In the evening, guests dress for dinner. No black tie, just collar and tie. The dining room is a blend of well-behaved children and socializing adults. But then there are Stephen, assuming his waiter’s role, and wine steward Neil, working the crowded room with efficiency and courtesy.

Variety on Menu

The menu’s main course can range from a hearty roast pork to a delicate whitefish with capers. Platters of steaming fresh vegetables are served, and traditional English desserts will satisfy the most decadent after-dinner cravings. Bread pudding laced with hot custard; Knickerbocker glory, a towering ice cream sundae; treacle tarts, and gooseberry fool topped with mounds of clotted cream.

And, of course, the fitting finish to a traditional English meal is an after-dinner drink in the pub where everyone gathers for a bit of fun. Neil tends bar and on Friday nights, Norman Evans, the postmaster, plays the piano and takes requests.

“I can play any song and if I don’t know it, I’ll make it up,” boasts the robust Evans. Everyone joins in the singing (even the kids) and in honor of the guests from California, the first song is the Beachboys’ “California Girls.”

Never did the American tourists wish for a television nor a telephone nor nouvelle cuisine . For reservations and rate information, special off-season prices available, write to The Bodare Hotel , Daymer Bay near Wadebridge , Cornwall , England PL27 6SA. Or telephone Trebetherick 3210.