The Old Reading Room Honeymoon.

I’ve spent the last two weeks celebrating both the New Year and our recent marriage in a little cottage in Cornwall. We were married on the 22nd December and although I’ve always fancied a Christmas wedding, the reality was a little more stressful than I anticipated. So rather than wander off abroad we decided to stay in the U.K. and find somewhere special to stay with our new puppy ( I know, utter madness) down in Cornwall. I was very lucky to find this rustic and relaxing cottage several months before and had been hoping for an excuse to go, because it was a little more expensive than we usually go for. Aside from the cottage’s look, rustic and relaxing, there was a special meaning for me because of what the building was originally used for; a reading room for local miners and their children, who were often working alongside them.

Cornish mines employed children for many different roles, but usually for ‘surface’ work which might include washing down the mined stones in long troughs. In the middle of the 19th Century, the working day for a child was very long, usually between 7am and 5.30pm, with a daylight hours working arrangement in the winter. Many children also had a long walk to work of up to several miles, meaning the day didn’t end at 5.30pm. For example, a young woman called Martha Buckingham, was working at Consolidated Mines at the age of ten. In order to reach work for 7am she had to get up at 4am ready for a two mile walk. She would retire to bed at 9.30 pm, leaving little time for anything but sleeping, walking and working. Sundays were the only days that might provide leisure time. With little to no schooling many of these children would have been illiterate and while reading rooms were often set up to create an alternative to the pub for adults, some seem to have focused on encouraging reading for children. Reading Rooms were provided even in small villages and towns, funded by often the church and local landowners, mainly for the working classes and their children, reflecting contemporary attitudes to philanthropy, recreation and self-help. Of course the mines benefitted from having sober and literate workers too.

Books, magazines and newspapers became more accessible for everyone and learning to read was encouraged. It amazed me that even in such a small, isolated area this place had been providing a haven for people to read. Essentially a small cottage that had been left derelict is now a holiday home and everywhere in the cottage there was a sense of it being like an old school room. The slate floor and rustic wood finish everywhere felt authentic and even the cupboards and shelving wouldn’t have looked out of place in an old school or library. Everything was worn, a little bit battered, but serviceable. It had a really quiet feel to it and when I was reading in the garden room all I could hear was the gentle tick of the clock and the sound of the river flowing past (although it did become a bit of a roar on about day 4 and I wondered if I should have taken flippers and a snorkel).

Styled everywhere with old books, lamps and an incredibly old typewriter it was the perfect place for a bookish person to feel at home. Thankfully while there I even got my reading mojo back and managed to read the following books with reviews on the way:

Preloved by Lauren Bravo

The Collapsing Wave by Doug Johnstone

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elson

One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall

Into the Uncanny by Danny Robins

Meet Me When My Heart Stops by Becky Hunter.

The Guests by Agnes Ravatn.

If you’d like to look at The Old Reading Room the link to the holiday site is listed below. It is expensive but I wanted my honeymoon to be special and with a nine month old goldendoodle on our hands there was no way we could go abroad. It was worth it to stay somewhere with that history and feel about it, it made me feel that rather than rushing around to see this or that attraction I could just read and take in my surroundings instead.

https://boutique-retreats.co.uk/luxury-cottages-cornwall/bodmin-moor/the-old-reading-room-270.html