52 TRAVEL+LEISURE | JUNE 2020
I
USED TO LIVE IN CORNWALL. It’s a
sad sentence. People’s faces drop,
as if I’d said, “I used to be happy.”
What happened? they ask. Why
did you leave?
Cornwall is a county on England’s
narrow southwestern peninsula, once
known for seafaring, smuggling, and fishing.
The region was mined for slate, tin, and silverfrom the Bronze Age to the 20th
century, though now Cornwall’s main
business is tourism. The flora and
fauna are different from what’s found
elsewhere in England. The Cornish
language is Celtic, similar to
Welsh or Breton. There’s a Cornish
nationalist movement, and in some
ways it feels like another country.
I used to live in a whitewashed
17th-century cottage with camellia
trees at the gate, and the trees used
to flower all winter. I used to stand
on the toilet lid while I brushed
my teeth, so I could put my head
out the window and see past the
grand Georgian town houses
to the sea. I used to walk my kidsA CHANGE IN
PERSPECTIVE
How best to appreciate a new environment when it’s not as
picturesque as we might like? After a move from England’s scenic
seaside to one of its less glamorous cities, SARAH MOSS applies her
powers of observation—and finds her surroundings transformed.ILLUSTRATIONS BY STINA PERSSON
TAL0620_E_Coventry.indd 52 FINAL 4/21/20 7:26 PM