Tavistock, some 6 miles to the east, offers all the facilities of a market town, with a wide selection of shops and a large secondary school. Gunnislake, about three miles downriver, marks the end of the Tamar Valley Railway, which runs via a spectacularly scenic route down the Tamar to Plymouth and the main line railway station. The climate is generally mild and wet, typical for south west Britain. Snow falls only on one or two days a year, and rarely settles for more than a few hours. When it does, though, the lanes quickly become impassable to cars, providing entertainment and inconvenience to all road users.
Spring comes early, and the trees and hedges burst into life with a plethora of wildlife.
Rabbits, foxes and badgers are common, and deer seek shelter in the woods. The Tamar valley was once an area of intensive mining, but now there are few indications of the industrial activities. Chimneys, ruined buildings hidden amongst trees, mysterious tunnels disappearing into the hillsides, and bare spoil heaps give some sign of the copper, lead and later arsenic extraction which went on here until the early 20th century, before the ores became uneconomic for mining. Perhaps the most obvious sign to visitors of this area's past lies in some of the names of the hamlets - wheal , the Cornish word for mine often appearing on signposts.