Calstock

Calstock is a village that arranged itself down a cliff into the Tamar and then let the Victorians build a viaduct over the top of it, which remains the most decisive thing anyone has done here. The river bends, the woods come down to the water, and the whole valley looks like a National Trust brochure because a good chunk of it functionally is one. What it does not have is the flat ground you were quietly assuming, so anyone arriving with a plan involving a driveway, a level garden and a shop at the bottom of the road should test that theory on the hill first. It is a beautiful place to live in and a punishing place to carry shopping.