Actress, comedian and writer Dawn French shares the joys of living an uncomplicated life in her beloved Cornwall
Dawn French may have been born in Holyhead, north Wales, but she considers herself to be as Cornish as a Cornish pasty! She spent a good deal of her childhood in the UK’s most south-westerly county and, having holidayed here many times as an adult, moved back as a permanent resident in 2006.
“I knew I wanted to be settled in Cornwall by the time I was 50,” she says. “I always felt that. I may not have been born in Cornwall but I was most definitely bred in Cornwall. My heart s here. Whenever I have to go away for work, I can never wait to get back.”
What is it about the place that really grabbed her heart?
“There is, without a doubt, beauty here,” she reveals. “I can do nothing but connect with that. It makes me calm, it makes me happier and it sort of enthuses my mind with better ways of thinking.
“My greatest pleasure is the sea. I never want to be away from it. I like the quiet, too. The real me is quiet and I find quiet in Cornwall. I have been noisy all my life and loved it but, essentially, I am a quiet person.
“And yes, I’ve gone back to where my family are. My brother lives in Cornwall and the sense of my mum, who passed away in 2012, is there and that is home for me. I wanted the water, the light, the sky and the feeling of being near my family. It’s just where I belong.”
Describing herself as “homey” and a “functioning introvert”, Dawn likes a simple, uncomplicated life.
“I like the washing machine going, a cake in the oven, time to read. I don’t feel things like, ‘Ooh, I haven’t seen Japan yet’, or ‘I haven’t directed a film’,” she says. “I don’t feel like I’m failing at all the things I should be doing. I’m not very adventurous. My dream day is a pasty and a book. My dream night? Walking on the beach in Cornwall with a torch at midnight. Blissful.”
Talking of books, Dawn says living in Cornwall has greatly helped her writing career.
“There’s something about the air in Cornwall. It’s full of salt – maybe that helps?” she jokes. “Seriously, when I moved back permanently, I decided I would find a creative outlet that would enable me to be at home in Cornwall – and that is writing. Writing in Cornwall has been my biggest joy. I am also very honoured to be Chancellor of Falmouth University.”
It is also where Dawn found love
