After it briefly warmed up in April - so much that the Founder inadvertently got sunburnt - we have decided to be daring and produce a sunny picture. From a few years ago, it shows the Port of Fowey in Cornwall; noted for its high levels of second-home ownership (i.e. lots of people own a second home in Fowey, not that everyone whose first home is in Fowey also owns a second one elsewhere), the attractive location is the home of one of the world's most major china clay ports.

To this end, Fowey is one of Cornwall's five seaside towns with a rail link. Unfortunately, it's purely for the use of china clay trains, which terminate at the large loading point visible here just upriver from the town. Commercial freight ships then squeeze up the estuary to the loading point and remove the china clay for use elsewhere, carefully avoiding running over too many yachts, dinghies, historic vessels or mini-ferries on the way out. Amongst other purposes, china clay is used to make paper appear glossy and white rather than reflecting its origin as wood fibre (which is generally inclined to be rough and brown).

Fowey also has a small castle at the southern extremity of the town - very small - and is a good centre for walking the area. The coastal path is particularly fine hereabouts and not as consistently heavy-going as it can be elsewhere. During May there will also be a Fowey Festival of Words and Music (8th to 18th May), featuring such famous names as Ken Livingstone. Naturally the Tourist Board prefers to concentrate on this rather than the suspicious-looking bit of heavy industry squatting in the view of the river and keeping the economy afloat between tourist seasons.

The Fowey Valley is that rare thing - a consistently attractive valley of semi-decent length, up there with valleys like the Tamar, Wye and Carron. Even if it can be tricky to get there in May without having to enjoy an exciting game of Dodging the Showers...