For as long as Fern Britton can remember, Cornwall has always been in her heart. From childhood holidays in the 1950s, to covering the area as a local news reader in the 1980s, and now as her home and inspiration as an author.

In a new two-part series on Channel 5, we accompany Fern on a very personal quest to understand what makes the county she loves so captivating.

Episode one, which is now available on My5, sees Fern exploring the part of the county she first discovered a child: the south.

Her love affair with Cornwall began with adventures on childhood holidays in Looe, and it’s there she starts her journey, recreating some of her happiest memories to get to the bottom of what she found so intoxicating – including reliving the exciting speedboat rides of her youth.

Fern tries to uncover what sets the county’s physical landscape apart from the rest of the UK by taking us back to the fiery dawn of time with geologist Dr Anjana Khatwa on the stunning Lizard Peninsula.

She explores an era when Cornwall was its own kingdom, and learns about Cornish rebellion against English rule that nearly led to the death of the Cornish language.

And she saddles up as she recalls her rides on windswept Bodmin Moor to find out why so many literary greats have been inspired by Cornwall, and how their visions have made the remote peninsula county of Cornwall world famous.

In the second episode, which is set to air this evening (Thursday, August 12) at 8pm, Fern explores the part of Cornwall she now calls home, and where she first bought a static caravan in the year 2000 – the North.

Here, Fern reflects on her fascination with Cornwall and the childhood memories that drew her back to the Duchy to make it her permanent home.

You used to visit Cornwall in the fifties and you live here now, how has it changed in that period?

Cornwall hasn’t changed much to me. Some of the roads have got a little wider and there are more homes built, but the essence of it is impossible to remove. The sky, the air, the sea. The sounds of gulls and cows.

What are your fondest memories of Cornwall?

My fondest memories are swimming with my uncle in Looe; playing the 1d fruit machines in Looe; the Model Village in Polperro; the shark fishing; and the speedboats.

What did you learn while making the series?

I loved making this series because it took me to meet people I would have never met before – artists, a witch and a clotted cream maker.

Can you tell us about the horseriding and classic car driving?

I adored my white MGB. I drove one in the early 80s and it is my most favourite car. I would have loved to have kept this one!

The horse riding was enormous fun, but less riding, more plodding! In the 80s a friend and I would go up to riding stables on the moor and do all the wonderful riding there was. Even going to the pub where we would hitch the horses up like cowboys and go in for a pint and a sausage.

What was life like living there?

Living in Cornwall is slower and much funnier than anywhere I have lived. I have lived full time in two villages, once in my twenties and now in my sixties. It’s still the same. Village life is a gift. A parcel of gossip, history, laughs, gardening, farming and the much-contested Annual Produce Show. My cooking apples got a first in 2019!

Where are your favourite places in Cornwall?

Anywhere in Cornwall suits me but my favourite places include Looe, Polperro, Tintagel, Sennen Cove, Bodmin Moor, Padstow, Golitha Falls and Trebarwith Strand.

You tell a story about having seen Cornish Piskies – can you tell us any more about that? Do you really believe you saw Piskies?

I did see Piskies! I know it sounds mad and maybe it was a trick of the eye, but they saw me and changed into Grouse.

Cornwall is full of magic, but you have to believe to be able to see it.