This bustling coastal town is Penzance in Cornwall, forever linked with pirates thanks to Gilbert and Sullivan’s famous comic opera. These days, visitors are more likely to be tourists attracted by the wide sandy beaches, rocky cliffs and hidden coves once frequented by smugglers and wreckers. Jutting out from the seafront in our homepage photo is the UK’s largest seawater lido, the Jubilee Pool, which has been welcoming bathers since 1935. This triangular Art Deco pool offers a chilly dip for the brave, but for those who like it warmer, a separate saltwater pool is heated to a balmy 35C by pumping heat from a geothermal well 1,345ft (410m) below ground level.
