Pleasurable Padstow
Padstow is one of those fishing ports which makes you know you must be in Cornwall. It’s just as perfect as that.
If you walk round the little streets, or pause a while to gaze out across the harbour, you will begin to feel some of the timelessness of this place, which has been a community for several thousand years and always associated with the sea and seagoing.
Today, it is a favourite spot for tourists who want to experience the real Cornwall, and to enjoy the many sights and sensations along thispart of the coast.
The town of Padstow is in a narrow gulley on the west side of the River Camel estuary, giving shelter from the prevailing winds and keeping the temperature up.
Like most ports, building began on the quayside and moved upwards and outwards, so you will find the older buildings close to the harbour.
Boats tied up beside one of the quays at Padstow.
As the population grew, more cottages were provided, along with premises connected with the fishing industry.
The result is a charming huddle of many shaped and coloured buildings, many of which have been adapted from their original purpose and are now holiday homes or local accommodation.
Padstow abounds with good restaurants, including Rick Stein’s which has helped to put Cornish food on the map, and there are plenty of pubs, cafes and takeaways to keep every visitor happy.
Rick himself has also opened a popular fish and chip shop, as well as his restaurant, cookery school and deli.
If you want to find out more about Padstow there is a small museum about the town’s history.
Mevagissey,with its double harbour,is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Cornwall.
Mevagissey beckons
Ever since holidaymakers started coming to Cornwall, Mevagissey has been one of the favourite destinations.
Narrow winding streets, cottages built into the cliffs above the harbour and, of course, the harbour itself.
The only double harbour in Cornwall, it attracts families, holidaymakers of all ages, artists and photographers.
Some prefer to sit on the sheltered seats around the harbour watching the busy life of this active fishing community, while others enjoy the varied walks in the surrounding countryside and along the coast.
The South West Coast Path passes through Mevagissey and is a convenient and popular overnight stop for walkers attempting to walk the Cornish coast.
As well as a wide variety of shops in the village, the museum situated on
Port Isaac - discover the perfect fishing village And above the seagulls bleat with glee!
The secret is out, this once little known historic fishing village has now entered the living rooms of homes from Scotland to Australia in the idyllic creation of the perfect fishing village that is Port Wenn inhabited by the Grumpy Doc Martin and his somewhat mundane tales!
However is that all that this village has to offer, the answer is not by a long shot. Port Isaac is a real living working village with families, business, history and tales of its own which leave Doc Martin in the shade.
Before the village became the tourist stop, TV and film location it is today it catered very much for the community with many shops including two butchers a bakers, a green grocery a cobblers and even a cinema.
There were many more boats in the harbour and fisherman to take them out. The primary school was well attended and in the heart of the community now the location of the Old School Hotel built precariously
on the cliff edge it was designed by Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail who won a prize for it in a Chicago exhibition. It remained the village school until 1976.
The Golden Lion also well attended was the locals bar built in 1715 at that time one of the largest buildings in the village and was possibly erected on an old quay. It was used by the men of the village for drinking, singing and unwinding.
The small passageway next to the pub know as the ‘Ope’ which leads to the ‘Bloody Bones Yard’ (a body was once found in a wheelbarrow here but the murderer was never detected). It is said pirates used to use the tunnel for smuggling from. A salvaged WW2 Navel gun now stands guard here.
Another interesting passage is Temple Bar nick named Squeeze-ee-belly Alley as its only 18 inches across at its narrowest point and was in the Book of Records as the world’s narrowest thoroughfare.
Market squares in Cornish towns are often called the ‘Platt’ and it is here that much of the village gathered
for social occasions. John Wesley on his final visit to the village in 1789 preached here to almost all the inhabitants.
Although the village is now known as a crab and lobster fishing village it was the humble pilchard that brought the Port true prosperity.
Boat building also thrived in the village during the 1800 with at least two boat yards in the village.
In the 1900s, as the fish shoals declined, Port Isaac’s fortune and way of life began to change. Its isolation became the attraction to an ‘upwardly mobile society’ and so it evolved into a holiday village. Today 70% of the old centre has been bought up as second homes.
Despite this change Port Isaac is still a working harbour and fishermen ply their trade, harvesting the seas in all weathers, as their predecessors before them.
The village trail can be obtained from Tintagel Visitors Centre as well as other local walks and information.
the harbour is a fascinating record of life in Mevagissey over the centuries.
Over on the outer harbour, the old lifeboat house – redundant with the development of the more powerful lifeboats – is now home to a fascinating aquarium.
While on the quay of the inner harbour, you will see that Mevagissey is still very much a working fishing village.
Cornish Visitor Guide - autumn / winter 10/11 27
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