Polperro
We are not very keen on the commercial aspects of Polperro. Streets bustling with day visitors almost elbowing one another for room to move; shops, restaurants and caf�s all designed to part them from their money. We prefer to approach by the coast path from Looe, avoiding the crowds and enjoying the views from above. We love Polperro's harbour with its small fleet of fourteen working boats, coming and going through a sea-lock which keeps the harbour in permanent water. Around the harbour are a museum of smuggling and fishing, a fish market, net stores, a stall selling fresh fish and shellfish and two of the better pubs, we have enjoyed the Blue Peter though we also like the look of the Lugger. At the landward end of the harbour a bridge crosses the little River Pol that feeds the harbour. Shops and homes back onto it, one of them jettied out over the stream and known as the 'House on Props'. As there are only fourteen working fishing boats, most fishermen's cottages are now artists studios or holiday homes. Not a place for busy times but great in the quiet season. There is no parking in the village itself. Instead you park in a large car park at the head of the valley and walk down or take the bus or horse bus.
Polperro Revisited 2016 below
By B3359 from A390 at Middle Taphouse
Shellfish stall by Polperro Harbour
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Polperro Revisited - 2016
In March 2016 I decided it was high time I revisited Polperro. I was last there in 2009 and that was only a matter of passing through when nearing completion of my Cornish Coast Path project. So I was back there on a sunny day in March 2016. I would have liked to be there at high tide - it always seems to be low tide when I am there - to see the harbour in water but no luck. I shall have to go back again. One major problem with that, the extortionate cost of parking: a minimum charge of �4, a bit strong if you only want to be there for an hour or so. And for that price you have a half mile walk to the harbour. Disgracefully Polperro's web site mentions parking but fails to mention the cost. But then Polperro is generally an expensive place, probably because it has such a captive audience and takes full advantage of its luck. Many of the eating places charge more than their equivalents elsewhere and I found it a little odd that the Polperro Bakery, which had very reasonable take away prices, should charge twice as much to eat in their courtyard. I made a good choice of eating place, the Old Millhouse Inn, where a masive bacon butty and a good coffee cost me just �5. Despite my criticism, I think Polperro a lovely, if rather deliberately quaint, village. It's not a place to visit when the holiday crowds are out in force but a sunny day around high tide in spring or autumn should be ideal. Back to original Polperro entry
Polruan
Fowey on the west bank and Polruan on the east bank of the Fowey River together guard what was once a strategically important deep water harbour. Fowey and Polruan have between them a long maritime history. In medieval times they provided ships for the Crusades and for the wars with the French. Henry VIII considered them of sufficient importance to fortify them with a pair of castles and a chain across the River Fowey. Now there are yachts, fishing boats and a china clay terminal up-river and, thanks to the deep water of the Fowey River, cruise ships visit occasionally. A major regatta takes place on the river and estuary in August. There is a boat repair yard in Pulruan and, indeed, the town has a long history of boat building. Oddly, the town is part of the parish of Lantegos-by-Fowey, oddly because Polruan is a small town while Lanteglos consists of little more than church and farm. Polruan is a steep village. As you enter from the east, Fore Street descends steeply to The Quay where you will find the Lugger Inn; the Russell Inn is nearby. From The Quay a small passenger ferry crosses the Fowey River to Fowey Town. You can leave on Battery Lane, passing the massive Blockhouse, one of Henry VIII's coastal defences, paired with a similar on the Fowey side. At the top of the hill is the remains of medieval St. Saviour's Chapel and there is ample parking. Halfway down Fore Street, look to your left for remains of a granite Latin Cross, perching on top of a shaft of Pentewan stone.
Port Isaac
Jane remembers Port Isaac, from her early childhood, as a quiet remote small harbour village with little activity other than the busy fishing fleet. It is very different these days, having been discovered not only by the holiday trade but also by the second homers from the big city. It may now be far busier than she remembers but it is also, thanks to the influx of incomer money, more colourfully attractive. The old part of Port Isaac is crammed into a tight steep valley leading down to a tiny fishing harbour where crab and lobster are landed. Do not try to drive down to the harbour; you will be unable to park there. You should park in the official car park at the top of the hill and walk down, enjoying the delightful views; the narrow streets can be very difficult to negotiate in a car, even away from school vacation times. Small cottages, closely packed together, have white washed or tile hung walls. There are still fish cellars on the west side of the harbour where you can buy fresh fish and shellfish but the crab and lobster, the main catch, mostly leave the harbour and head uphill for immediate distribution. Even so, we can strongly recommend the crab. Since 2004 Port Isaac has become best known as the location for 'Doc Martin', a TV series shot in and around the village; an odd show, at first comedy, later melodrama and packed with great location shots.