Early Summer in Cornwall.....Back After Five Years.

Well what a thrill it was to finally be back in Cornwall during May after a five year gap,

mostly due to the pandemic. And who would have ever thought that we would get warm

sunny days for every day we were there after the awful weather in early May around the

time of The Royal Coronation.

The highlight of the holiday was of course that trip to The Isles of Scilly, almost 30 miles

from the Cornish mainland. But like this large post I'm forced to make a seperate large post

for The Isles of Scilly in the next few weeks as the two subjects together would have been too large

a posting.

So I am looking forward to returning to Cornwall later on this Summer, although I won't

be expecting that Spanish type weather we had in May. But when we were there, St Ives was

simply looking spectacular like a picture postcard every day.

So, below are some new pictures as well as a few videos, although I wish the few videos

were a bit longer as they were intentionally made for another website which preferred shorter

videos, a platform I no longer use.

I did create a few videos while visiting the Islands. So I'll try and post the first one at the bottom

of this page.

The Harbour St Ives and an extending eating and drinking area just outside the

famous Sloop Inn Pub.

Above: The Sloop Inn Pub which is always crowded and busy throughout the Summer. And the

date on the building always fascinates me. Apparently it has stood there since the year 1312.

It's a piece of history.

And just up that little side road is where our rented cottage was.

Above:  The Harbour Beach, a natural sun trap.

Below: Porthminster Beach with the Harbour Beach in the background.

Porthminster Beach, just one of five main beaches in St Ives.

Above: St Ives Harbour Beach, a very sheltered spot and a popular sun trap.

I remember a holiday here in late September once which ran into the first week of October.

And the beach was packed full of sunbathers. It could have almost been the middle of August.

Above:  Bunkers Hill St Ives just off Fore Street. And it was in one of the little white cottages

at the top of this cobbled road that I stayed in during my first ever visit to Cornwall.

The cottage was originally a Bed & Breakfast establishment but is now a self catering

holiday cottage.

Above: The Digey which leads off to Porthmeor Beach.

Below:  Early morning on Porthmeor Beach.

  

Above:  I remember grabbing this shot on our first morning there, dashing out of

the cottage excitedly even before breakfast or washing. Guess I was keen to check out the views

of the nearby Porthmeor Beach. Also I was pleased to see lots of pink wild sea thrift

which always carpets the coastline during May. It's something I miss out on

when visiting in late Summer.

More Pink Sea Thrift lining the coastpath heading towards Clodgy Point.

 

Below: A few splashing waves on the coastline. But not quite what you might normally

see as the weather was so calm and sunny.

The Island on Porthmeor Beach as seen from the coastpath.

Below: Off to the other side of St Ives Bay for a visit to Gwithian for a close

up view of Godrevy Lighthouse. And it was my first close visit to the Lighthouse. And to get to

the other side of the Bay we caught one of the open top local buses.

BELOW... ST IVES AT NIGHT

Watching the sunset on Porthmeor Beach. And this was the only video (above) where I used my

camera tripod. But of course I forgot to film the actual sunset. Still it was entertaining watching

a couple of boys splashing about in the waves while chilling out on a beach rug watching nature's show.

And not far from us were a group of lads gathered around a beach fire.

THE COTTAGE

Above and below is the cottage we stayed in while in St Ives. And a perfectly comfy place it was.

The best thing about it was that it was just a short distance to Porthmeor Beach. But the only

drawback was that it was a slight distance from the main town supermarket. Of course it

allowed us to pop out of the front door each evening to check out the the sunsets every night.

In fact you soon notice the evening ritual of holidaymakers and locals heading for the sunset

show on Porthmeor Beach with cameras at the ready anticipating a new instagram post. 

The main living room, kitchen and bathroom was all on the sunken lower ground floor while the two

bedrooms were upstairs along with the main front door entrance on the ground floor,

so I guess you could say that it was a bungalow style cottage.

Of course this wasn't our usual holiday accommodation, our regular place got sold. But we're looking

forward to staying in a new property right in the center of town just feet away from the main

town supermarket when visiting again later this Summer. 

Some shots taken on Porthmeor Beach. Although with the weather being so good, the conditions

for surfing wasn't so good.

Below:  I managed to buy some new Cornish tourism merchandise including

this colourful tile (below) which I'll frame and hang on the fireplace at home.

Above and below: The smaller and enclosed Porthgwidden Beach which became more

crowded once the half-term School holidays began in late May.

Remember the original Sunset House? It was a rundown old Council house right on the

 edge of Porthmeor Beach. Well back in 2018 it was put on the property market and it was

sold at an auction to a couple who paid over a £million pounds for it, eventually

knocking it down only to build a luxury property in it's place.

Well it would seem that the house with it's spectacular views over Porthmeor Beach has now

become a holiday let in St Ives, having looked up online information on the property

after seeing a sales plaque on the front of the house. Apparently it's fully booked up

until Sat 2nd of September. But to book from Saturday the 2nd to the following Saturday the 9th,

then it will cost for that one week alone a gobsmacking £8,119.

And by the end of September the weekly fee goes down to around £4,000 a week.

And so if you'd like to see the amazing interior shots inside the house then click on the

link below. The views are quite spectacular. And I was pleased that they kept the

original name of the property, Sunset House.

SUNSET HOUSE ST IVES

Below: Early morning on the first Wednesday and leaving Mount's Bay for the trip to The Isles

of Scilly on the Scillonian Ferry.