Monday 10th July 2023
Our decision is to give Sainsbury a miss and forget the breakfast comparison competition, instead we would finish the fruit we brought with us and have lunch out in “Port Issac”.
Today we woke up to rain but can’t complain as we have just had 4 days of sunshine but again the “gods” smiled upon us, the rain stopped for us to load up the car! With a little sadness we headed out of town, vowing to return in the near future but today, Port Issac, here we come.
Having skipped breakfast we decided to stop off in St Agnes, a smallish but pretty little village with its heritage of industrial archaeology but today, tourism. It didn’t take long to find a nice, quaint place to stop for a break and luckily there was a “free” carpark a few meters away. The place was called “The Bull Frog”, a strange name we thought in a very old cottage but well decorated and had a comprehensive menu, from cakes to alcohol but we plumped for “cream teas”, just had to be done!!!!
“Fully Loaded”, we headed to Port Issac but Christine wanted to take a detour to see the Cornish lavender fields at Perranporth but when we arrived the place is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays but even worse, we could even see the fields through the fence, they are “over-the-brow-of-the-hill”, not a happy chap! Arriving at the new “BIG” carpark at the top of the hill that leads down to the harbour and surrounding cottages. Thanks to Doc Martin and then the Fishermen’s Friends, this village is a very “hot” tourist destination hence the new carpark and big signs banning cars from the narrow streets at the bottom. After all the steps at St Michael’s Mount yesterday, my knee was complaining so out came “Solo” and off we trotted down the steep hill, (I hope I can get back up!!!) through the very narrow streets down to the harbour and headed into “The Mote” the pub on the harbour that specialises in fish. I enjoyed a large plate of Mussels while Christine dived into their smoked Mackerel pate, both accompanied with big fat chips, lovely.
After lunch we wandered around the village identifying the various buildings from the Doc Martin programmes, though the only one we couldn’t find was the “Police Station”. Having watched the Fishermen’s Friends on Saturday, it was fitting we should come here.
There is quite a lot of history here, it is surprising how busy this little port was during the Middle Ages then as it’s use as a port wained, it became a fishing port with Pilchards being the main fish caught until the Pilchards shoals started to decline after WW1, and tourism became the mainstay, though they still fish for crabs, lobsters etc.
Heading back we bought some past pasties to take home for our tea later, and ice creams to give us a boost heading back up that hill. The narrow street was steep but one particular section was extra steep and “Solo” refused to go any further😡😡, he just stopped, he’d had enough but we had a cunning plan, Christine took over and the reduction of circa 30kg did the job, it went straight up the hill 😂😂
Back in the car park as the weather started to break, it started to rain again but again we were lucky, no rain as we wandered around Port Issac. Next stop Weston S Mare general hospital to pay a fleeting visit to Dave
Tonight we are stopping at Hope Farm as we have to be in W-S-M in the morning