My first visit to Cornwall

Penzance

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Penzance shore Photo - Penzance, Cornwall

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When we decided to spend a few days in Cornwall, we didn’t make a conscious decision to stay in Penzance. We wanted a reasonably priced guest house that had parking on site or nearby, and about four months prior to our departure I found four places that fitted the bill. My son’s partner picked two of them, one in St Ives and one in Penzance, but when I returned to their websites the St Ives guest house no longer had vacancies. I booked the guest house in Penzance, and as it turned out we were very pleased that we stayed there.Penzance is a town situated on the south coast of Cornwall; it’s not as trendy or fashionable as St Ives, retaining something of a traditional air. Whether you travel...Read More

When we decided to spend a few days in Cornwall, we didn’t make a conscious decision to stay in Penzance. We wanted a reasonably priced guest house that had parking on site or nearby, and about four months prior to our departure I found four places that fitted the bill. My son’s partner picked two of them, one in St Ives and one in Penzance, but when I returned to their websites the St Ives guest house no longer had vacancies. I booked the guest house in Penzance, and as it turned out we were very pleased that we stayed there.

Penzance is a town situated on the south coast of Cornwall; it’s not as trendy or fashionable as St Ives, retaining something of a traditional air. Whether you travel by road or rail, you are likely to approach it from the east and will catch sight of one of the area’s major attractions, St Michael’s Mount, just before you reach Penzance. The road passes through the eastern outskirts of the town where, fortunately, the supermarkets and fast food outlets appear to be situated. Our guest house, like many others, was on Alexandra Road, and to get to it we had to pass through the town centre with its imposing domed building that houses Lloyd’s bank and its nucleus filled with small shops and eateries.

The proprietress of the Dunedin Guest House where we stayed explained to us on our arrival that we could take a shortcut through Penlee Gardens to get to the town centre; it was only a few minutes’ walk and proved to be a very pleasant one. Penlee Gardens has tennis courts, a garden of remembrance and even a small outdoor theatre as well as an expanse of grass with plenty of trees and flowers to admire. We then turned away from the shops and in less than five minutes were on the promenade with its screaming seagulls. To the west we could see the fishing port of Newlyn, and to the east we were able to feast our eyes again on St Michael’s Mount. Penzance has an outdoor pool on the beach that seemed to be popular with families, and a notice announced that kayaking was a new attraction there too.

Penzance proved to be an ideal base from which to explore the south-western tip of Cornwall. It is only three miles along the coastal road to Marazion, a small market town from whose beach there is access along a causeway to St Michael’s Mount. We drove there late on our first afternoon and found a large car park by the shore. Unfortunately we were just too late to walk out to the Mount, as the tide was just turning and the causeway would soon be submerged. We went to have a bite to eat on the terrace of the Godolphin Arms, from where there is a superb view of the Mount. On our last morning we toyed with the idea of taking the boat trip out to the Mount as the tide was high, but sadly there was a strong wind and no boats were sailing that day. At low tide, however, Marazion beach is an ideal place for children to build sandcastles and have space to run around on the sand.

Our second day saw us heading off to Porthcurno Bay and the Minack Theatre, which are only about eight miles from Penzance and well worth a visit. From there we continued to Land’s End, and it was only about half an hour’s drive back to our guest house. The third day we set off to St Ives which is on the northern coast but again only about half an hour by road. Seeing how difficult it was to drive around the narrow streets of St Ives and find a place to park made us particularly glad that we were staying in Penzance. After visiting Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum, I wandered down to the harbour and considered going for a drink in a cafe, but it was so crowded everywhere that I made a beeline back to Penzance. The two major galleries in St Ives left a lasting impression on me, but I also spent a delightful hour one afternoon at the Penlee House Gallery and Museum in Penzance, which had an exhibition of Dame Laura Knight’s paintings at the time. After returning home I was disappointed to discover that there is another gallery in Penzance, the Exchange on Princes Street, that I hadn’t found during my stay. It exhibits contemporary art and is linked to Newlyn Art Gallery. Entry to the Exchange is free, and it is free to Penlee House on Saturdays.

The proprietress of our guest house recommended two restaurants in Penzance to us, and one of these was the Navy Inn. This is actually a pub that serves food and is just off the promenade on Queen Street. We went there on our last evening in Penzance, and we all agreed that the fish we had was the best we had ever tasted, unsurprisingly perhaps as it was fresh fish from Newlyn. The desserts were wonderful too. The other recommendation was for the Meadery; we thought of going there for lunch on our final day but discovered that the restaurant didn’t open until 6pm. We had lunch at the Duke Street Cafe in Newlyn instead and had no regrets about our choice. On our first day we wanted something light for a late lunch and ventured into the tiny deli called The Cornish Hen in the centre of Penzance. I enjoyed my first taste of homity pie there, and their coffee is to be recommended too. Less successful was our visit to the Lavender Delicatessen, where the genuine Cornish pasties left a lot to be desired. On my return from St Ives I came across the Cappuccino Express where I resisted the temptation of a cream tea but had a delectable blueberry muffin with my cappuccino. Their sandwiches were reasonably priced and looked huge. I remembered that the only Penzance eatery mentioned in Harden’s Guide was the Honeypot Cafe, but unfortunately I didn’t discover its whereabouts until I was heading to catch my train home. It certainly looked to have an interesting menu.

Penzance town centre has an eclectic mix of shops where you can find anything from Tesco Express and the Co-op to pricey art and souvenir shops and tiny antique shops chock full of horse brasses and bric-a-brac. I needed a gift for my brother (as he was looking in on my cat) and found a beautiful ceramic lizard in a shop that sold handmade soap. There is a sizeable post office, at least two photographic shops, several pharmacies and even a cinema for those rainy days. The most unusual sight is the Egyptian House, which to me should have been called the Pharaonic House, with its spectacular facade.

Penzance has a railway station down by the harbour, and there is a car park nearby. Trains run to Plymouth and London Paddington as well as cities further north, and there is a branch line that runs along the picturesque coast to St Ives. The station has a cafe and a shop adjacent to a decent waiting room. The bus station is right beside it, and there are bus services to local towns and villages such as Marazion, Newlyn, Land’s End and St Ives. Long-distance bus and coach services run to and from Penzance. Several companies run sightseeing and fishing boat trips from Penzance harbour. For a trip with a difference, you could go by helicopter to the Scilly Isles, and there is also a ferry service to the isles.

I would definitely recommend Penzance as a base to stay in to explore the south-western peninsula of Cornwall. If you are looking for a guest house, the Dunedin is a good choice; if you are on a tight budget, Penzance Backpackers is on the same street. Penzance may seem a little old-fashioned compared to St Ives, but it is also relatively unspoilt, less crowded and easier to drive around. With attractions such as St Michael’s Mount, the Minack Theatre and Land’s End just a few miles away, its location is ideal. Newlyn is within walking distance and is well worth a visit if you are looking for unspoilt towns and villages. I would happily return to Penzance if I have another opportunity to visit Cornwall.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 8, 2012

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The Dunedin

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Hotel | "Three nights in Penzance"

Dunedin Guest House Photo - The Dunedin, Penzance, Cornwall

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My son, his partner and I decided in the spring that we would spend a few days in Cornwall in late August, which was the only time I could take a holiday. None of us had been before, so we didn’t have any fixed ideas about where we wanted to stay. I offered to look for a reasonably priced guest house that had parking, and came up with four possible places. My son’s partner picked his two favourites of the four, one of which was in Penzance and the other in St Ives. When I looked again, the St Ives place no longer had vacancies, so I went ahead and booked our accommodation at the Dunedin Guest House in Penzance. I made the reservation for three nights through booking.com. The total cost for...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 26, 2012

The Dunedin
Alexandra Road
Penzance, Cornwall TR18 4LZ
1736 362652

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The Navy Inn

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Restaurant | "Best fish ever at the Navy"

The Navy Inn Photo - The Navy Inn, Penzance, Cornwall

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The Navy Inn was one of two restaurants recommended to us by the owner of the Dunedin Guest House where we stayed in Penzance. We wanted to eat at a place that served local food, and we had been told that the Navy Inn served fresh fish from Newlyn. It was the nearer of the two recommendations, so I suggested we go there first and have a look at the menu. It was interesting enough to entice us in. This was quite early on a Friday evening, and we were extremely lucky to get the last free table.The inn is actually a pub serving food that is beautifully cooked and presented. It’s an old building with oak beams and is full of prints of ships and navy memorabilia. We were seated at a table near ...Read More

The Navy Inn was one of two restaurants recommended to us by the owner of the Dunedin Guest House where we stayed in Penzance. We wanted to eat at a place that served local food, and we had been told that the Navy Inn served fresh fish from Newlyn. It was the nearer of the two recommendations, so I suggested we go there first and have a look at the menu. It was interesting enough to entice us in. This was quite early on a Friday evening, and we were extremely lucky to get the last free table.

The inn is actually a pub serving food that is beautifully cooked and presented. It’s an old building with oak beams and is full of prints of ships and navy memorabilia. We were seated at a table near the rear of the pub at the end of bar. The seats were upholstered so it was comfortable. My son and his partner ordered beer - one had a pint of Doombar, but I forget the other name - and I ordered an apple juice. The waitress brought menus for us and there were also specials listed on a board near the entrance to the inn.

We asked for a platter of olives and bread (£4.75) and then had a look at the main dishes. These range from chargrilled courgette and pearl barley risotto topped with Parmesan cheese (£9.95, one of two vegetarian mains) through poached fillets of local lemon sole with celeriac puree and a Seville dressing (£14.95) to pan fried local fillet steak served with shallot and red wine sauce and horseradish beignets (£19.95). Any of the starters can also be served as main dishes, and they include tower of Newlyn crab and roasted goat’s cheese with olive tapenade and membrillo. There is also a fish pie (£11.50), sausage, mash and onion gravy (£9.50) and a pie or casserole of the day, which was venison pie when we visited. The menu tells you that you can ask for something simple, such as "fish plainly grilled or steak with mushrooms and tomatoes." We were, however, interested in one or two of the dishes on the specials board. The menu states that the Navy Inn buys sustainable, line caught fish daily from Newlyn market, and we decided that fish was the thing to have. While my son and his partner were at the bar, people at a nearby table recommended the monkfish with scallops and risotto (£16.95) so they both decided to try it. I didn’t know if I liked monkfish and it seemed a lot to pay for something I was unsure of, so I decided on roasted cod with purple sprouting broccoli and a lemon hollandaise sauce (£12.95), billed as a wonderful Cornish dish. It sounded healthy too. Side orders of salads, risotto, mash and chips are available, but we didn’t think we needed to order any.

The Navy Inn also has hot and cold sandwiches and three versions of a ploughman’s lunch on their menu, and it doesn’t say that they are only available at lunchtime. The children’s menu lists cheese and tomato ciabatta pizza and chicken bites in crispy crumb coating with chips as the main dishes, but some dishes from the main menu are marked H which means that they can be served as half portions at half price for children under ten.

Food is cooked to order but we didn’t have to wait too long and we had the olives in the meantime. When our mains came they certainly looked good, and as it turned out they tasted even better. My son and his partner both said that theirs was the best fish they had ever tasted. My cod and broccoli may have looked a little more modest, but the fish was wonderful. I couldn’t remember what the sauce was, but it had a beautiful taste of lemon without being too sharp or sour. I checked afterwards with the waitress who confirmed that it was a lemon hollandaise sauce. It was perfect. I have to say that none of us had expected food of such a high quality in a pub.

Having enjoyed our main courses so much we decided we wanted to sample the desserts as well. I didn’t have a huge amount of room left and I hadn’t yet had a Cornish ice cream, so I picked the brandy snap basket filled with ice cream or sorbet (£5.95). I chose two scoops of mixed berry ice cream and one of vanilla. My son and his partner both decided on Victoria sponge with homemade jam, fresh local berries and vanilla ice cream (£5.95). There are two other desserts on the menu as well as a West Country cheese board. While we were waiting my son ordered a whisky, his partner another pint of Doombar, and I asked for green tea. My tea came with a marshmallow and a small biscuit, which made me feel I would only just about have room for dessert. When the desserts appeared, we were very impressed by the presentation. The Victoria sponges even had a coil of sugar balanced on top. Once again, the food tasted as good as it looked. I loved the berry ice cream in particular, and the fruit complemented it perfectly. I had to finish the ice cream first and then pick the brandy snap up in my fingers as it was impossible to cut through it with a spoon, but it was crisp rather than tough. Needless to say, the Victoria sponge was very much appreciated too.

The bill for our food came to £69.45 to which we added a tip. We were able to pay by card. We had already paid for our drinks in cash at the bar, but we could have added them to our food bill. The service from our waitress was very polite, friendly and efficient; we couldn’t have asked for more and realised how lucky we were to have got a table without a reservation.

The toilets are the one thing that let the place down a little. The ladies’ could seriously do with a facelift, and my son said the gents’ didn’t have a very good hand-dryer. But I think the food was so impressive that we were all ready to overlook a bit of a shortcoming.

We were leaving Penzance the following day, but I think if we had been staying longer I would have been tempted to go to the Navy Inn again and tried one of their cheaper mains or a roasted mackerel sandwich. We all said that we were surprised that in Portsmouth we didn’t have a restaurant serving fish that is anything like as good as what we had tasted at the Navy Inn. According to their website, they have been awarded an AA rosette five years running, and I can easily understand why. It is the ideal place to have excellent food in an informal atmosphere, and it is in their favour that they are using local products, local butchers and a neighbouring fish market.

The Navy Inn is situated just off the promenade in Penzance, and it is also close to the town centre. I can only hope that I will have the chance to go back one day.

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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on August 29, 2012

The Navy Inn
Queen Street off Penzance Promenade
Penzance, Cornwall TR18 4DE
01736 333232

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Tate St. Ives

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Attraction | "Contemporary Art in Cornwall"

Tate St Ives Photo - Tate St. Ives, St. Ives, England

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Having spent the majority of the first three days of my holiday in the West Country outdoors, I was looking forward to visiting one or two galleries on the fourth day. Wet weather was promised until around 1pm, which made the thought of a cultural morning all the more appealing. We drove from Penzance to St Ives and were lucky to find a place in a car park just opposite Tate St Ives, so I decided to have a look around there first.The Tate is an imposing piece of architecture that overlooks Porthmeor Beach with its golden sands. Entry to the gallery is not at ground level, but there is a ramp that leads up to an outer circular area that does have a roof and was providing welcome shelter to ...Read More

Having spent the majority of the first three days of my holiday in the West Country outdoors, I was looking forward to visiting one or two galleries on the fourth day. Wet weather was promised until around 1pm, which made the thought of a cultural morning all the more appealing. We drove from Penzance to St Ives and were lucky to find a place in a car park just opposite Tate St Ives, so I decided to have a look around there first.

The Tate is an imposing piece of architecture that overlooks Porthmeor Beach with its golden sands. Entry to the gallery is not at ground level, but there is a ramp that leads up to an outer circular area that does have a roof and was providing welcome shelter to a few souls on that wet morning. There was quite a queue forming at the ticket office, but it moved fairly quickly. When you have paid you receive a booklet giving details of the current displays, special events and plenty of general information about the Tate. It also gives details of the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden which is managed by the Tate, and the back cover shows a plan of how to get from one museum to the other by two possible routes.

As you enter the gallery you can stop and watch a film relating to the current display if you wish. There is also an impressive stained glass work designed by Patrick Heron. You can take the lift to the galleries, but if you go up the stairs you can stop and admire a collection of prints. Tate St Ives doesn’t display a permanent collection of art but holds special exhibitions that usually last for about four months. At the time of my visit there was a show of the work of Alex Katz, a contemporary American artist, entitled "Give Me Tomorrow." I was familiar with the section from one of his larger paintings, "Eleuthera," that appears on the poster and the front of the brochure. It depicts several women in swimsuits and bathing hats, posing like mannequins and wearing cool smiles. I hadn’t felt attracted to it, but faced with the full-size image I have to admit the use of bold, bright colours was impressive. I was, however, more attracted to Katz’s landscapes, some of which had superb abstract qualities. The inclusion of several seascapes was particularly appropriate considering the location of the gallery.

Although the main display was of Katz’s work, those hoping for more variety or a glimpse of some not so contemporary art would not be disappointed. Katz was invited to choose a number of works from the Tate collection, and these were hung in the area surrounding the beautiful curved window that overlooks Porthmeor Beach. Katz chose works by such diverse artists such as Henri Rousseau, George Stubbs, Francis Picabia and Piet Mondrian. Although visitors are not allowed to photograph the artworks themselves, it is possible to take photos of the huge window and the view of the coast, which was a wonderful sight even on a rainy morning. This area of the gallery is one where you feel you could spend time contemplating both the works of art and the view of the Cornish coast. There are a number of seats throughout the gallery, allowing you to stop for a while at any point.

Tate St Ives has a shop that sells books (including children’s picture books), greetings cards, postcards, gifts, jewellery and mugs. There is also a licensed cafe that overlooks the old town and Porthmeor Beach; it uses ingredients from local growers and suppliers wherever possible. It serves breakfast and lunch, as well as soup, sandwiches, salads and cakes in the afternoon. There is a children’s menu for under tens with a choice of three mains, three desserts and fruit juice or milk to drink. You can visit both the shop and the cafe free of charge.

During the summer months you can take a guided tour of the exhibitions at the Tate at either 11.30am or 2.30pm each day, and at the Barbara Hepworth Museum at 1pm. There are quite frequent events and activities aimed at families, especially during the summer and half-term holidays. The Tate has baby changing facilities and is accessible to wheelchairs; there is a lift to all floors. There is parking nearby, but car parks in St Ives are often full, so Tate offers £1 discount on admission if you show a bus or train ticket.

Both Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden open every day at 10am from March to October and close at 5.20pm. From November to February they open from Tuesday through to Sunday at 10am and close at 4.20pm. The last admission is always twenty minutes before closing time. As of September 2012 admission to the Tate is £6.50 and to the Hepworth Museum £5.50, but there are concessions and also combined tickets that work out cheaper. It is also possible to buy a seven-day pass (currently £14.50) that gives unlimited access to both museums as well as to the Leach Pottery in St Ives and Penlee House Gallery and Museum in Penzance. On the last Friday of May, June, July and August the gallery and shop at Tate are open from 6pm to 9pm and entry is free; the cafe is open until 10pm.

Although the admission fee to Tate St Ives might seem relatively high, it is a gallery worth visiting both for the works of art and the building itself with its spectacular curved window and wonderful view. The seven-day pass would be excellent value if you were staying in south-west Cornwall and could visit all four venues. For a wet day it is certainly a place to consider for families with all but the youngest children. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 9, 2012

Tate St. Ives
Porthmeor Beach
St. Ives, Cornwall TR26 1TG
01736 796226

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The Minack Theatre

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Attraction | "The astounding achievement of an inspirational woman"

Porthcurno bay Photo - The Minack Theatre, Penzance, Cornwall

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Up until a few months ago, I had never even heard of the Minack Theatre. When we decided to spend a few days in Cornwall and had booked accommodation in Penzance, we started to research places of interest nearby. My son told me that a work colleague had recommended we visit the Minack Theatre at Porthcurno Beach. I initially presumed that this was an ancient amphitheatre, even though I knew that the Romans hadn’t got as far as Cornwall. I was astounded to discover that it was in fact planned and built by one inspirational woman, Rowena Cade, in the twentieth century.The Minack is only about eight miles from Penzance, and it has its own free car park. We, however, did things the hard way, u...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on September 12, 2012

The Minack Theatre
Cliffs of Porthcurno
Penzance, Cornwall TR19 6JU
+44(0)1736 810181

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