It was a bright, sunny day and we were in Newquay - by the harbour to be exact.
The story of the harbour goes back a long way. In 1439 a quay was built in the manor, then called, Towan Blystra. The quay though became referred to as the 'new quay' - and this is how the town of Newquay got it's name.
In the late 1700's it became an important harbour for the pilchard (sardines) industry.
In the late 1800's the harbour was developed as an alternative to Fowey and Charlestown. For a period Newquay was used to export china clay.
Nowadays the fishing boats mostly catch lobsters and crabs for the European market.
As can be seen below there are various fishing trips, Sea Safaris and cruises to be had from the harbour.
A couple of workers catching up with the local news.
To reach the town, from the harbour, can be a bit of a climb up lots of steps. The views are good though - so worth the effort.
From here the Headland Hotel can be seen on the hilltop, high above Fistral Beach - see my post Photos of Fistral Beach, Newquay, Cornwall.
Looking out to the hazy sea, in the distance we spotted a Survey ship.
Two photos follow of Newquay art work on display at the side of the steps. The second pic shows the fishing nets and sardines.
The next photo is of Towan Beach and the house on Towan Island, just along from the harbour.
Before anything else though, we popped into Nile's Bakery - for pasties ...
... and later found a perfect seat overlooking the sea. Somewhere to enjoy our pasties and the view.
Our seat also gave us a good view of Towan Island - which is available for holiday breaks if you have deep pockets. I see their prices start at £1,830 for a long weekend or mid week break - see their website.
And moving on to something completely different, when even the weather had changed.
A couple of workers catching up with the local news.
To reach the town, from the harbour, can be a bit of a climb up lots of steps. The views are good though - so worth the effort.
From here the Headland Hotel can be seen on the hilltop, high above Fistral Beach - see my post Photos of Fistral Beach, Newquay, Cornwall.
Two photos follow of Newquay art work on display at the side of the steps. The second pic shows the fishing nets and sardines.
The next photo is of Towan Beach and the house on Towan Island, just along from the harbour.
Before anything else though, we popped into Nile's Bakery - for pasties ...
... and later found a perfect seat overlooking the sea. Somewhere to enjoy our pasties and the view.
Our seat also gave us a good view of Towan Island - which is available for holiday breaks if you have deep pockets. I see their prices start at £1,830 for a long weekend or mid week break - see their website.
And moving on to something completely different, when even the weather had changed.
This time we were walking in a dull, damp Gover Valley. All was quiet as the trees reached out, not a squirrel or any other creature could be seen or heard.
We remembered an old man we met while walking the valley. He told us how his dog never wanted to walk the section of the valley, as shown below. It seems someone had once died here. The atmosphere was certainly damp and chilly - not a place to hang about, so we walked on quickly. Not that I was the least bit scared of course!
We remembered an old man we met while walking the valley. He told us how his dog never wanted to walk the section of the valley, as shown below. It seems someone had once died here. The atmosphere was certainly damp and chilly - not a place to hang about, so we walked on quickly. Not that I was the least bit scared of course!
A farm house gate was in view but what on earth was the white figure lingering nearby. Looks like Halloween is approaching.
The next day all was bright and cheerful, so a couple of more colourful photos, snapped when out and about, to complete the post.
Thanks for visiting my blog, have a happy week ahead. All good wishes ~ Mike.
Hello Mike, so lovely to see Newquay harbour. Thank you for sharing. I was tempted to apply when I saw the Headland hotel had a vacancy for a Grand High Witch, to scare children and families having afternoon tea! We used to sit and watch that island house. We never ever saw anyone crossing the bridge. Lulu x
ReplyDeleteHello Lulu, Nope I have never seen anyone crossing that bridge either.
DeleteScaring children and their families, now that would be fun employment! Have happy week.
A lovely tour of Newquay and the wooded valley Mike. You know I love boats and water and Newquay certainly appeals to me, super photo's. The house on the island would also appeal to me but I don't think I could do that bridge!
ReplyDeleteI was watching a Michael Portillo programme about the Cornish Coastal path which documented the Newlyn Pilchard industry.
Finally, the quiet wooded valley. A few years ago we visited Lord Yarborough's estate and walked through the part where the family mausaleum was. A lovely valley, wooded slopes and open pastures, but no birdsong or animals, even though the estate had a large deer herd. Strange and quite eery.
Thanks David. Newquay is fine this time of year but gets so very crowded in the summer season. For some silly reason I wanted to go to Newquay on my birthday in July. There is a pub with an amazing view and good food - but there was absolutely nowhwere to park the car. Even the side roads I know where full. So we had to turn for home and I missed out on my Birthday dinner. Such is life! Good wishes.
ReplyDelete