West Cornwall 2: Newlyn, Penzance, St. Ives

Known pleasures aside – Tate St. Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, plus exhibitions at Penlee House [Stanhope Forbes, some very fine paintings indeed] and The Exchange in Penzance; excellent food at Mackerel Sky in Newlyn and the Porthmeor Café in St. Ives – our recent brief trip to the south-west yielded up newer delights, from a blowy ride on the open top deck of the A17 bus from Penzance to St. Ives to the deliciously straightforward and tip-top food at the small café at Penzance’s refurbished Jubilee Pool. Just three days but worth it.

Jubilee Pool, Penzance

Jubilee Pool, Penzance

Newlyn Harbour

Newlyn Harbour, St. Michael’s Mount in background

Exterior, Tate St. Ives

Rocks off The Island, St.Ives

 

Penwith Peninsula

Katherine Mansfield hated it, couldn’t wait to get away, but for us the north coast of that far stretch of Cornwall is just about perfect – this year, especially, when the weather was kinder than is often the case and there was only one day in which the mist refused to rise off Zennor Hill from dawn till late afternoon. So we walked along the coast and up to Zennor Quoit; Sarah swam in the sea and the newly restored Jubilee Pool in Penzance; we ate well at the Porthmeor Café in St. Ives, the Gurnard’s Head, and both branches of Mackerel Sky (Newlyn & Penzance); made two visits to the new and pretty wonderful Newlyn Filmhouse (Maggie’s Plan and an excellent documentary, Fire at Sea); read a number of books, notably a pair by Louise Doughty, Black Water and Apple Tree Yard – both different and very good – and two Irish novels, Ann Enright’s The Forgotten Waltz and Lisa McInerney’s The Glorious Heresies; and very much enjoyed two exhibitions by Imran Qureshi at Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange in Penzance. What more could you want of a holiday?