Back Roads Great Britain (Eyewitness Travel Back Roads)

32

A two-hour walking tour

Walk downhill from the Tourist

Information Centre (TIC) 1. Turn left

along St Andrew’s Street to Market

Place, which is overlooked by the

15th-century St Ia’s 2 , built in the

local textured granite, with a

24-m (80-ft) tower. It has

carved sandstone pillars,

choir stalls, a gilded roof

and a Madonna sculpture

by Barbara Hepworth.

Turn right to join Wharf

Road 3 which leads around

the harbour to a tiny 16th-

century chapel on Smeaton’s

Pier 4 where, nowadays, just a few

fishermen still land their catch.

A warren of cobbled streets climbs

steeply up into Downalong, the oldest

part of town, once home to the fishing

community. Go along Sea View Place

to St Ives Museum 5 (open Easter–Oct,

closed Sun) in Wheal Dream which tells

the town’s history – one gallery has

paintings from the 1880s when the

celebrated St Ives School of Artists

was formed. Continue down

a narrow walkway to steps

above the sea and around

the car park above the tiny

Porthgwidden Beach and its

excellent café. With the sea

on your right, continue onto

the grassy headland of the

Island, which has the tiny

St Nicholas Chapel 6 at the

top. Drop down again to the car park.

Carry on along Porthmeor Road and

right into Back Road West and right

again onto the seafront for the Tate St

Ives Gallery 7 (Mar–Oct, open daily;

Nov–Feb, closed Mon), a striking white

building with a large convex window.

It features artists painting in Cornwall

in the mid-20th century.

Walk back along the seafront,

bearing right into The Digey and

right again into Fore Street, the main

street. Fork right uphill, following

signs to the Barbara Hepworth

Museum and Sculpture Garden 8

(Mar–Oct, open daily; Nov–Feb, closed

Mon) on Barnoon Hill. The sculptor, a

key figure in the development of

abstract art in Europe, worked in the

house for 26 years, and her sculptures

are dotted around house and garden.

Head downhill from the museum,

turn right and go steeply uphill at the

next junction signed Trewyn Gardens.

Cross these to the far exit leading to a

T-junction. Turn left towards the High

Street. Return to the TIC via Tregenna

Place, past the Library which, like many

of the galleries in town, displays work

by local artists or created locally.

ª Exit on the B3306 towards St Just

and Land’s End. Zennor is just off the

road on the right after 8 km (5 miles).

WHERE TO STAY

ST IVES

Rivendell inexpensive

Award-winning family-run guesthouse

near sea and town centre; offers evening

meals, packed lunches and car park.

7 Porthminster Terrace, TR26 2DQ;

01736 794 923;

http://www.rivendell-stives.co.uk

Boskerris Hotel moderate–expensive

Smart but friendly hotel above Carbis

Bay with 15 stylish rooms (most have

sea views), decked terrace and a garden.

Boskerris Road, TR26 2NQ; 01736 795

295; http://www.boskerrishotel.co.uk

AROUND ZENNOR

Gurnard’s Head moderate

Small and cosy inn in an imposing

building near the sea amidst a wild

Cornish landscape. Excellent restaurant.

Treen, TR26 3DE (3 km/2 miles

west of Zennor); 01736 796 928;

http://www.gurnardshead.co.uk

VISITING ST IVES

Parking

The steep streets get very congested.

Park at the top of the town and walk

down to the harbour. Upper Trenwith

Car Park provides a shuttle bus down.

Tourist Information

The Guildhall, Street an Pol, TR26 2DS;

01736 796 297; http://www.visit-cornwall.

com; closed Sat pm, Sun

1 St Ives

Cornwall; TR26 2DS

Once Cornwall’s busiest pilchard-fishing port, St Ives suffered as fish

stocks declined at the start of the 20th century. Help had arrived with

the advent of the railway in 1877, as the trains brought holidaymakers

to the town. Artists, including Turner, were also drawn by the clear

light there, and many of the harbourside net lofts were now converted

to artists’ studios. The fishing never recovered, but the visitors kept

coming, attracted by the fine sandy beaches and many art galleries.

BACK ROADS GREAT BRITAIN

Where to Stay: inexpensive, under £80; moderate, £80–£150; expensive, over £150

St Ives

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