Things to Do
| St Ives |
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St Ives is one of Cornwall's most popular holiday destinations and it's not hard to see why. When the sun is shining, St Ives is bathed in light so pure and intense you feel as if you're seeing the world for the first time through freshly cleaned windows. The quality of the light has drawn artists to St Ives for hundreds of years. But it was shortly after the second World War that St Ives established its place in art history. Modernist painters including Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron, Sir Terry Frost, St Ives-born Peter Lanyon and the sculptor Barbara Hepworth formed an artists community that became known as the St Ives School. St Ives retains a strong connection with the art world and is home to Tate St Ives and hundreds of commercial art galleries and studios. Barbara Hepworth's Trewyn Studio is now the Tate-run Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. In March 2008 the Leach Pottery, established in 1920, was restored and opened to the public as a working studio and museum. The town sits on the side of a steep hill on the North coast of the Lands End peninsula - England's toe. Its four beaches - Porthmeor, Porthgwidden, the Harbour beach, and Porthminster are arranged around a narrow strip of land that extends into the Atlantic, culminating in a grassy hill known as the Island. The easy climb is well worth it for the view. Beyond Porthminster, the bay extends in a magnificant curve around to Godrevy lighthouse four miles away. Our virtual tour includes the beaches, the seafront area around the harbour where most of St Ives' restaurants are located and the main shopping area in and around Fore Street - a labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets populated by artists' studios, craft shops, clothing shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. See the picture links or the map opposite for the full itinerary. St Ives is a very busy place in summer and the narrow streets, while a delight to walk through, are less of a pleasure to navigate by car. Even the larger car parks above the town fill up early and it can be a tiring walk back up the hill at the end of a long day. For day visitors a better option is to take the train, alternatively there is a park and ride service from Lelant. See the travel page for more detailed information on how to get to St Ives. |
St Ives Market Place
Market Place is at the top of Fore Street, A long, gently sloping, narrow throroughfare lined on either side with shops.
St Ives Court Cocking
Despite the lewd-sounding name, Court Cocking is a reference to a place where boats were once kept.
St Ives Bunkers Hill
At the lower end of Fore Street is the Junction with Bunkers Hill which leads to Porthmeor Beach and Tate St Ives.
St Ives Smeaton's Pier
Here on the seaward side of Smeaton's Pier you get a spectacular view of the pier and harbour.
St Ives Lighthouse
This white cast iron lighthouse was built at the end of Smeaton's Pier when it was extended in the late Eighteenth Century.
St Ives Island
They call it the Island, but it is, in fact, a peninsulal offering spectacular views of the Atlantic and St Ives.
St Ives Sloop Inn
This view from outside the Sloop Inn gives you a good idea of what St Ives is like in mid-summer.
