Cornwall IV.

5-5-18 POLPERRO, CORNWALL, UNITED KINGDOM: We left Chapel House after breakfast heading east on A30 and got to Polperro a couple hours later after many twists and turns on wide roads and narrow ones. Polperro is a fishing village of decent size that now catches mostly tourists. It sits in a gorge formed by a couple of streams. The main streets parallel the rivers and empty into a rock walled harbor. It was low tide when we arrived and most of the boats were stranded on the mud, cars were parked in the harbor and people were on the beach. Much later after dinner, the tide had filled the harbor almost up to the street.

We checked in at the Cottage and walked down town. The town is filled with food shops, galleries, artisans, souvenir shops, restaurants, inns, B&B’s, hotels. Parking is at a premium and most people park outside of town and walk in.


Entering Polperro, ultimate pastoral.

Two streams parallel the main streets, spanned by many little bridges.

The upper harbor is dry at low tide. That water in the middle is the stream flow.

This sandy beach of the lower harbor is under water at high tide.

The cliffs defining the harbor are folded and fractured sedimentary rock, sandstone and slate.

We did a boat tour, 30 minutes, of the harbor and local coast. We saw lots of uplifted and folded sandstone and shale covered with colored lichens and flowering plants. There are many, many gulls and a few cormorants along the coast cliffs.


Cormorant warming up after a dive.

Fractured rock, yellow lichen, pink flowers and grass.

Red lichen and moss on tilted sandstone.

Flat water made for an easy boat ride.

After the boat ride, we found a fish-and-chip place for a lunch. We sat on the bridge over the harbor to eat. We were shadowed by a herring gull standing next to us while we ate who made frequent comments. We were both about done when Judy stood up, and the gull took it as a sign that the rest was his and jumped in. He/she was immediately joined by eight other gulls who all ate what we left in about ten seconds, including some of the wrapping. I would have videoed it, but it was over before I had a chance.


The bridge where we picniced with the gulls. You can see the high water marks on the side of the bridge and white building.

Later we walked along the cliffs which are a riot of vegetation and wild flowers, shrubs, trees and vines, some of it semi tropical. I saw a feral apple tree in bloom as well as azaleas and roses. Higher up the cliffs at the top there are pastures with cows and sheep. People are everywhere, it turns out that this is a holiday weekend and people are here from all over England, most of them travelling with dogs.


Cliff walk. There are several trails at higher or lower levels.

It was a hot afternoon and a bit of shade was welcome.

That's our boat out on another cruise.

Wild flowers border the trail.

The lower harbor before we came down from the cliff.

We had a late dinner, after naps, at Michelle’s near the harbor. The tide had filled the harbor.


The terrace at The Cottage B & B.