My passion for Cornwall - Free2Read

NORTH CORNWALLThe townbecame a TPort IsaacEVER since the 1970s,Port Isaac has fancieditself as a bit of acelebrity.Well, it is stunningly beautiful,charismatic and with a quirkyindividual character that sets itapart from the rest.So maybe stardom wasguaranteed. Its first turn in theTV spotlight came in 40 years agowith the Cornish telly blockbusterPoldark. But its more recentreincarnation as Portwenn, thefictional Cornish setting from thehighly popular ITV series DocMartin that it’s probably mostfamous.Business has boomed since theMartin Clunes tale of a doctor outof his comfort zone among thepleasant, laidback folk of his newhome.You’ll recognise many of thelocations for the programme asyou wander round the beautifulstreets down to the harbour.Port Isaac has other credentials,though. It was also featured in the2000 comedy film Saving Gracewith Brenda Blethyn and is alsothe home of the latest “pop” groupto take the music charts by storm– sea shanty harmony group TheFisherman’s Friends, who stillsing every Friday night during thesummer on the Platt in the OldHarbour despite having signeda £1million album deal withUniversal Records.Most of the old centre of thevillage consists of 18th. and 19th.century cottages, many officiallylisted as of architectural or historicimportance, along narrow alleysand ‘opes’ winding down steephillsides.To the south is St Endellion, thedistrict now firmly established inthe political history of our nationas the inspiration for one of theforenames of Prime Minister DavidCameron’s daughter FlorenceRose Endellion,, who was bornwhile he and his wife Samanthawere holidaying there in 2010.Port Quin lies about twomiles to the west of Port Isaacand gives a real insight into oldCornwall and the sometimesfragile existence people in remotecommunities used to endure.Carruan livestock farm justoutside Polzeath is open to thepublic and has its own restaurant(you can’t get fewer food milesthan that when you dine out!)The aim at Carruan is to showyou how they farm, and there aretours on the tractor & trailer, plusoutdoor and indoor play areasand an area where you can get toknow the farm animals personally!There is also a farm shop soyou can try some of the locallyproduced meat and other producefrom the farm.28discover the extraordinaryCornwall Tourism Magazine in association with www.cornwalltouristpass.com