June 3rd – Since much of the lovely coastal scenery is south of Bude, we took off a little earlier this morning and headed to Newquay – one of the larger towns about an hour south. Newquay bills itself as “one of the nation’s favourite seaside towns” and the best family holiday destination. It certainly appeared to be the latter since this is mid-term break in the British schools and the town was a-buzz with families. It was very busy but we did manage to put our car in a car park and take a 90-minute walk around town – particularly up to the headlands from which there was a great view back down towards town and a good vantage point for watching the surfers, although there weren’t too many in the water this morning.

During our walk we discovered a little building called the Huer’s Hut. The present building has been there since the mid-19th century; however, it is believed that the history goes back as far as the 14th century. Tradition has it that the Huer would use the hut as a base from which he could spot shoals of fish, likely pilchards, at which point he would sound his horn. This in turn would set off a hue and cry amongst the town residents for the fishermen to launch their boats. The Huer would guide them in to where the fish were and they would use long nets to catch the fish. I wonder if this was the origin of the phrase “a hue and cry.”

After we left Newquay, we headed back north towards Padstow making a quick stop to check out the Bedruthan Steps.  The name is said to have been taken from a mythological giant called Bedruthan who used the rocks (stacks) on the beach as stepping stones. Perhaps it was a late 19th century invention for Victorian tourists. Some think the name likely referred to one of two cliff staircases used by miners to get to the mine workings but now refers to the whole beach. Each of the five stacks has a name. Further along we stopped at a little pub for lunch.

Having heard that Padstow was crazy busy because of the school break, we decided to avoid it and head north along the coast stopping at some of the small towns and villages along the way. We parked and walked through Chapel Amble (5 minutes!) which had a pub, a post office, a church (closed) and a few residences. The village dates back to at least 1373. It gained some notoriety in 2002 after a local farmer’s death was reported in the national press. The farmer was also a newspaper reporter.

Our next stop was Port Isaac, scene of the filming of Doc Martin, an ITV series that we have been watching.  It is also the home of the Fisherman’s Friends, a group of sea-shanty singers that perform throughout the area. The pier was built during Henry VIII’s time but the actual village centre dates from the 18th and 19th centuries and has over 90 listed buildings. It’s still a working fishing port bringing in fish, crab and lobster catches.

 

We drove through Tintagel, a village inextricably linked with King Arthur and the site of castle ruins around which the legend has been built. Given that it was late in the day, we chose not to stop for a visit. Boscastle was our next stop. The harbour at Boscastle is a natural inlet with two harbour walls built in 1584. In 2004 the town experienced a devastating flood which washed some 1000 cars out to sea and demolished about 90 buildings. Fortunately, no lives were lost. The restoration maintains the old stone features of the village but with a slightly more modern look. The walkway on either side of the harbour includes small shops, the visitors centre and a youth hostel.

Our next stop was at a restaurant in Widemouth Bay, called Elements, which had been recommended by Brian at our B&B. Unfortunately, because of our timing we hadn’t asked him to make a reservation and we were unable to get in. We also attempted the Beach Hotel restaurants in town but the traffic was horrendous and there was no parking. We decided our best choice was a little local pub in Poughill which we had passed many times on our way in and out of town. Good choice! Lamb ragu and roast lamb were the selections of the night.