Drove to St Ives 65 miles so just over half a tank of lpg making the return journey £12.50, not bad. After touring the council estate on the hill we found a parking space on-street, and made our way down to the Tate which we discovered is re-opening in a few days, so we will call in there next time. We did however call in the Porthmeor cafe which is opposite the Tate and had our usual enjoyable lunch there, marvelling at the almost tropical views before us…the pic above is taken from our lunch table. Interestingly, when we walked around to the far side of the harbour we found that the seas there were quite rough, and we actually spent an enjoyable 5 minutes watching people walking or running along the pathway getting soaked with spray, before negotiating the ambush area ourselves….

We then spent an enjoyable quarter of an hour sitting on a bench by St Ives Art Club, watching a seal frolicking nearby – perhaps driven in by the rough swells. The way back to the car was through town and we spent another (!) 5 minutes sitting in the pleasant memorial garden opposite St Ia’s church. That tropical feeling again…one or two art galleries completed a most enjoyable visit……

On the journey home we stopped off for a drink at the Old Quay Inn Devoran, and wandered down to the creek. The whole riverside area had undergone a bit of a transformation since last we were here with gravelled path, seats and information boards. The latter showed that like nearly everywhere in Cornwall the settlement was in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a hive of industry..it is almost unbelievable seeing the idyllic scene today to imagine mines and workings and a busy industrial quayside…an improvement we must suppose, but sad about the loss of industry, wealth and jobs! It was amusing when we walked to the end of the quayside opposite Point to see a labrador enjoying himself walking presumably on a sandbank almost 100 yards out into the creek…you may just be able to see him on the pic……in fact the water seemed only a foot deep for as far as we could see…..