St Ives

Whatever the weather St Ives is one of our favourite places to visit. The old part of town is a jumble of narrow streets, it's crammed with art galleries, good places to eat and several lovely beaches. A red dot marks where we stayed, parking our car at the island car park, shown as the big red square on the map. In summer it's a nightmare to negotiate these streets and extremely difficult to find anywhere to park at all.

In mid-week November we were in luck, staying only moments from the slipway with access to the surf beach.

Out for a walk before breakfast

to the far end of the beach.

The weather can change very quickly.

I scurried back past the Tate, the ugliest building on the seafront (which is saying something because indiscriminate building has sprung up all over St Ives). It's on the extreme left of the photo looking like an abandoned pill box.

I was soaked by the time I got back to the apartment. And look at the front door - sand gets everywhere!

But our accommodation was warm and comfortable, a good place to be as we listened to rain battering the windows and the surf roaring on the beach!

 A few surfers were out on the small headland beaches.

The tide comes right in to the harbour, rushing up the slipways, hitting the walls and splashing any unsuspecting passersby.

But when the tide is out you can walk dry foot right across the harbour mouth.

Can you spot this little window in the photo above? There must be times when it is completely under water!

There are plenty of interesting corners

and properties reaching skyward in search of a view.

The lifeboat station was open down by the harbour and the crew were practising their drill.

The lifeboat looks a big sturdy craft when seen stored in the boathouse

But a photo of the boat at work demonstrated it's frailty when set against the power of the sea.

 Information boards on the walls of the boathouse listed the many call-outs, not all with a happy outcome. How brave the lifeboat crew must be.

I prefer to keep my feet on solid ground in rough weather,

especially if it leads me to Porthminster Beach Cafe

for coffee and cake

or a Cornish cream tea!