cream teas & long walks

My first memory of Polperro was from a trip to Cornwall when I was around 14 with my parents. We had stayed in a rented farmhouse somewhere in the south east, so we did day trips and from all the places we went to, the one that stuck with me since was Polperro. It’s a quaint old fishing village with narrow cobbled streets and a pretty harbour. I’ve been curious to re-live Polperro’s charm, so for the August bank holiday we decided to go.

We stayed at The Cottage B&B which I would hands down recommend to anyone visiting. It was expertly run by owners Pam and Dave who were helpful, friendly and were clearly very passionate about their guest house. It had 6 stunningly decorated rooms so it was small enough to be intimate and cosy. The property is 400 years old so it was very charming. The breakfast here was delicious and plentiful… which we were particularly grateful for on the morning we set off on a 4 hour trek along the coast from Polperro to Fowey.

The walk from Polperro to Fowey

The walk was gorgeous and if you’re well prepared, it’s definitely worth the while. My boyfriend and I somewhere always manage to make long walks a lot more painful than they should be. To start with, our shoes weren’t right – I had blisters the size of melons by the time we got to Fowey and Nick’s shoes were pretty much non existent… just sort of wore away. We also had a baby-sized bottle of evian to share, which we assumed would keep us going. We ended up having to ration water through our journey, allowing ourselves a pathetic sip every half hour. By the time we arrived in Fowey, we were dehydrated and starving and we only had an hour before our scheduled boat trip back to Polperro!

We speedily went to The Dwelling House, a cafe we’d been recommended for the best Cornish cream tea. The scones here were freshly baked directly on site, so you can see the bakers at work in the open kitchen area. We didn’t have long so we literally inhaled our cream teas and hurried to the port to catch our fishing boat.

So off we went in a boat that could fit at most 6 people. Our skipper wasn’t older than 11… this was terrifying as it was really rough at sea and our TINY fishing boat was dangerously close to the jagged rocks of the coastline, so with every wave I thought that would be it. The 11yr old was perfectly chilled about it all.

Back on the safe shores of Polperro, we freshened up at our B&B and headed for dinner. The place we most enjoyed was conveniently right next door to us. ‘The Kitchen‘ Restaurant was intimate, family run and everything was fresh and delicious. We’d finish off our evenings at the local favourite The Blue Peter Inn for some live music and the cosiest atmosphere… I just loved Polperro and I’m already planning to go back.

Been and Gone!