Cornwall: The signs of St Ives

The actual mining may have finished long ago but Cornwall still trades heavily on its mining heritage. Not only are the former mines, their archaeological remains and their history museums big tourist drawcards but even the bus companies take advantage of the county’s mining legacy.

This claim is questionable! Do they mean this bakery has been making Cornish pasties for a longer time than any other? Or do they mean their baker is a really really really old person? We also saw various other bakeries making claims about their pasties and pasty-making: the tastiest, the best, those that had received awards and recommendations.

Sadly, we saw no seals to approach or feed but, apparently, Grey seals can be seen year round at St Ives as there’s a large colony across Carbis Bay at Godrevy Point. An article in The Telegraph explains that the signs were put up because people have been swimming close to seals in the summer months, seemingly ignoring the fact that seals are wild creatures not summertime plamates!

Lugger is the name given to the sailing vessels traditionally used for fishing off the west Cornish coast. Not only were they designed for fishing but they also needed to be fast in the water, to get their daily catch to market as quickly as possible, usually in a race against their fellow fishermen. The speed achieved by the Lloyd is said to have been faster than most modern-day racing yachts!

You’d think this warning would be unnecessary and that common sense would prevail. The sign’s presence on the harbour railing indicates otherwise.

A couple of beers on a hot sunny summer’s afternoon and, ooops, over you go!

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Sitting just across the road from the RNLI Lifeboat Station, the Lifeboat Inn is the perfect location for eating a meal while enjoying stunning views across St Ives harbour. 

Apparently, this is not an old pub – I read the building used to be an auction room but, if the hype is true, it’s now doing a very good imitation of a traditional harbour-side pub.    

The Three Ferrets was my favourite of a wonderful variety of signs I discovered in St Ives, though I’m not sure I’d enjoy drinking there. This from the St Ives tourism website:  

Local back street hostelry, which has been variously a stable, a munitions factory and a funeral director’s office. It is now a no-frills although still friendly one bar boozer ... It attracts an interesting cross-section of drinking society but mainly the younger drinker, and the lively, sometimes boisterous atmosphere (especially evenings) reflects this.