Take me to the Chapel
Mark Taylor travels to the end of the line and finds the Cornish resort of Penzance is enjoying a renaissance
When it comes to holidays or short break in Cornwall, most people will think about well known places like Padstow, St Ives and newquay but now the historic port of Penzance is increasingly attracting Cornish holidaymakers. Known by railway users as the end of the line (there are regular direct trains from Bristol Temple Meads and the average journey takes around four hours), Penzance may not have the white-sand beaches of some Cornish resorts, but it has plenty of other things on offer to visitors of all ages. With views across the bay to St Michael’s Mount and only a 20-minute drive to the bustling resort of St Ives, Penzance is a fantastic base for exploring the south-west tip of Cornwall. Former London accountant Susan Stuart identified this when she decided to relocate to Penzance, a place she used to visit as a child. She fell in love with a striking brickand-granite Georgian townhouse at the end of the town’s Chapel Street when it was still the Penzance Arts Club and jumped at the opportunity to buy it when the property finally went on the market. Built around 1790 for Admiral Samuel hood Linzee, who fought at the battle of Trafalgar, the building has enjoyed a long and varied life. It was the home of an influential banking and mining family in 19th Century, a Portuguese embassy (when Penzance was an important port) and a shelter for WW2 evacuees. It reopened as the boutique, six-bedroom Chapel house in 2015 after Susan and a local architect painstakingly restored the building to its former glory, bringing it up to date with a number of stylish and contemporary touches. Susan has something of an ‘open house’ approach to hospitality so it feels like you are staying in somebody’s home, and guests can enjoy the comforts of the spacious drawing room, the garden terrace and the basement kitchen, which also doubles up as a weekend supper club hosted by Susan, a passionate cook who also makes sure guests have a plentiful supply of homemade cake and coffee during their stay. With sea-facing rooms filled with natural light, white floorboards, carefully chosen antiques and a palette of calming sea-like blues, greys and greens, Chapel house makes for a wonderfully relaxed and informal place. My room at the top of the house had a bathroom with a glass ceiling and wall, allowing me to literally bath or shower under the stars at rooftop level with only the passing seagull for company. The complementary toiletries in the bathroom are handmade by Pure ‘nuff’ Stuff, which has a shop a few doors up Chapel Street, a winding road of period buildings lined with independent shops, antiques markets, pubs and restaurants. If you fancy a pint of local ale, the Admiral Benbow pub - named after 17th century John Benbow - is famous for being mentioned in Treasure Island and its low ceiling and nautical artefacts still has more than a hint of the smugglers’ watering hole it once was.
Similarly, the nearby Turks head is said to be the oldest pub in the town, dating back to the 13th century, and across the road there’s a small house with a blue plaque outside to mark the birthplace of Maria Bramwell, mother of the Bronte sisters. Also on Chapel Street is The Cornish Barn, a chilled out bar and restaurant on the ground floor of the Artist Residence hotel (a branch of which is due to open in Bristol soon). As well as a range of local ales, ciders and well made cocktails, it serves robust food from its smokehouse using Cornish meat and fish. Dishes include beer-can chicken, home-smoked BBQ belly pork ribs and BBQ roasted cauliflower, tomato sauce and smoked cheese. Chapel Street is the oldest street in Penzance and it links the medieval market centre with the town’s historic port and Promenade, where you will find The Jubilee Pool, a saltwater lido regarded as one of the finest examples of its type in the world. Opened in 1935 to celebrate the silver jubilee of George V, the Jubilee Pool is an Art Deco masterpiece and Britain’s largest surviving seawater lido. Surrounded by the sea on two sides, the curved, triangular pool was built upon a traditional bathing spot at Battery Rocks near the harbour and designed to cope with the full ferocity of the Cornish seas. It was damaged in the storms of 2014 but reopened in May 2016 following major refurbishment, and there are plans to heat part of the pool by geo-thermal energy in the near future. Work has already started on drilling a geothermal well which will provide enough renewable energy to heat a section of the water to 35°C. There are also plans to build a new café facility and community space along the top terrace, and the directors of the pool recently launched a crowdfunder to top up the money raised by loans and grant funding. After a dip in the pool, walk the short distance along the Promenade and pebble beach to the fishing village of newlyn, which still boasts one of the most important fishing ports and markets in the South West. Opposite the fish market, you’ll find a number of small shops selling the day’s catch of fish and seafood. next to the fish market and the huge sea wall is the Tolcarne Inn, a cosy pub run by chef Ben Tunnicliffe. As well as warming bowls of fish soup with a pint of Cornish ale, you can enjoy a genuine taste of the local fish and seafood in dishes like newlyn crab with linguine, chilli, garlic, lemon and parsley, or fillet of cod and creamed fennel, mussels and salsa verde. Before leaving newlyn, stop off at Jelbert’s, a tiny ice cream parlour which has become something of a local institution. Run by the family of Olympic gold medallist rower helen Glover, the shop makes just one flavour of ice cream - vanilla and it’s some of the best I’ve ever tasted. With so much good food and drink around, a stroll around the Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens might be in order to burn a few holiday calories. Set in a stunning sheltered valley overlooking Mount’s Bay, the 20-acre gardens are full of sub-tropical and exotic plants in wooded areas and around ponds and streams. The gardens also have contemporary art installations by internationally acclaimed artists and a restaurant serving locally-sourced dishes. Close to stunning coastal paths, beautiful beaches and countless tourist attractions, Penzance is as good a base as any to explore Cornwall but with so many attractions of its own, it’s not hard to see why it is becoming such a draw in its own right.