Charming Cornish Fishing Villages

We've spent the last couple of days along England's southwest coast and will continue to do so for another four or five days.  We left Brixham Thursday morning and headed to Cornwall via Dartmouth (taking the Lower Ferry from Kingswear) and Dartmoor.  The Dartmouth Regatta was about to start and the town was very busy.  Good thing that we hadn't planned to stay here. 

Brixham Harbour

Ramp for the Dartmouth Cable Ferry

I always find the moors so charming with their wild ponies, vast openness, narrow roads and, of course, lots and lots of sheep.  This time was no exception.  We made our way to Postbridge where there are two often photographed ancient bridges.  Like Gold Hill in Dorset, this scene often finds it way into English calendars.  We actually managed to get the perfect shot just before a huge tour bus disgorged its passengers to scramble all over the rocks.  Whew! 



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The very photogenic two bridges at Postbridge on Dartmoor



The intersection where
I waited for 'green'

One of Looe's main streets!

From Dartmoor, we headed back to the coast via Plymouth crossing the Tamar Bridge into Cornwall.  Our destination was the popular fishing village of Looe and my hope was to arrive on the main road, not via the scary, very narrow and very steep lane which runs between the old Cornish cottages onto the village's main street, usually crowded with tourists.  You guessed it - that is the road we ended up on!  I'm not sure if it was scarier for me, my sister or the hundreds of pedestrians in my way!  Obviously, I didn't get any pictures of me driving it but I went back and took a few of the street and other cars so you can get an idea; the only difference being that the street was a lot busier at midday when we arrived.

Looe has a lovely harbour which is actually an estuary dividing the town into west and east.  The eastern side is the more interesting with lots of shops, restaurants and harbour activity but staying on the west is quieter and probably preferable.  Because it is a long, narrow harbour, there is a huge change in the water levels when the tide ebbs and flows.  The next two photos show how different the harbour can look at high and low tide.

The harbour at Looe

 

Fieldhead Hotel, our "home" for 2 nights

The view from the hotel

It was no problem to find our hotel which was located in Hannafore, an easy walking distance of Loo, on the west side of the harbour.  It was a bonus that the weather had changed for the better and it was sunny and clear along the coastline.  The rest of the day and the next were spent exploring both Looe and Polperro (which we visited by bus) as well as resting - me from driving and Kath because she has picked up a nasty cold.  This part of England is one of my favourite areas and I'm looking forward to exploring more of Cornwall over the next several days.  The following two photos were taken in Polperro.