St. Ives - Tel:(01736) 799090

Hayle - Tel:(01736) 759696

St. Ives		Hayle
Porthmeor-and-The-Island. St Ives is a town whose history lies in fishing, mining and farming. The town's main income now comes from tourism, with the first tourists arriving with the construction of the railway in 1877.The railway also brought artists, and St Ives soon became known as a centre for modern art in the UK. It is still very popular with both local artists and those from further afield. There are many small galleries and studios, as well as the larger institutions like Tate St Ives, the Barbara Hepworth museum, and the Bernard Leach Pottery. The Harbour. Life in St Ives is still very much centred around the harbour, with its golden sand at low tide and turquoise water at high tide, where it is not unusual to see seals and dolphins. The wharf is where you will find many of St Ives' fantastic selection of restaurants. The harbour is also the home of the St Ives lifeboat. There has been a lifeboat here since 1840, and it is not uncommon to see the lifeboat being launched to go and rescue someone in trouble. Down a long. At one end of Fore Street, which along with the High Street is the main shopping area, is the marketplace with the parish church, built in 1434. To either side of Fore Street is "Downalong", the cobbled streets and granite fisherman's cottages that was the old fishing quarter. Here you will find Porthmeor beach, enclosed by Clodgy Point to the west and the Island with it's chapel to the east. Overlooked by the amazing building of Tate St Ives, Porthmeor is a renowned surfing beach with big hollow surf in the right conditions. Between the Island and the harbour is Porthgwidden, a smaller and more sheltered beach, and the other side of the harbour is Porthminster. Porthmeor and Porthminster both have summer lifeguards. Porthgwidden. Surrounding St Ives are a number of interesting villages. The largest of these is Carbis Bay, situated in the most sheltered part of St Ives Bay which has a good range of services, from shops and a bank to restaurants and a rail link connecting St Ives to the main line at St Erth. Its wide sandy beach has a summer lifeguard. Lelant lies south east of St Ives in between the Hayle Estuary and Porthkidney Sands (with summer lifeguard). It has a splendid Norman Church and is the home of the West Cornwall Golf Club. Lelant has a Post Office/general store and a public house. Halsetown is situated just inland from St Ives and was built in 1832 by local mine owner James Halse, to house his mine workers. It has an Inn and a shop/post office. West Cornwall really is a place with something for everybody. If sport and the outdoors are your thing, there are excellent places to surf, the South West coast path offers fantastic scenery and you don't have to walk it in one go. There is great cycling, both on and off road, and Cornish sea cliff climbing is world famous. If you are interested in history there are many historic houses and buildings to visit, as well as a lot of Celtic remains. Cornwall is a gardeners paradise, as the mild climate allows many rare and tender plants to be grown that cannot be grown elsewhere in the UK. If you are more interested in looking than growing there are many gardens open to the public. Art is impossible to ignore in West Cornwall, but as well as the galleries there is also a lot of music and theatre, including the stunning Minack open air theatre, and the talented Kids r us, while the St Ives festival has something for everyone.		Carbis Bay Beach. Dominating the crescent shaped St. Ives Bay with its miles of level golden sands stretching eastwards to Gwithian and Godrevy Lighthouse and in the opposite direction towards Carbis Bay and St. Ives – Hayle has become a popular location for self-catering holidays and leaving behind in its wake the industrial heritage brought about by the explosion of engineering companies established in the area to meet the needs of the Cornish mining industry. Hayle, Angarrack. In 1779 John Harvey began the soon to become world famous company, building pumping engines and other mining equipment, eventually supplying a major part of the world's requirements, including joining forces with the Cornish Copper Company of Ventonleague (their main competitors at the time) in the 1840’s to build the largest steam engine ever to drain the Haarlem Lake in Holland. This then led to Harveys building ships up to 4,000 tons and developing a steam packet service to Wales and Bristol. More recently the Hayle Harbour area, which has been a “blot on the landscape” for many years, has received planning permission support from Penwith District Council for re-development by way of large “studio styled building” which will house memorabilia of Hayle in the past and present and is being perceived as a serious threat to the popularity of the Tate Gallery at St. Ives. Hayle Harbour. Hayle is basically a town of two halves – namely the Foundry end and the Copperhouse end – both having a good selection of local shops and facilities, whilst the Inter-City railway line crosses part of the harbour area by way of a viaduct, again constructed in Harvey’s time. Both local and national railway and bus services are available within the town and give access to the surrounding towns of West Cornwall. There is a good selection of schools at all levels within the town together with sixth form colleges at the nearby town of Camborne and the Cathedral City of Truro. Hayle Rivermouth. Copperhouse Pool is part of a large man made tidal water feature designed to sluice the sand bar at the entrance to the harbour, but it is still very much in use especially for annual regatta’s, swimming and boat races. Hayle Estuary and Carnsew Pool are also used by local rowing clubs “Trelawney” and Hayle Gig Club for their activities, whilst the Estuary and Lelant Saltings play host to thousands of winged visitors and are popular locations for hundreds of bird watchers (“twitchers”). All along the north coast line of Hayle and its environments are wonderful beaches, sandy dunes (towans) as well as some breathtaking views. It is no wonder that people wish to get away from the “rat race” of city life, once they have sampled the delights of the Cornish ways. With electronic mail, computers etc, many people have already transferred homes to live in the area and work from home – it is so easy. Every possible sport and hobby is catered for within the area from absailing down cliffs to yachting (sorry no z’s) in the surrounding seas, catering for all ages, male or female. Gardens to visit, whether they be National Trust or otherwise, churches for all denominations, plus of course the international renowned Paradise Park – an important bird sanctuary. The sport of surfing is not only practised at Newquay, but the waters of the Atlantic Ocean also bless our coast as well and many surfers are seen developing their art, whilst more recently the sport of Landspeed sailing has become increasingly more popular with the very level beaches of Gwithian and Hayle providing a marvellous base for the British and European rounds of the sport’s World Championships. Surrounding the town are many interesting and highly sought after rural villages, including St Erth, Angarrack, Gwithian, Phillack, Connor Downs, Gwinnear and Reawla which are well served by a selection of local shops, post offices, churches and junior schools, and all are within easy reach of Hayle and have excellent country walks, most with stunning rural views.