Jenny's Place

15 January 2013

Here are some photos from our trip down to St Ives last week

Image of the harbour at St Ives

The Island at St Ives (see: http://www.pznow.co.uk/locplace1/stives5.html)

view from our bedroom window!

We stayed at the excellent Chy-an-Albany Hotel (http://www.chyanalbanyhotel.com/) which would have had a fabulous view of the bay, had the weather been more clement. Unfortunately, from our room we wouldn't have seen the sea anyway as we faced the back and overlooked the kitchen fans! The food and service were excellent and, although it rained most of the time every day, the hotel was lovely and warm.

There are many picturesque lanes in the centre of St Ives with old fishermen's cottages, some of which are now arty-type shops. These shops sell an amazing variety of good quality mainly hand-made products that are not easy to find elsewhere. Here are a few which caught my eye.

Mr Lion peeps through

An inspiring shop window

Stained glass window of the Castle pub

On the last day we went to the lovely Art Cafe with friendly owners in Court Arcade, off Royal Square, St Ives (http://www.stivescornwallblog.co.uk/2010/08/cafe-art-royal-square-st-ives-cornwall.html). In the arcade there are several shops, including a wonderful knitting shop with knowledgeable proprietor, Kay Bartlett (http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/shopping/wool-shops/house-bartlett/business-12840557-detail/business.html). I wish we'd discovered that area earlier as would like to have seen more. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the friendly the CafeArt, The Drill Hall, in Chapel Street.

We found this arcade whilst on our way back from visiting the Leach Pottery (http://www.leachpottery.com/) one of the must-see places to visit when in St Ives. The Leach Pottery is part of the Art Pass scheme (Art Pass ticket costs £14.50 (£8.50 concessions for joint entry to Tate St Ives, Penlee House and Hepworth Museum for 7 days)

by Barbara Hepworth

An intricate Hepworth sculpture

We spent some time at the Tate St Ives and also, in between showers we wandered round the Hepworth Sculpture Garden.

The miracle is how some of the huge sculptures were moved into the garden, once they'd been up to London to be bronzed.