Great British getaways: Discover that galleries and a castle island make the Cornish coastal town of Penzance attractive all year round
It is said that the final stretch of railway to Penzance was only completed following a local landowner’s request that no trains be allowed to run during ‘cocktail hour’.
Fortunately a deal was struck and in 1852 the first Truro service began, connecting to Plymouth seven years later when Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge opened across the Tamar between Devon and Cornwall.
The ‘Cornish Riviera’, as the Great Western Railway soon dubbed it, was operational. The Cornish Riviera Expresses soon left with steam behind them, and the county was never the same.
Penzance, the terminus, was of course at the heart of it all. And that’s still the case, with Night Riviera sleepers from London Paddington.
However, Penzance (21,000 inhabitants) is not just a summer destination because of its beaches and the popular Jubilee Lido. In the autumn/winter months the town offers invigorating coastal walks, cheaper hotels and cosy, welcoming inns.
High and dry: Visitors to Cornwall’s Penzance can reach nearby St Michael’s Mount (pictured) by causeway or boat
For the latter, Chapel Street’s Admiral Benbow, with its chaotic nautical paraphernalia and proud boast of ‘serving pirates, smugglers and rum since 1685’, feels like the best place.
There’s also the Turks Head, the Dolphin, the Dock Inn, the Navy Inn, the Yacht Inn and many more along the hilly, higgledy-piggledy streets – in short, there are lots of pubs, many with live music.
Chapel Street runs to the Isles of Scilly Ferry Port and is home to the extraordinary Grade II listed Egyptian House, built in 1836 with ancient Luxor-style columns.
‘In the autumn/winter months the town offers invigorating coastal walks, cheaper hotels and cosy, welcoming inns,’ says Tom Chesshyre of Penzance
From Penzance you can walk the 15 miles to Land’s End (seen here), Tom reveals
Exotic: the monumental Egyptian house of Penzance
Nearby you will find the excellent Acorn Theater and Penlee House Gallery and Museum, home to beautiful Newlyn School of Art works by Stanhope Forbes and Lamorna Birch, as well as the important fishing port of Newlyn.
A four-mile walk past the station takes you to St Michael’s Mount, the castle island and source of inspiration for many a painting. Sometimes it is accessible via a causeway, or else by boat.
There are plenty of other leisurely walks to the village of Mousehole (three miles) or Land’s End (15 miles), although you may be tempted to stay put and browse the bookshops instead, antique shops or even to the ‘cocktail hours’. of the pubs.
WHERE TO STAY: Doubles at the beautiful and stylish Chapel House hotel costs £200 (chapelhousepz.co.uk). Night Riviera from £179 pp return, two sharing a cabin (gwr.com); or £91 daytime return trains. For more information, see visitcornwall.com.
Tom says Penzance has many great pubs, including the Admiral Benbow (pictured). It claims it has been ‘serving pirates, smugglers and rum since 1685’
