I love St Ives. It is such a pretty little harbour-side town with three fabulous sandy beaches and exquisite turquoise water. Unfortunately I am not the only one to love it and most months of the year it is virtually impossible to move along the narrow winding streets – and forget about parking your car in town – by far the best way to enter is on the little train that runs on the branch line from St Erth or Lelant Saltings where you can ‘park and ride’. If the car park isn’t full.
But St Ives is our closest town, a mere 3 miles away, and also where our GP surgery is located. Not that we make a habit of visiting the GP, but sometimes needs must. Which is why I found myself wandering around the harbour on a cold January morning whilst the OH underwent some tests.
And how I found myself photographing boats on the quayside.
Finished with a hot breakfast of sauteed mushrooms, poached eggs, granary toast and a flat white coffee. And no queues!
~wander.essence~ photography
Cornwall in Colours 
A timely post for me Jude with our trip to this area in May. We are staying in Mousehole but hope get to St. Ives. We will have a car but it sounds like we might be better to find an alternative mode of transportation to get there. Does the little train you speak of fun from Mousehole?
You can catch the train from Penzance – usually a London bound train – and change onto the branch line at St Erth. You could park in Penzance near the railway station or catch a bus from Mousehole (bus station is right next to the railway station). Parking is tricky in Mousehole too so I hope you have a parking space with your accommodation! A lovely time to visit though. May is my favourite month.
Thanks for the info. We do have a parking spot with the property we have rented although I read from one of the reviews that it is tight😳
Hope you have a small hire car then! Actually small is good in Cornwall – the lanes are not very wide!
It was St Ives we stayed in on our one and only Cornish holiday. It was October (not half term) and not too busy. I thought it was lovely then and I do now – your weathered boats are delightful.
October can be a lovely month, as you say not too busy and most of the shops are still open then.
The Tate had closed for rehanging though! And the veggie restaurant closed the night we arrived. But we had loads to do anyway, it was great and very sunny.
We love St Ives and always travel in by train from the Saltings. It is such a beautiful ride albeit only 9 minutes! I love your boat photos, full of character. 🙂
In school holidays even that car park gets full! But it is a lovely train ride.
True! You do need to get there early. 🙂
If you’re going to go into town, this is a nice way to spend the day. 🙂 We learned very quickly to seek out the park and ride stations last time we were in UK. They made life so much easier. Next time, we think we will buy a Britrail pass and not even bother with a hire car. I hope the OH is doing okay.
I think we have come to the conclusion that we need to move in walking distance of amenities if we stay in Cornwall. We have to drive from here.
Then you would have to leave your beautiful garden. Let’s hope you don’t do that soon.
I imagine in a couple of year possibly.
St Erth. Lelant Saltings. What delicious names. Worth a parking problem just to be able to say them (says she who never has parking problems!) A beautiful post of sharp clear images. I especially love the one of the buildings. Hope all’s well with OH.
Stunning pics Jude. I love St Ives. Even more quaint than Kalk Bay harbor 🙂
I think it probably is. Not as warm though 🙂
A boaty post when I wasn’t looking! 🙂 🙂 I don’t much love it in it’s winter greys, Jude, but then the only time I’ve seen it was on a radiant blue sky day. So long ago, I don’t think tourism had been invented 🙂 Hope the tests find something easy to fix. It’s all a worry!
Well it is a good job I like the winter greys and yellows then! Although I must admit the blues and turquoises add a bit more zing! Still, could be living in a worse place. Back to GP next week for results. And another yummy breakfast I hope 🙂
Love all your boat shots. St. Ives is so pretty.
More so when empty,
I love all the shades of blue in your photos. 🙂 Yes, I was one of the many tourists who visited one year in the middle of August. 😦 Even with all the tourists I thought it was a very pretty place. Luckily we had been advised to get the train. 😉
🙂