The centre of our stay in Cornwall was the delightful fishing village of Port Isaac. Here we rented a little cottage from the National Trust for our stay.
The Birdcage – centre of picture
The Birdcage was really like no other cottage that I’ve been in before. It is split over three floors and the main body of the house is though to be over 200 years old. On the ground floor you open the door straight in to the kitchen. Off to the side is an extension containing the bathroom. A very steep set of stairs takes you from the kitchen up into the lounge and a further set of steep stairs goes from there up into the double bedroom.
Despite being tiny it is very much perfectly formed and the Nation Trust do a fantastic job of keeping the place in tip top condition. everything we could need was there and despite being in a slightly windswept, exposed position, the cottage provided a lovely snug place to come back to.
Then again it’s very hard to complain when these are the views from your bedroom windows.
One thing that Port Isaac has become famous for over the last few years is as a setting for the ITV series Doc Martin. I was very pleased to see that the village hasn’t become a shrine to the programme and in fact, without the aid of an internet connection, Mr C and I were struggling a bit to confirm exactly which of the cottages was used as his surgery in the series. For those in any doubt it can be half see as “Fern Cottage” at the right-most edge of the below photograph.
The village of Port Isaac is idyllic and still has much of the old fishing village charm. There were some signs of catering for the tourists though – in particular the lovely little shop owned by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s wife Jackie (alas no longer there when we visited again in 2014). It provided a lovely little bit of holiday shopping for nice things, whilst not distracting from the surrounding village.
Entrance to the harbour
An example of a traditional fisherman’s house
What a beautiful place!
I’ve only holidayed in Cornwall once and that was many years ago so thanks for a lovely tour.
I have never been to Cornwall, just Devon but it looks a lovely place. Reminded me of Staithes and Whitby here in North Yorkshire, but it is always cold here! lol!
Hello Mrs. C!
What a wonderful article. Your link to the National Trust Cottages has changed. If you had a moment would you mind updating it to http://www.nationaltrustholidays.org.uk/articles/holiday-cottages-in-cornwall-/
please?
Many Thanks
Jamie