PORTLOE

There is a famous book written by Mary Wesley in 1984 called “The Camomile Lawn”, which was adapted for TV in 1992. It tells the story of a family gathering together in an idyllilic cliff-top house overlooking the sea just before the outbreak of the Second World War, this beautiful stretch of the Cornish coastline providing the backdrop for all sorts of intrigues and hi-jinx, no doubt fuelled further by “pre-war tension”. The house which featured in the TV adaptation is called Broom Parc, and lies a short distance south of Portloe, and if you want to relive Wesley’s story it is now a bed and breakfast – but go easy on the hi-jinx for the sake of the owners!

Portloe is a tiny place nestling in a fold of land behind the familiar Cornish sight of a minuscule harbour with its clutch of many-coloured boats hauled up on the beach. Backing onto the beach is an upmarket hotel called The Lugger, and there is a pub up the hill leading out from the harbour towards the outskirts of the village. Beyond that there’s not much to do here apart from marvel at the majestic coastal scenery adjoing the village, and maybe take a walk along the ever-present South-West coastal path which, if heading in an easterly direction, takes you past a derelict 1950s coastguard cottage.

Map of the area.

Portloe (St Gweep) - geograph.org.uk - 470098. Photo by Nicholas Mutton, via Wikimedia Commons.