St Agnes, A Jail And Doc Martin

Cornwall, rugged and beautiful. At the beginning of October my friend M and I enjoyed a Crusader holiday in the lovely little village of St Agnes. 

We had good weather and good excursions but my hotel room was disappointing, actually it was horrible. Room 24 should be put into Room 101. It was like being back in the 70’s. The furniture was dark pine, the ceiling was pine clad and the carpet was old fashioned. It had two windows so it should be a light room, but with three grey walls, grey window sills, grey (and grubby) door to the en-suite, grey curtains and dim lighting it was a very depressing room. There was no mirror on the dressing table, to do my hair I had to move the stool from the dressing table to the fixed mirror on the opposite wall. The only nod to modernity was the hotel type faux headboard and bed linen. The bed was very comfortable and the room was warm though. I managed to see a few other rooms which were quite nice, I was just unlucky to be allocated probably the worst room in the hotel. We were out every day so I didn't spend a lot of time in it.

The first day we visited Truro and Falmouth

Truro Cathedral

One of the many charity shops we visited in Falmouth. This is the only photo I took,

I can't remember if we were very impressed with Falmouth!

The next day we visited Bodmin jail and "Doc Martin" country.

Bodmin Jail was built in 1779 and closed in 1927. Much of it fell into ruin, but parts of it have

been turned into a tourist attraction, and more recently a large part was converted into a hotel.

Reception

It's very modern and minimalist. I wish I had taken a photo of the room we had a look in.

It was beautiful, cream walls blended with honeycomb brick walls, a super huge bed, sofa,

table and lamps, and a sumptious bathroom with a huge bath and a large shower enclosure.

When we got out of prison!

We had coffee in the restaurant and a look in the shop, and then travelled to see where

"Doc Martin" (a British comedy drama about a grumpy brilliant doctor) was married. 

St Nonna’s Church, in Altarnun on Bodmin Moor

It was difficult to see the photos from the show because of the reflections from various lights.

The pews had very sturdy carvings. Our guide for that day

told us that there were some rude ones, but we didn't find them!

"Doc Martin" is set in the fictional seaside village of Portwenn and filmed on location

in the lovely village of Port Isaac, with most interior scenes shot in a converted local barn. 

This cottage is used as the home and surgery of Doctor Martin Ellingham, to give him his correct title. The villagers prefer to call him Doc Martin, and no matter how many times he corrects them they continue with Doc Martin. The show has some lovely quirky characters, Mrs Tishell the pharmacist, the dim-witted PC Joseph Penhale, Bert Large and his son Al.

We ended the afternoon with a delicious cream tea.

Wednesday was a free day so M and I explored St Agnes.

Our coach driver had been given the wrong directions to the hotel, and we arrived at this awkward bend, we couldn't go back or turn around, there was only way - forward. 

He did a great job, literally inch by inch.

I couldn't get a full photo of the pretty church because a huge delivery

lorry was in the way. I think he was delivering to the whole village!

There was a delicious smell coming from the bakery,

but we resisted because we hadn't long had breakfast.

The famous Stippy Stappy, a steep terrace of cottages 

We passed lots of lovely properties

 many of which we thought were holiday lets

Trevaunance Cove is the main beach at St Agnes, it's beautiful. We had coffee overlooking the beach. The weather was mild and a few hardy people were enjoying the beach and sea. M had chips, I had a small cornish pasty on the way back, it was delicious.

Up next: A Jewel, Pirates And Smugglers

∼ Be safe and well ∼ 

Polly x