Polperro, Cornwall, UK   - everything you want and need to know about Cornwall's gem - it's all here!

Sitemap   Accommodation  Advice   Eating   Events   Families   Fishing   Forum   History   Memories  Museum   News   Smuggling
DynneYrghewgh dhe Borthpyra - gemm Kernewek! Welcome to Polperro Narrow, winding streets and alleys, cottages perched on steep slopes overlooking a tiny harbour- Polperro is everyone's idea of a picturesque Cornish fishing village - visit and like many others you may want to stay - for ever To explore this website - use the menu at the top of this homepage or visit our Sitemap or follow the links from any of the topics on this page. And scroll down to see all this large homepage! Our Online Forum is fully operational and we have a new Memories & Recollections board - let us know your Polperro memories! Family History Society Chairman dies in diving accident Janet A'Lee, the chairman of the Polperro Family History Society has died in a diving accident at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Isles. Janet, who was 51 and a teacher at Blundell's school in Tiverton, Devon, was on a school activity trip and was a highly experienced and qualified diver. Janet, who kept her maiden name, was very proud of her long association with Polperro and her death is a serious blow to the Polperro Family History Society which has grown massively in the last few years under her chairmanship. Jeremy Johns, Secretary, PFHS - 25 October 2008 (More information shortly on our news page) Happy Birthday to Us - we're 9 years old this month! On the Internet days equal normal months, months equal years. And we're actually 9 years old this month, so that must mean we've nearly reached our Internet century. Anyway, 9 years of informing the world about Polperro and its attractions - thanks to all who have contributed to this website and especially to Brian Shepherd and Tony White. And thanks to our advertisers who've helped make it possible and to you - our visitors for coming to the site. Bob Tarr, webmaster, www.polperro.org - November 2008 Polperro's famous Horse Bus service up for sale Want to start your own business? Like working with people & horses? Then maybe the perfect business for you is up for sale now in Polperro. This week's edition of "The Cornish Times" carries a large coloured advertisement in its "Equestrian" section headed "For Sale: Wonderful Horses, Harness and Buses of Polperro Horse Bus Company" and shows a price of £48,000 + VAT. The same edition of the newspaper, on its news pages, carries a comprehensive news story about the closure of the service - it seems that present owner Philip Lovelock is taking early retirement and the horse bus service under his ownership is to cease on 31 October 2008. It is hoped that a buyer will be found as the horse bus service is a very long established part of the tourism attractions of the village, conveying visitors from the car park on the edge of the village, down to the village centre from Easter until October each year. It is the first time in 30 years that the business has been up for sale. So how about it? With 4 shire horses and the "buses" they pull, you can become an integral part of the picturesque Polperro scene! If Mr Lovelock is not successful in finding a buyer for his business as a going concern 2009 could be the first year without this service which many tourists find to be an appealing facility to use on their visit though some locals regard the horse buses as a cause of congestion in the narrow restricted access road into the heart of the village. www.polperro.org - news - 14 October 2008 Is BT in breach of its statutory duty? Lansallos Parish Council has been faced with an ultimatum by telecoms giant BT - either pay up to allow some little used local telephone boxes to stay in service or they will be removed. 3 local boxes are threatened with removal - at Crumplehorn, Trenewan and at Talland Bay. BT says that not enough calls are being made from these boxes for them to be economic to continue. The most worrying one is the one at Talland Bay, close to the beach, where the ability to contact the emergency services could be a lifesaver for accidents on or in the sea and on the beach, rocks or cliffs. Talland Bay beach is a very popular one with families but the steep cliffs and rocky outcrops inevitably mean the occasional emergency and the bay is also very popular with divers.    A little research by this website shows that BT is under a statutory duty to provide a call-box service in the public interest where there is no alternative and at Talland Bay there is no mobile phone signal on 3 of the 5 cellular networks - whilst a signal can be found on T-Mobile and Virgin, there is absolutely no signal on Orange, 02 or Virgin in the vicinity of the beach.     Parish Councillor Erica Gregory has been campaigning for the retention of all 3 phone boxes and in respect of the Talland call box has written to TV stars Richard & Judy (who have a holiday home close by) in the hope that they can publicise the need to retain this telephone box to avert disaster in case of accidents or emergencies. BBC1 television's Spotlight programme has also covered this issue. Our research suggests that Ofcom, the Telecoms Regulator, has a role in determining whether BT can discontinue call boxes, but it is not yet know whether the Regulator has been contacted by campaigners. Our research, incidentally, has shown that the EU is reviewing whether it is fair for BT to be under its "Universal Service Obligation" (which was imposed on BT when it was privatised in the 1980s) and if it rules that this is unfair to BT it could mean that countless other phone boxes may soon get the chop. www.polperro.org - news - 15 October 2008 What's your view about closing down these telephone boxes? Use our Forum to let us all know Reminder about Access Restrictions in Polperro On 1st March 2008 the summer restrictions came into force in Polperro. Can we please remind all residents and visitors to Polperro that after that date there will be no on street parking anywhere in the village centre. The entire villlage centre is subject to an access restriction this means that unless you have a delivery to make within the village or a parking place you should not enter the village. If you have booked accommodation within the village your landlord will be able to advise you about the availability of parking. There are three routes in to the village and the access restriction signs are clearly displayed at the the top of The Coombes, at the top of Talland Hill and at the top of Landaviddy Lane beyond these signs there is nowhere that you can park on the road so please don't take your vehicles in to the village. We will be enforcing these restrictions. PC Helen Libby, Neighbourhood Beat Officer and PCSO Steve Cocks, Community Support Officer, Devon & Cornwall Police This is timely and good advice - there really is nowhere to park or even to turn and SAT-NAV users in particular would be well advised to turn off these devices and use their eyes, read the road signs and be sensible otherwise you can easily end up stuck fast between stone walls in no through lanes narrower than your vehicle. So if you can't come to Polperro by public transport, park in the main car park (well signposted as you approach the village from Looe or Pelynt) and enjoy the walk or minibus or horse tram ride down into the village - it's not a long way and there's lots of picturesque Polperro to see on the way. Bob Tarr, webmaster, www.polperro.org The Perils of Sat-Nav in a Cornish Village - The sturdy citizens of Polperro are becoming well accustomed to witnessing the kami-kase antics of drivers of everything from private cars, delivery vans & lorries, JCBs and even miltary vehicles as they set out to prove that what their sat-nav systems are telling them is true and that the narrow and precipitous lanes and alleys of Polperro are some sort of virtual reality fantasy. The problem is, of course, that Polperro is real world and sat-nav is fantasy. The owners of body repair shops and clutch replacement services can almost be seen licking their lips in anticipation of the next lucrative job.... But seriously, it is foolhardy to ignore the road signs - narrow in Polperro means NARROW (like less wide than your vehicle) and steep means STEEP (like steeper than your engine/clutch/gearbox can endure) - so switch off the sat-nav, read the road signs and ask the locals! Most of Polperro village is subject to a seasonal traffic prohibition regulation - there is a reason for this - Polperro's streets are mostly narrow (and they tend to get narrower the further you go!) and some are also very steep and there is virtually nowhere to park or manoeuvre or even turn round in the village (but there is a large car park as you approach the village and minibus and horse-bus services to take you down to the heart of the village if you can't manage a 500m walk. Click on images to see larger versions. Report & photos courtesy of Tony White Visit our Jammed page which documents just some of the many who have come a cropper putting blind faith in sat-nav instead of learning how to read road signs and interpret ordnance survey maps - and those who managed to get stuck even without sat-nav to help them. Cornish Fishing Luggers - an introduction by local author and ex-lugger crewman Paul Greenwood. Also details of his new definitive book on Cornish luggers, which you can buy locally or on-line - more Ryder Lifeboat's starring role Disguised as the Lizard Lifeboat "Admiral Sir George Back", the historic Ryder lifeboat has recently starred in the film And Every Life Was Saved, a reconstruction of the rescue of 525 souls from the wreck of the White Star liner SS Suevic in 1907 - visit our Ryder page for more about the history of the Ryder lifeboat and the new Ryder website for the full story and many photos of the filming and of the other recent, modern-day exploits of this historic restored lifeboat. Photo above - Richard A Derrick © 2007 The last of the old Polperro fishermen - a tribute by Tony White to Edmund Curtis, who died recently, aged 85 - click here   Bounty from the sea - teak houses, even teak stables - a new story of a Polperro shipwreck in 1849 - of the barque Shepherdess - more Do you have family connections with Polperro? You might have! Check out your family name on the Polperro Family History Society's pages - click here Tony White's 'Bits & Pieces'  Nobody knows for sure where he gets his information, but he is the village postmaster, he does get to work very early, and he has got an electric kettle, so maybe he steams open all the letters? Anyway, wherever he gets it from, he's the best informed guy in Polperro - and he shares it all with us in his "Bits & Pieces" Bilge Rat - Reporter Extraordinaire - an irrascible character of a sea-faring temperament, Bilge Rat is constantly seen around and about the village collecting material for his very politically incorrect columns of reportage. But is the fact that he is only ever seen by ex-mariner & village postmaster Captain Tony White at all curious? Can the non-PC rantings of Bilge Rat be distinguished from those of our benign and hearty village postmaster? Read them and make up your own mind - click here Overheard conversations - click here The Loo with a view We knew that property in Polperro was expensive - but £30K for a tiny old public loo? Read the full story Seen a flashing light out to sea from Polperro? Tony tells all on our Eddystone page Polperro's floods - now just history? more info & photos Stay Safe on the Beach Get yourself a copy of the excellent RNLI leaflet Your Guide to Beach Safety if you are going swimming, surfing, or even just paddling, playing, rock-pooling or walking on the beach. You can get a copy at Polperro Post Office, or from RNLI lifeboat stations, telephone 0800 328 0600 or visit the RNLI website at www.rnli.org.uk/beachlifeguards Small village - big fireworks display - normally held on the Saturday nearest November 5th (weather permitting!) -	Click here or on image to visit our website or telephone 01503 272 241          The Cottles - Polperro            A guest house with a difference            Tel: 01503 272 578 or e-mail Click on photos below for larger versions So, you thought your move was difficult? Moving house in Polperro - the full story Local history and a good read - visit our website to buy online any of our many Cornish & other titles There is no cinema in Polperro but a local charitable body Cinema by the Sea shows films at Looe Primary School about once a month, using state of the art digital projection, a huge screen and surround sound system. The full programme of screenings can be found at www.looefilmsociety.org.uk or by email from: info@looefilmsociety.org.uk Public transport Especially in the summer season there is quite a lot of bus services to and from Polperro. But how do you find out where and when they run? Two ways - online at www.cornwall.gov.uk/buses - and you can print out the individual timetables you need or, if you are going to be using public transport a lot, they publish a comprehensive timetable book twice a year which covers, all bus, train, ferry and scheduled coach services. There is also also an excellent free public transport map and frequency guide published by Cornwall County Council. Copies are available from bus stations, libraries and tourist information centres. There is also a Traveline enquiry service - telephone 0871 200 22 33 or go to www.travelineSW.com. Website Statistics: Hits Pages Visitors Sept 2008 371,656 77,354 17,886 2008 (9mths) 4.3m 695,627 215,050 Year 2007 3.5m 754,471 372,454 Year 2006 2.4m n/a 387,733 POLPERRO FORUM Do you have memories of holidays in Polperro? If so please post them on our new Memories & Recollections Board - click here.     We have opened new boards in our Visitors Forum to make it easier to find the topic or information you are seeking. All our forums and boards are fully open - so please use them.     To visit the forum - click here

Coming to Polperro? Find your perfect holiday accommodation on this website - click here     Top of this page www.Polperro.org © 1999-2008 - latest update -4 November 2008. Please note: Due to resources involved we are unable to answer individual requests for information - use our Forum to ask questions