Padstow
An attractive fishing port at the mouth of the Camel Estuary, Padstow is the gourmet capital of Cornwall , famed for seafood and strange festivals.
The focal point of Padstow is its harbour, with fishing boats and yachts moored within the sluice gates and lobster pots stacked on the quayside. As the only safe harbour on the north Cornwall coast, Padstow was a major port for centuries. The harbour front is lined with tall Georgian houses, wooden boathouses and old pubs.
Padstow’s intriguing maze of narrow streets and colourful cottages house handicraft shops and numerous eateries. Padstow’s epicurean delights are renowned, Rick Stein, TV Chef and champion of seafood owns many of them; the famous Seafood Restaurant and Seafood School, as well as delicatessens and even a Fish and Chip shop.
In the 6th Century St Petroc came to Padstow (sailing in apparently on a plantain leaf!) on his way to Bodmin and established a monastic settlement where Padstow Parish Church is now. This forms the start of an ancient walk across Cornwall known as The Saints Way.
Padstow is a town full of maritime myths and ancient festivals. The ‘Doom Bar’, a sand bank at the estuary mouth blocking entry to bigger vessels, was legend has it, formed as a curse of a mermaid shot by a local fisherman. The ‘Obby Oss’, Padstow’s May Day celebrations involve midnight singing of the Morning Song carried on through until to the morning when the ‘blue oss’ and ‘red oss’ appear, two horses, which are led through the streets in a colourful and quirky procession accompanied by the sounds of accordion and drums. Extraordinary indeed, though sadly their origins are lost in the mists of time.
The main visitor attraction in the Padstow is Prideaux Place, a lavish manor house built in 1592 with one of the oldest deer parks in England . The house is greatly embellished with architectural styles ranging from Elizabethan, Jacobean and Georgian periods, it was occupied by American soldiers during WWII and has been used as set location for a number of historic films.
