Fowey, Cornwall
Given all the fine weather we’ve been having lately it seemed appropriate to take a day out.
It was a lovely spot. If a tad breezy. One of our menus took off and landed in the sea. We weren’t trusted with a replacement. But for an hour or so we ate good food and just sat on the harbour side soaking up the view.
She who was not driving enjoyed a glass of wine.
![Fowey 017 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-017-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
![Fowey 012 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-012-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
At one point our table was dive bombed..
![Seagull 008 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Seagull-008-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
That’s him on the right.
Looks a cantankerous sort doesn’t he. Possibly we were too close to his missus and his favoured place on the wall.
![Fowey 016 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-016-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
The town in the distance is Polruan, on the opposite side of the estuary. The little red ferry spends its day shuttling between the two harbours.
![Fowey 019 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-019-Wm1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
Fowey, pronounced FOY as in ‘boy’, has a history going back to medieval times and boasts many ancient buildings. The Ship Inn was built in 1570.
Is that seagull following us?
(That’s not me btw)
![Fowey 014 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-014-Wm1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
Vehicles are still permitted in the town despite the narrow streets.
Many of the roads are barely a car width wide. When one of the shops on the ‘main’ street needs a delivery the van stops right outside the door and traffic comes to a halt. There isn’t anywhere else to pull over. The locals seem used to it. An unlucky driver caught behind just turns off his engine and waits.
![Fowey 011 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-011-Wm1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
Quaint houses nestle down hidden alleyways
![Fowey 020 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-020-Wm1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
![Fowey 007 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-007-Wm1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
![Fowey 010 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-010-Wm1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
Ancient windows
![Fowey 006 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-006-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
And doors? Hmmmm…
![Fowey 008 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-008-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Interesting wall planters
![Fowey 009 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fowey-009-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
And the more traditional
After Fowey Mike wanted to go a little further down the coast to Charlestown. It has a very pretty harbour.
![Charlestown 001 Wm[2]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Charlestown-001-Wm2.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
![Charlestown 002 Wm[2]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Charlestown-002-Wm2.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
The town also has a more recent claim to fame, as one of the locations for the TV series Poldark.
It being a warm day I scanned the surrounding fields for any sign that scything may be underway for series 2. Sadly not.
.
All that remained then was to plot a course for home.
Technology has taken over. No longer do I attempt to navigate my way through those tiny country lanes that always seemed to fall into the ditch between the pages of our elderly map book. No, these days it’s sat nav, on the iPad, with a blue spot.
It means I always know exactly where we are. Even after that lunchtime glass of wine.
And I can select between a number of alternative routes..
![Duchy Nursery 001 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Duchy-Nursery-001-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Well fancy that..
![Duchy Nursery 002 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Duchy-Nursery-002-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
![Duchy Nursery 003 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Duchy-Nursery-003-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
🙂 🙂 🙂
What lovely photos!!! England is such a beautiful country. The Cornwall I live near (no doubt named for the British one!) is considerably less gorgeous!!!
Canada is a beautiful country too, I’d love to visit one day.
Lovely…..I want you and Mike to be my travel guides; you all go to the greatest places. (and is it really a trip extraordinaire without a nursery stop???)
You’ll enjoy your trip to Scotland I bet, now that is a great place.
A day out does us all good, I’ve just written a post about playing truant, so we must have had he same idea! You chose a lovely place to visit and then to call in at “you know who’s” nursery! It looks like a good selection of plants.
As you would expect, it’s upmarket as nurseries go but not stupidly expensive. Cheaper than Rosemoor anyway. You’d have laughed, down at the far end around the polytunnels there are a pair of pheasants. Mr very protective over Mrs, very squawky and flappy. I bet they grow the fritillaries under lock and key!
Oh how beautiful! Some day I’d love to go to Cornwall. The little town of Fowey looks so interesting. Bet you had a good time at the nursery.
We’ve been visiting Fowey for years and it’s always a pleasure to go back. But the first time for the nursery. Not the last.
Oh, wow. This place is gorgeous. I would love to visit someday. The gulls on the wall made me chuckle because the male really does look miffed up there. I have a dove who looks at me that way. I really enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing your outing.
Thanks Jennifer. It’s safe to say the seagull was miffed, but I think that comes with the territory.. they almost always are! At least it didn’t leave a calling card at our table. After the loss of a menu the management would have been less than pleased.
It looks like a grand day out!
I am very behind with everyone’s posts after my time offline/dealing with ‘life’ … it was lovely to catch up with all your garden goings on :o)
I think I am just as far behind Annie. It’s that time of year. With everything stacking up around here I’m getting very late responding to comments and last time I looked had 176 unread posts in Feedly.. an early night with the iPad beckons.
What are the odds of you stumbling across a nursery like that, out in the middle of nowhere?! And a Duchy of Cornwall one no less. It was clearly meant to be. And it did make me laugh out loud. What a beautiful day you had, and how lovely to sit and watch the yachts at Fowey. It’s somewhere I really liked when I visited some years ago. Love the ancient pub and the pretty houses as well. CJ xx
It is a very pretty place. I wish the breeze hadn’t been quite so strong, but visiting out of season has much to commend it if you can do it.. I doubt we’d have got such a prime table at the height of the season.
I too am redundant due to Sat Nav. What a bonus to happen to be just passing a nursery! 🙂
On an iPad it’s quite fun.. you are still in control, but there’s absolutely no danger of getting lost. And there are benefits that we never had with a map book.. it updates with roadworks and even traffic accidents.
We use a car Sat Nav – we don’t seem to be able to count on a signal from the iPad – maybe our service provider isn’t as food as yours.
It is a bit iffy from time to time. The tracking from the satellite is OK but the map seems to come via the data network and quite often disappears!
Looks like you had a great day. I was dive bombed once by a kookaburra at Perth zoo, it stole the remains of a baguette! Fowey looks delightful, your pictures are gorgeous, makes me want to visit.
Lol. Birds have no shame.
Such a lovely way to spend the day and just ‘happening’ on a plant nursery too! That’s a lovely gathering of plants that followed you home too! x
We needed a break and there is nothing better than a bit of sea air. I slept well that night. The plants were a definite bonus!
It looks as if you enjoyed a lovely day out – the different blossoms along with the blue sky is delicious.
Magnolias, planted along the drive of the Duchy of Cornwall nursery and quite a sight. Glad you are safely home Rosemary and had a good time.
What a fabulous day out, and wonderful photos. I remember that ‘fishy’ door from when I visited Fowey :- http://www.jo-throughthekeyhole.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-south-coast.html
It looks like you had some fabulous weather for your trip and fancy stumbling across that nursery.
Thanks for the link Jo, it’s fascinating to see someone else’s take on the same place. We’ve been to Mevagissey too but it was just a little too far for a day trip this time. Lost Gardens of Heligan is still on my list!
Irresistible! Have you planted them yet? I had a very bad incident in Fowey involving someone who couldn’t reverse…. X
Seeds all sown, herbs all planted and all but one of the shrubs.. must be a record for me! The fact that there is no space left in the pot ghetto may have something to do with it.
Just beautiful and what a nice way to cap off a nursery visit too 🙂 boy do I miss Cornwall now…
I remember holidays in Cornwall when the plants had to be crammed into every last nook and cranny. All the footwells are free now.. no cases!
A wonderful set of images reflecting the beauty of this part of the coast. Plants look fab…who can resist a spot of plant buying?
Not me I fear. Anywhere I go is a new plant hunting opportunity.
What a lovely day out, beautiful towns with interesting houses, doors and windows and planters. And to sit by the water and just relax was a bonus.
It was a real bonus Linda. It’s so busy at this time of year that we very rarely get the opportunity of a leisurely lunch. Like you, we really value days out.
Imagine just happening upon the nursery – I think your navigation skills, albeit semi redundant, are first class Jessica 🙂
What a lovely day out and I thoroughly enjoyed a look around this part of the country. One in which I’ve never I’ve never visited. Thank you for sharing.
Quite a coincidence wasn’t it!
It’s very different to Scotland, but in its own way just as beautiful.
Those darn plants, just throwing themselves into your car…tut, I don’t know! It’s like you’re some kind of shrub magnet.
I rather like the boat wall planter. Looked like an all-round jolly good jaunt.
I’m so glad you understand Denise. Could you explain the phenomenon to Mike one day please?
Thank you for taking us along on your day out especially when you head to one of my favorite locations. My Granny and all my Mum’s family lived here so I have so many childhood memories of this place and is where my love of the sea was born! I’m glad despite Mike driving that you stopped at that excellent nursery and found some plants desperate for a new home! Sarah x
Wow! Now that is a coincidence. What a fabulous place to visit while growing up. We lived about 30 miles from the sea when I was a kid and visited occasionally, it’s only in later years I’ve really come to appreciate it. Can’t get enough of it now.
What a lovely day out – I once had a holiday in Fowey many many years ago – but nothing looked familiar from your pictures. Oh and just by accident you came across a place to buy some plants – was that a navigator perk too.
Sometimes these things can slip in under the radar, so to speak. Just while you happen to be passing..
Gosh, Fowey looks so charming (I only ever made it to the Cornish coast once and it was tunning!) – I imagine the Ship Inn is the place to be after a day on the harbour. I think your nursery navigating skills are just top notch! Is there a rule around drinking and planting? 🙂
Thankfully not! But the sea air always does me in anyway. It had to wait till the next day!
I recognise the view from your table. I think we have sat at the same table. Few years back we rented a cottage on the opposite side of the estuary going in shore and spent a wonderful watching Fowey across the water or crossing on the ferry. Despite all our trips to Cornwall I have never got to the Duchy nursery. Hidden Garden somewhere there Fowey or Heligan is nice as well.
Heligan is most definitely on my list. We went to the Eden project a few years back and I hated it. I really wish we’d gone to Heligan instead.
You’re clearly a very good navigator – locating a nursery for a rest break en route isn’t always easy. I enjoyed my ride-along visit to Cornwall.
I think I’m going to have to do it more often Kris. It worked out really well because it has a lovely cafe where Mike immediately found himself a seat, leaving me to browse in peace 🙂
All my reading of du Maurier and it’s only now that I discover how Fowey is pronounced! Can’t wait to hear more about your plant haul.
I went for shrubs in the main, for the bank. Like you I’m going for low maintenance, especially up there on the hill where access is so difficult. I didn’t appreciate the du Maurier link until we visited this time.
You can tell it is not at the hight of the tourist season, there is hardly any one else in your photos of Fowey.
You have your Satnav well trained! I hope you enjoyed your day out.
There was a very definite pre-season feel. A lot of the holiday cottages were having work done.. sounds of hammers and drills everywhere.
The perfect spot for lunch give or take a seagull or two. As a non driver I feel that sat nav has made me completely redundant 🙁 Looks as if you took the best route home Jessica 🙂
I used to love map reading, but have to say I love this way even more. If we get lost it’s always the technology’s fault, of course. But I was so impressed when a note appeared on my screen alerting me to an accident on the A30 and even an estimated time when the road would be clear. How cool is that?
That looks like a wonderful spot for lunch flying menus and all. I see that some plants made their way into your boot………
They may have.. and it could easily have been even more.
What a lovely outing! I love that boat wall planter, so cute! I am so thankful for GPS, as I am one of those people who could get lost on the main street of their hometown. I panic when my GPS doesn’t work!
The only problem is it tends to take the shortest route. Which here can be down very narrow lanes indeed. Think grass growing up the middle..
Yes, wine and viewing sailboats! Great combination! Your photos of the architecture and street views are awesome, too.
Thanks Beth. It was a very pleasant and much needed break.
I have a flashback in the moment – thank your for the wonderful impressions. Fowey is a very nice town, but so mountained. And the Duchy I know very well, baught a lot of books there, baught to much Fuchsias. And rememer, that the Prince of Wales visited the nursery, there was a photograph of him.
Sigrun
Have you visited Highgrove? The shop at the Duchy nursery reminded me very much of there, and of the Highgrove shop in Tetbury.
Looks like a great day out, I love all the quirky old streets and houses 🙂 We went to Knebworth house on Saturday and came away with two new roses, funny how these things “just happen” isn’t it!
Those are the best acquisitions I always think, when you’re not expecting it and you come across something that is just right!
Absolutely divine, Jessica. You make me feel quite homesick (but I forgive you because you made me chuckle, too!).
I didn’t realise you were of these shores.. sorry. If it’s any consolation I yearn to live in Australia. It’s too bloomin’ cold here!
What a fab day out! I think I need to go to Cornwall again. I keep getting hijacked by all the family ties to Devon and not getting any further west!
It’s easier when you’re down here permanently and it’s just a day out. We can get to St Ives in a couple of hours.. and still don’t go anything like enough!
What a super day out – that has made me long to see the sea! Loved Charlestown when we visited a few years ago – so atmospheric. Who can resist some lovely plants too, can I see a Ceanothus there?)
Yes, it’s a ceanothus. A low growing one which gets wider rather than higher.. perfect for the bank where I need ground cover all year and a plant that looks after itself!
Lovely memories of a brilliant holiday we had in Fowey a couple of years ago. Did you find the amazing bakers shop? Wonderful bread and chocolate brownies to die for, I’m still searching for a recipe that comes close! I bought bread proving baskets there so have a lovely reminder ever time I make bread. And to think I didn’t find the nursery!
If it’s the same one it wasn’t far from the place where we had lunch. The aromas wafting from the doorway were just divine and certainly helped work up an appetite! The nursery is only about twenty minutes away.. have car can stock up 🙂
Lovely pictures, we re-visited Fowey after many years 18 months ago, totally forgetting how pretty it is. Charlestown maybe on the visit list if we have time when we go down in 10days.
I hope the weather stays good for you, it’s a great time to be in Cornwall. We tend to do most of our travelling around between now and when the schools break up for summer.
A wonderful trip…such a quaint, lovely spot with so much history…birds seem to follow me too. And a side trip to a nursery is a bonus.
Coming home with plants makes a day complete! Thanks Donna.
What a super day out – another place to put on my “must visit one day” list!!
I thought of you, there was a shop selling little boats made from driftwood. It would have been awkward to get a photo or I’d have sent it to you.
This was a trip down memory lane as for many years we stayed at one of the National Trust cottages at Triggabrowne, just a few miles from Polruan, and catching the ferry across to Fowey was a highlight of the holiday. It was such a great holiday destination that we used to return year after year and Lantic Bay which is accessed from the coastal path at Pencarrow Head remains our favourite Cornish beach for swimming, snorkelling, rock-pooling and body-boarding. Great photos as always Jessica, I felt I was back there with you.
That sounds lovely Sarah. It’s great being close enough to do day trips but staying locally means that you can properly explore. There is something special about being close to the sea. Just watching the tide coming in as we were having lunch and the gradual changes it brings.
I think you were there on a warmer day than us! We had occasional sun but the wind was bitter, I certainly wouldn’t have sat outside to eat I would have been blown into the harbour let alone the menu!!!!
Yes we walked past all those places in Fowey … taken refuge from the wind in a tea shop.
xx
Hi Celia, welcome to rusty duck!
It was certainly breezy. Yet just a couple of miles inland at the nursery, totally different. Very pleasant sitting outside enjoying a cream tea.
Smiley face indeed! Thanks for sharing.
🙂
Ahah – I wondered when you were coming to that – I am more blatant at arranging detours like this! It was lovely to see Fowey as it is now and in colour too, as my previous knowledge was from selling a large batch of early postcards of the place, many of them naval, on eBay. You would be amazed at how much of a niche market there was for them – I mean, who pays £140 for a single postcard…?!
I suppose if someone can pay thousands for a single snowdrop bulb anything is possible?
Your fabulous photos remind me that I really should visit that part of the world again soon 🙂
It’s a lovely part of the world. We’re lucky being close enough to do it in day trips.