Port Isaac

An inspiration for artists, writers, and poets for centuries, this is one of the most beautiful and unspoilt parts of Cornwall. Port Isaac is a wonderful old-world fishing village that is so charming everyone falls in love with the place. The character of the village permeates the air and its dramatic setting, under high, rocky cliffs gives the whole area a timeless feel.

At one time it exported corn, which is how it got its name, ‘Porth Izic’, meaning the ‘port of corn’. A busy port since the Middle Ages, fishing is still an important industry here, though the heyday of Port Isaac was in the 19th century when not only fish, but cargoes of stone, coal, timber and pottery were loaded and unloaded on the quayside. Huge quantities of pilchard were landed and processed here and, after the arrival of the railway, these were gutted and packed in the village’s many fish cellars before being dispatched by train to London and beyond. One of these old cellars is now an RNLI inshore D class lifeboat station, while other cellars have been put to a variety of uses. Port Isaac has seen lifeboats launched off the north Cornish coast for over 100 years. At the harbour, known locally as the Platt, fishermen still land their catches and the village becomes a hive of activity.

Port Isaac has been the focus of two TV series. The BBC costume drama Poldark, based on the novels by Winston Graham, was one of the most successful British TV adaptations ever, which was sold to over 40 countries. With 29 episodes broadcast between 1975 and 1977, Port Isaac starred as a frequent location. More recently the village was central to the ITV series, Doc Martin, starring Martin Clunes, going by the fictional name of ‘Portwenn’.

Fisherman’s Friends are a 10-man sea-shanty singing group, all of whom grew up within half a mile of Port Isaac harbour, and several with links to the sea. Having sung for fun since 1995, they landed a major record deal in 2010 after being spotted in a pub by a holidaying music mogul.