Updated 13/11/08

Watch the fishing boats coming in to unload at the fish market on the quay, where there is also a fabulous, but quite expensive, wet fish shop.

When the tide is out you can walk along the coast over beach and rocks to the next village where you can pick up the coastal path for the return journey if you like. There are plenty of rock-pools for a child (or adult!) with bucket and net to explore.

Looe Island - Is managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. It is about one mile off Looe and is a marine nature reserve. The remains of a Benedictine chapel built in 1139 are on the island and legend says that Joseph of Arimathea came to the island with Christ. The Island is part of the Looe Voluntary Marine Conservation Area. In 2000 Babs Atkins leased the Island to the Trust to be managed as a nature reserve. The story of how two sisters came to own the Island is told in We Bought and Island and Tales from our Cornish Island by Evelyn Atkins. 

Looe Island was the main centre for the smuggling "free trade" as it was called. Goods imported from Guernsey and Roscoff were hidden on the island and then after the Revenue men and Coastguards were gone, tubs and packets were taken in small boats to Millendreath, Looe and Morval. Boats sometimes had hidden bottoms or carried tubs alongside on ropes which could be dropped into the sea and collected later using iron hooks called creepers.

When John Wesley visited Looe and Polperro in 1768 things were very different from todays seaside towns. Wesley said the people were poor, and, look again at the furtive glances aimed at strangers ..... nearly everyone in these two ports was engaged in smuggling.

This photograph was taken in July 2006 while the RNLI were doing a rescue display. The huge sandy beach is fantastic for sunbathing and sandcastling. There are no dogs allowed at any time of the year so you know your children are safe with their buckets and spades. There is a cafe right by the beach so you don't need to walk far for a cuppa, ice-creams, chips and other snacks. Hire deck chairs and wind-breaks on the beach and let the kids go on the trampolines. 

Shark and deep sea fishing available from the quay.

The walk to Polperro from the cottage was about 6 miles. It is not an arduous walk and the coastal views are fantastic. We stop for a cuppa at one of the two Talland Bay cafes and catch the hourly bus from Polperro to Looe back (after a lovely pub lunch)! You can also go by day trip. In Polperro there is a Museum of Smuggling and Fishing which we find fascinating.

Lugger boats were built in many famous Cornish ports. Looe Luggers were a little longer with a slightly deeper keel than those built in mid and west Cornwall. Luggers were named after the square (Nordic - Lug) sail used by Vikings. Luggers were tarred on the outside and more recently graphite was added to the mixture. The luggers are speedy and can sail close to the wind. They were a common site around their heyday in the 1920's,  used to follow mackerel and pilchard runs. Looe Luggers carried 12 - 15 pilchard nets on board. The luggers were used until the 1970's and are now owned by enthusiasts. There are still Looe built luggers in the river and a bi-annual Looe Lugger Regatta (last held 16/17 June 2007) where classic boats are raced in the bay over a two day event.