Penzance – Cornwall's coolest seaside town

A clued-in crowd armed with fresh ideas are bringing change to this Cornish town. Now the setting of Poldark is an artsy hub with Michelin stars mixing it up among the pirates

By Emma Love

27 November 2017

Jubilee Pool, PenzanceAlamy

My earliest memories of the historic Cornish port town of Penzance are full of ghost stories and ghouls, pirate takeovers and haunted streets. It was 15 years ago, during a university summer holiday, and I'd been dragged along on a ghost tour by my friend Gemma, whose family owns a cottage overlooking the fishing harbour in neighbouring Newlyn (she loves being spooked. I don't). On that trip we also walked across the causeway at low tide to rocky St Michael's Mount, ate salt-and-vinegar-soaked fish and chips wrapped in paper on a blustery seafront and caught the shuttle bus to The Barn, a nightclub on the outskirts of town, where I met my first serious boyfriend. Since then, both Penzance and I have grown up a lot. In the past few years, a handful of exciting, noteworthy places have started to appear: a couple of chefs with serious clout have opened excellent restaurants, Chapel Street is lined with great art galleries and treasure-filled vintage shops, and there are a pair of smart, well-designed hotels. More than somewhere you pass through on the way to Land's End or Porthcurno Beach, Penzance has now become a destination in its own right.

Scandi-style shopping

The idea behind the selection at shop No. 56 is functional, handcrafted homeware made using natural materials. Here, everything from the wooden scrubbing brushes to the ceramic candleholders has a pared-back, Scandi-style aesthetic. There are shelves filled with enamel teapots and green-tinged tumblers made from recycled glass, and rows of Moroccan raffia baskets, striped teatowels and merino blankets. At the back is a rail of linen womenswear, some of which, including a lovely blue housecoat with patch pockets, is made by designer-owner Carole Elsworth under her Handworked label.

Cornish Barn, the restaurant at Artist Residence hotelPaul Massey

Retro finds

For vintage, mid-century teak cabinets at significantly cheaper-than-London prices, make a beeline for Daisy Laing (confusingly the sign outside says Kitt's Corner). There are three floors of furniture (G Plan desks, Hans Olsen dining chairs) and lighting (Arne Jacobsen wooden pendants, German industrial scissor wall lamps) from the 1920s to the 1980s, and a small selection of interior pieces and vinyl records. It's the kind of place you might stumble across the perfect cabinet that you haven't been able to source elsewhere. The best bit? The shop will deliver up to 350 miles away.

Gently smoked, locally sourced lobster with homemade slaw at Artist Residence's Cornish Barn restaurantPaul Massey

A specialist second-hand bookshop

Specialist bookshop Newlyn Books, run by Kevin Hearn, is the place for antiquarian and second-hand volumes and maps. A quick scan along the shelves reveals niche titles such as Shipwrecks Around the Isles of Scilly, Art Forms of Travelling Fairs and Carousels and special-edition catalogues listing work by Cornish-based 20th-century potter Bernard Leach. A year ago, Hearn's daughter, Holly, opened Endpaper across the corridor, which sells all kinds of paper goods and gifts: botanical prints by Ola, contemporary jewellery by Pistol & Peach and Jode Pankhurst porcelain planters.

A collage by artist Robin Whitecross hangs in an alcove between two of Chapel House's first-floor bedroomsPaul Massey

The best art galleries in Penzance

Considering this is Cornwall, it's perhaps unsurprising that there are a handful of excellent contemporary-art galleries. The best of the bunch are the Exchange (sister to the renowned Newlyn Art Gallery), which has two changing exhibition spaces, a small shop and a café; Cornwall Contemporary, where the top-floor attic is dedicated to experimental work by established artists and promoting up-and-coming talent; and Meta, where friendly owner Lois Grayson sells work that she feels represents the very fabric of Cornwall. For this read hand-thrown pots by Sally Tully, Sophie Capron's mixed-media canvases and earthenware and raku plates and animal sculptures from Jennie Hale.

Abbey Slip, PenzanceMike Newman Photography

An Art Deco lido

Two years after it was badly damaged by storms and closed for restoration, the outdoor Jubilee Pool in Battery Road re-opened to much fanfare for the 2016 summer season. And for good reason. This triangular-shaped pool, with its streamlined white walls and neat row of Cubist-style changing rooms, is an Art Deco, seafront gem (there's a small children's section too). This is also one of Europe's few remaining saltwater lidos. Come for a quick dip or bring a picnic, settle on the top terrace, and make an afternoon of it.

A walk in the park

Ten minutes' drive east of Penzance, the delightful 22-acre Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens feature artworks by the likes of James Turrell, David Nash and Richard Long. You'll need at least an hour to walk a good chunk of the grounds, but it's worth allowing extra time to pop into the Curious Cabin nursery for succulents, purple-headed agapanthus and artisan knick-knacks, and lunch (croque monsieur, chilli and mint falafel salad) at the popular Tremenheere Kitchen. It's always full so do book ahead if you can. The newest addition to the site is a contemporary-art gallery, which opened earlier this year.

Shelves at Newlyn Books

The most exquisite seafood restaurant

By far the best seafood restaurant in Penzance is the Shore, the passion project of Scottish owner Bruce Rennie, who was previously head chef at Michelin-starred Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh. Rennie is a one-man band, making everything himself from the still-warm bread to the rhubarb sorbet, and often waiting on the dozen tables too. Much of the seafood is sourced from Dreckly Fish, a sustainable co-operative of fishermen who sell their catch directly from their boats in Newlyn, and the menu - hake with tenderstem-broccoli risotto, delicately cured pollack ceviche - evolves every few weeks.

Scandi-style shop No. 56

The most brilliant pub for food

It's an appetite-building 20-minute stroll along the seafront from Penzance to chef-owner Ben Tunnicliffe's Tolcarne Inn in Newlyn. Not much has been done to update the interior of the pub since he took over it in 2012, but no matter - a trip here is all about the food. The fish-focused menu is chalked up on the blackboard each day, but expect dishes such as monkfish tail with creamed fennel, mussels and gnocchi, or a delicate risotto with cod fillet and samphire drizzled with herb oil.

A dish at Shore restaurantNick Hook

Where to shop for snacks

Tom Hazzledine opened the fifth outpost of his Cornish Baker Tom mini-chain on Causewayhead earlier this year. Batches of speciality breads such as goat's-cheese and red-onion focaccia or carrot, mustard-seed and thyme loaf are delivered each morning, along with cakes and pastries. Further down the street, the Granary sells organic vegetables, soups, salad boxes and sandwiches made by owner Sasha Williams, plus sugar-free sweet treats including vegan chocolate brownies and peanut-butter cheesecake. For a hot cup of coffee and homemade pasty, you can't beat the Cornish Hen deli. While here stock up on local produce - Helford Creek apple juice, Roskilly's clotted-cream fudge and Tregothnan Earl Grey tea.

A house room at Artist ResidencePaul Massey

WHERE TO STAY

ARTIST RESIDENCE

Anyone familiar with the Artist Residence brand will know the drill: rooms are split into rustic 'House' style, with repurposed furniture (Kenyan coffee crates as bedside tables, cushions made from flour sacks, battered brown-leather armchairs) and 'Arty', each of which feature original murals designed by a collection of British artists including Jo Peel and Mat McIvor. What's new here is the Lookout, a loft suite with its own tiny terrace, and the three-bedroom, cabin-like Cottage, which has reclaimed-wood-panelled walls, an open-plan kitchen/living room with a log burner and a freestanding copper tub in the bathroom. Play ping pong in the garden, relax in the cosy bar or have dinner at the Cornish Barn restaurant, where the dish to order is beer-can chicken, cooked in the smokehouse out back.

Address: 20 Chapel St, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 4AW
Telephone: +44 1736 365664
Website: artistresidencecornwall.co.uk
Price: Double rooms from £85

Loaves at Baker TomNick Pumphrey

CHAPEL HOUSE

Four years ago, charity chief executive Susan Stuart swapped London for the Cornish coast when she set about transforming the Penzance Arts Club into the smartest B&B in town - six-room Chapel House. The Georgian architecture has been offset with a mix of antique furniture and modern pieces: one room comes with a huge, deep-soaking bath; another has flashes of colour in a Fifties sky-blue armchair and a geometric-pattern rug. Crucially, all have comfortable bespoke oak beds and a view of the sea. Downstairs, there's a light, airy drawing room; a garden for early-evening cider; and a breakfast room with original flagstone floors and a communal dining table, where Susan whips up mid-week suppers for guests on request. Even if you don't stay here, do book in for the weekend kitchen supper club - the food is delicious.

Address: Chapel House, Chapel Street, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 4AQ
Telephone: +44 1736 362024
Website: chapelhousepz.co.uk
Price: Double rooms from £150

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This feature first appeared in Condé Nast Traveller November 2017