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A WALK AROUND THE HISTORIC TOWN OF ST. IVES The walk begins from St. Ives railway station. The railway line was laid, at great expense, in 1877 and the station has one of the most beautiful views from any railway station in the British Isles.
From here is a wonderful panoramic view of St. Ives harbour and lower part of the town. You will notice a fine bronze by Barbara Hepworth - Epidaurous, one of a number of her works to be seen in St. Ives. Across the town can be seen the Island and the Chapel of St. Nicholas. Look towards the East to Godrevy Lighthouse, the inspiration for Virginia Woolf's book 'To the Lighthouse'. Take the steep granite steps leading to the Pedn-Olva Hotel, site of an old copper mine, from which ore was mined from under the sea and the land. This was one of the many mines that operated in St. Ives. Tin and copper were mined and also uranium, which produced the radium that Madame Curie used for her experiments. Continue down the narrow lane called the Warren to Westcott's Quay. The high black weather-boarded building on your right is the Arts Club, once frequented by great artists such as Whistler, Sickert, Julius Olsson and Louis Grier. A short detour up the lane running left from Westcott's Quay brings you to a crossroads by the Age Concern building. On the corner of the Old Custom House opposite there is a yellow granite corner stone, carved T.N.G. 1713 - this was the Old Royal Naval Garrison, which, during the Napoleonic Wars, housed French P.O.W's Retrace your steps to Westcott's Quay and go left along Lambeth Walk, named after a dance tune in vogue at the time of its construction. Halfway along Lambeth Walk go left down an alleyway then turn right and go towards the St. Ives Parish Church. Consecrated in A.D. 1434 the lovely auburn tinted stone used in its construction was carried by fishing boats from the little village of Zennor. The church stands 119ft high, unusually high for a Cornish Church and is dedicated to St. Peter and Andrew the fishermen and St. Ia, an Irish priestess who brought Christianity here around the 5th century A.D. and, who it is said, crossed the Irish Sea on a leaf. There is an excellent view of the Church from the shelter in the Memorial Gardens opposite. |
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