Day 5 - Port Isaac (“Portwenn” - the home of Doc Martin)

Well as I mentioned just before this trip started, a big attraction to Cornwall for me came from the series “Doc Martin” and I wouldn’t be satisfied until I had seen “Portwenn,” the little village Doc Martin practices in.  In reality the village is called Port Isaac and has been in existence for hundreds of years.  With the popularity of the TV series, I wondered how much the village would be “Portwenn” and how much of it would be itself; especially since the next season is currently filming in Port Isaac.

We had been having such great weather and today was also predicted to be beautiful, I decided to make the most of it.  So we prepared to go there today.  We had a nice breakfast in our lodge, did our Sabbath School lesson, and then started the 1 1/4 hour trip to Port Isaac.  We did stop in Truro on the way at a computer store I had found online so that I could FINALLY get the desperately needed power cable.  The lady who greeted me at the door was very helpful and took me right to the product I needed.  It cost a little more than I had hoped for, but so it goes.  Next time remember to bring it with you!!!

On the way to Port Isaac, we passed a number of tiny villages while traveling on very narrow back roads.  Mom was struck with the beauty of this little 15th century church in St. Kew and made me pull over so she could look around.

15th century church at St. Kew

There was some recording going on inside, so we weren't able to see it.  But the outside was beautiful and the tombstones were very old and interesting.

When we arrived in the village of Port Isaac, we started looking for parking right away.  I knew enough of the village to know that parking down in the heart of it as well as driving through is nearly impossible, so we took the first car park we came across.  We would have to leave by 5pm but that gave us several hours.  The man minding the car park and taking payment was very friendly and asked me straight off if I was a Doc Martin fan.  When I told him I was and why, he asked me if I was as grumpy with my patients as Doc Martin to which I laughed and said I couldn’t get away with being as abrupt with people as Doc Martin did.

The parking attendant pointed us in the right direction and we started walking down into the village. 

Main road heading down into the village

Next came a steep walk down into the village on a road called “Rose Hill” where there was barely room for one car and at last got so narrow no cars could get through.

Rose Hill Road going down into the village

Not long down the path, I could see the hill and then the house on it where Doc Martin lives and has his surgery (what we call a practice).

First views of "Doc Martin's Cottage" (the small house in the center)

It was exciting and surreal!  I felt like I was walking into the story of Doc Martin.  I half expected Louisa, Mrs. Tishell, Al, Bert, or the doc himself to step around a corner and walk past!

Finally we were on the street that goes around the edge of the village on the coast.

Fore Street

It’s a small road but bigger than the one we were on.  Mom and Grandma were still making their way down, so I went over to the wall in front of the coast and started taking pictures of harbor and of the doc’s house.

View of the harbor and "Doc Martin's Cottage" from Fore Street

Once Mom and Grandma joined me, we started walking towards the harbor, taking pictures along the way.  I wanted to press on and see the sights I recognized from the series.  Fortunately, the bathrooms were on the way which was first on everyone else’s agenda.  So then we were heading up the street to the most famous sight in the series, Doc Martin’s house.

Roscarrock Hill going up toward "Doc Martin's Cottage" and the Coastal Path

There was a modest sign at the bottom of the hill letting people know which house was his (in case they didn’t recognize it).

Other than that, there was absolutely no evidence of Doc Martin being present.  It didn’t look like they were filming today.  There were quite a few tourists in the village and walking up the same road.  However, many didn’t even stop in front of his house and looked at the rest of us a bit strangely for posing in front for pictures.

Me in front of "Doc Martin's Cottage"

But it was neat to stand in front of a house I’d seen so many times on TV.  There was a chain across the entrance area to the house with a sign saying “Private Property” so I can only imagine what fans used to do when visiting the house.  This road also has a beautiful view down to the harbor which anyone who has seen the series knows because they’ve seen it.  Grandma and Mom didn’t know anything about Doc Martin, but they were very impressed with the beauty of the village and the nature around it.

Port Isaac from the Coastal Path

The port, taken by Mom

We were starting to get slightly hungry, but not much.  The biggest worry was that the restaurants would shut down service at 3pm until 6pm or so as they did in many other places.  But now we were up on the hill and the coastal foot path was so close it didn’t make sense to go all the way back down to the harbor just to come back up again to see the coast line.  Grandma didn’t want to do so much uphill hiking, so she sent us on instead and said she go back down to the harbor and wait for us there.  Mom and I started the trek up the path which starts off on a good incline until you get to the top of the hill,

Climbing the steps up the Coastal Path

then it flattens out.  There is a bench at the top of the hill which we were happy to use!

Mom enjoys a reprieve at the top of the hill

I had seen scenes in Doc Martin featuring this trail and the fabulous views of the coast, so I knew we wanted to see it.  I had even envisioned going there with a picnic lunch to eat out on a grassy knoll.  That didn’t quite work out, but the walk along the coast was just as breathtaking as I had imagined from how it looked on TV.  Just stunning!  So idyllic!

Fish eye lens photo of Port Isaac from the Coastal Path

Mom makes her way down the Coastal Path

I even walked way to the bottom of a hill to get a good view back to the harbor and then have to walk all the way back up that same hill to the trail!  It was worth it!

I hike down a steep hill for one good view of Port Isaac, taken by Mom

After walking around to a cove that comes before Port Quinn, we turned back.

Cove before Port Quinn

It was almost as hard to go back down all those steps to the village as it was to go up them!

Mom comes back down the steps

Me at the turnstile, taken by Mom

It didn’t take too long to get down to the harbor.  On the way, we stopped in Port Isaac Pottery Shop and looked at the lovely souvenirs this family-run business has to sell.

Port Isaac Pottery Shop, once a church

The son-in-law is a photographer and many of his stunning photos were available matted in different sizes.  I found a small one of Port Isaac with intriguing clouds in the background and decided to buy it.  There was music playing in the shop of a group called “The Fisherman’s Friends” which is a singing group of men who sing a lot of traditional songs from the area, often in Port Isaac at the harbor.  One song playing was “Let Your Lower Lights Be Burning” which is a hymn Mom knew from the past.

After getting the photo, we headed down to Grandma who had found a seat on one of the benches at the harbor we had seen earlier and I had seen on TV!  A friendly local lady sat with her for a while and chatted her up!

Grandma makes a new friend while she waits for us, taken by Mom

By now we were all pretty hungry and we found the restaurant right beside the harbor and one featured as “the pub” in Doc Martin was serving all day.  So we went in and took a seat upstairs. The restaurant is actually called “The Mote.”

The Mote

Waiting for our food

Our upstairs table

  Our waiter came right away and brought us water.  We decided to get to orders of Plaice fish and chips and share them which we did.  It was really excellent.  Grandma said it was the best fish and ships she had had!

Plaice fish and chips, half eaten!  So good!

After enjoying our lunch, we headed out to look around some more.

I wanted to see the Old School which on Doc Martin is the primary school but no longer used as such in real life.  It was just around the corner from where we were.

The Old School House

Side view of the Old School House which is a side often used in Doc Martin, taken by Mom

I was surprised that it looked smaller in real life than it did on TV.  Now it’s a restaurant and I think an inn as well.  The views of the cove from there were tremendous!  We stopped in another souvenir shop after that and they were playing the same music and in fact the same CD there as the pottery shop.  Now Mom heard the hymn she knew twice and had to get the CD at that point!  After that it was time to get ice cream Grandma informed us.

Grandma and her Cornish ice cream that was so good, taken by Mom

We did so and continued to walk in the same direction.  Soon we were walking past a shop called “Stowaway” which advertised that it was the only shop in Port Isaac selling Doc Martin memorabilia.

Stowaway shop, the only Doc Martin memorabilia shop in town!

So of course I had to go in and look at it!  They had photos of the actors, many autographed, all over the shop.  There were also T-shirts, biscuit tins, clocks, and other items from the show.  There was a T-shirt that had a stethoscope going around the neck which on one end spelled out “Shut up.”  Another one had three fish on it and said “Shut up and make an appointment.”  I ended up getting the first one.

Getting my Doc Martin T-shirt, taken by Mom

Gift shoppe memorabilia, taken by Mom

I was glad to see that Port Isaac was Port Isaac and not "Portwenn."  After all, this village has been here for hundreds of years, long before Doc Martin.  It was good to see that they didn't define themselves by the popularity of the show.  But they didn't ignore it either as if they wanted to pretend it had never happened.  It seemed just right.

Then it was getting close to 5pm and we still had to walk up a hill to our car.  So I started out while Grandma and Mom came along slowly.  I got there with 5 minutes to spare and was able to move the car to a side street and wait on them.  Finally, I saw Mom coming and I waved to wait so I could go and get her.  When I did, she told me Grandma was not able to it up the last hill and I would have to drive down into the village more to get her!  I was pretty scared to go in on restricted roads to do that, but it ended up working out fine.  But once I picked her up, it was not easy getting out of there!  We didn't have the GPS set so we started following Mom's nose which got us why out on a back road in the wrong direction.  Eventually we had to turn around on the very narrow road with no real place to turn around.

View back to Port Isaac from the "wrong road," taken by Mom

As we were driving back the way we had just come, the view towards the village looked very much like the closing scene of season one of Doc Martin; so when I get home I'll have to check it out!

On our way home, we stopped at a grocery store in Newquay called Morrison’s and got our breakfast and supper items we would need until Saturday morning.  Once we arrived back at our lodge, we made soup from packets we bought and ate our left over pizza.  The rest of the evening was spent organizing our pictures on the computer which thankfully I can now use!