St Ives

St Ives: history & character

St Ives, a Cornish fishing port wrapped around a white-sand bay at the far west of England, owes its fame to two things: pilchards and light. After the pilchard fishery collapsed, the extraordinary clarity of its Atlantic light drew artists, and from the 1920s the town became one of Britain's great art colonies, now crowned by the Tate St Ives gallery (1993) and the Barbara Hepworth Museum. The old Downlong quarter, a maze of granite lanes and fishermen's cottages, tumbles down to a sheltered harbour and five sandy beaches. For a dog, St Ives is one of Cornwall's most welcoming towns: dogs travel free on the little branch-line train from St Erth, free on the seal boat trips, and are welcome in the harbour pubs and on the South West Coast Path year-round. The one thing to plan around is the seasonal beach dog rules set by Cornwall Council. And for EU visitors, since Brexit Great Britain requires a GB Animal Health Certificate instead of the EU pet passport.