Penzance Is The Perfect Base For Exploring West Cornwall
At the far end of Cornwall is Penzance, the closest town to Lands End.
Penzance had a chapel close to its harbour so was formerly known as ‘Pen Sans’ in traditional Cornish dialect, which means Holy Headland. Penzance and surrounding area were renowned centuries ago as being a popular hangout for pirates. Penzance retains lots of historical evidence going back centuriesand this is visible to this day. Hard-and-fast planning restrictions in many areas of the town have assisted to save a great deal of character.
Penzance was granted its first Royal Charter in 1512 and over many centuries the area has grown into a wonderfully artistic and vibrant area with a terrific atmosphere. Having at one time was reliant on fishing as its main income, Penzance now caters mainly for the tourism industry. Its great popularity has attracted a steady increase in the number of visitors each year.
It is uncomplicated to reach Penzance by road, despite it being tucked away in the far nook of the UK. There are also a number of efficient coach and rail links to the town.
Penzance makes a perfect base for exploring west Cornwall. In comparison to the rest of Britain, Penzance has a very mild climate all through the year thanks to the Atlantic Gulf Steam.
In this region in the Victorian era huge numbers of tropical and stunning plants and seeds were introduced. Due to its stunning range of sub-tropical plants, the location has a wonderfully romantic, Mediterranean feel to it.
June is a busy month for Penzance when the popular Golowan Festival draws in thousands of visitors and hotels and rooms become hotels and other accommodation are fully booked. The Golowan Festival is a celebration of the arrival of Midsummer. This ten-day festival treats visitors to a mixture of colourful parades, live music, entertainment and art. There are also bonfires, firework displays and a traditional fairground. With colour decorating the streets from brightly coloured banners to fresh cut flowers, Penzance comes to life.
In addition there is the Newlyn Fish Festival that is held in the area once a year on the last Monday of August. This particular festival celebrates Newlyn’s history of fishing which has been an essential part of Cornish life which has assisted Penzance become the thriving place that it is today. During the festival the harbour is full to the brim with an array of boats, at the market you can see all of the typical locally caught fish. A number of stalls are available and also entertainment.
There are a great choice of different places to dine out in Penzance and great shopping facilities. If you are interested in History, you may want to go and see one of the several surviving ancient monuments in the region.
For art lovers Penzance is a fantastic area to be in having the highest of artists in found in Britain outside of London. The Gallery situated at Penlee Park houses work by several famous artists including Stanhope Forbes along with work by students from the local Newlyn School. The nearby town of St Ives additionally offers world class galleries such as the Tate, the Barbra Hepworth Museum and the Leach Pottery.
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