Polperro

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Polperro is a tiny but beautiful harbour just south of Looe. The village has managed to retain its traditional charm with narrow streets and pretty cottages. The streets are in fact so narrow that they have been pedestrianised. Horse drawn carriages take visitors down to the harbour from the car park. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Polperro was notorious for smuggling - something which John Wesley noted on his visit to the village in 1762. There is today a museum dedicated to smuggling in Polperro, the Polperro Heritage Museum of Smuggling and Fishing. Pilchard fishing was an important trade for Polperro in the nineteenth century, and though there has been a vast decline in pilchard numbers over the last century or so, Polperro is still a busy fishing port today. Boat trips can be taken from the harbour up towards Fowey. The men who run the trips will usually provide a commentary enroute to Fowey of the area's past. There is a small beach at low tide and a natural pool which is used for swimming.