Mousehole, Cornwall

There are two significant dates in the life of Mousehole, the tiny West Cornwall harbour. The first is the night before Christmas Eve, celebrated in the village as Tom Bawcock’s Eve in memory of the legendary local fisherman who saved the village from starvation after a long series of storms by putting to sea in dangerous weather and returning with hold-full of ‘seven sorts of fish’. They cook ‘Starry-Gazy Pie’ made of pilchards with their heads poking through the crust.
The other date comes round just four days earlier, and is much more recent, and more sombre. On 19 December 1981, the Penlee lifeboat Solomon Browne was lost, along with its entire crew of eight, all from Mousehole. The old lifeboat station, just along the coast from the harbour, is now a memorial. The new lifeboat is stationed in Newlyn, a few miles to the east.
Perhaps it’s the abiding consciousness of this history that gives the stone-built village a quiet dignity despite having become, inevitably, a bit of a tourist honeypot.
The harbour itself is east-facing, looking across Mount’s Bay with a stunning distant view of St Michael’s Mount, and is sheltered by the offshore rocks of St Clement’s. It dries out, revealing a sandy beach, so suits long-keelers well. Mooring is along the stone harbour wall, and you may well find yourself alongside the restored fishing lugger Barnabas or other boats of the Cornish Maritime Trust.
There’s a good old pub, the Ship Inn, narrow streets to explore and a good walk up the cliffs towards the west, which will take you to the wild bird sanctuary, and beyond if you feel like it. The locals say it Mowzle, by the way. Peter Willis