Doc Martin

Yesterday, on a whim, we went to Port Isaac, the setting for the fictional Portwenn of Doc Matin fame.

Overheard while driving along the A30 after Hay has taken a phone call from a neighbour:

Hay: "Veronica says there's been a power failure and it'll last for an hour and a half. I wonder what people with babies do."

Chairman: "Probably plug them into portable generators."

Hay: "I guess you could always put batteries in them,"

Port Isaac is a pleasant little Cornish fishing village, but the glare of the media spotlight is turning it into another St Ives. It won't be long before it's filled with Weird Face and Fat Fish clothing shops. It would be nice if the place could stay brand-free, but the lure of filthy lucre will doubtless mean it will end up on the road to brand perdition. That said, there's not much scope for additional shops, unless houses are converted.

The town, like so many in the area, has spread inland and there are concentric circles of dwellings from many different decades. Certainly worth a visit, if indeed a full holiday. The locals must make a packet from renting their places out to the film crew.

This is the School House Hotel , which doubles as the exterior of Portwenn school. Amusingly decorated.

Mrs Tishell's Pharmacy - a fudge shop where the window display of a pharmacy has been retained as a tourist attraction.

Doctor Martin Ellingham's surgery - a holiday home.

Bert Large's cafe /restaurant.

A couple of views of the harbour.

Islamification has already taken hold, even in Portwenn!

A wrong turn during Hay's navigation over some public footpaths led us to the cove next door - Port Gaverne - a lesser metropolis that hasn't had as much development, but is about to be transformed, as evidenced by the work going on.

This boarded up hotel on the cliffs above Port Gaverne has been used in some scenes in Doc Martin, as an out-of-town hotel / meeting place, the Headland Hotel. I believe it's being refurbished, although it looks suspiciously derelict to me.