Shane and I now live in a small Cornish town about twenty miles along the coast from the quaint fishing towns of Looe. Looe is the principal seaside town of southeast Cornwall; with Looe harbour being the base for an important fishing fleet for England and it is also the headquarters for the British shark fishing. As well as having an excellent dive centre in West Looe at Hannafore. The town itself consists of many quaint narrow streets, shops, restaurants and oldie worldly charm that many tourists are looking for, whilst managing to provide excellent tourist facilities at the same time as maintaining the traditional fishing industries.

At Looe you are never too far from the beautiful Cornish beaches with is water sports, diving, fishing, hostelries, restaurants, boat trips, walks through the countryside and along with one of the best scenic plus most beautiful coastlines anywhere in the British isle (well that is my personal opinion anyway). In medieval times there were two towns on opposite banks of the River Looe. East Looe now as then included the fishing harbour, the main shopping centre and the sandiest beach. West Looe is much quieter, but also has small quaint shops, restaurants and hotels and leads to Hannafore with its spacious promenades and fine views of Looe Island, an excellent place to go diving, nut make sure if you go you are with a diver who knows the area.

I am fascinated by the local history of the area and felt I would like to share some with you too. The two towns of East and West Looe are joined together by a bridge across the river; East Looe and West Looe originated as two separate towns (as mentioned above). They were what are called "planted boroughs" and there was first mention of them is in 1201. An estuary bridge, the earliest in Cornwall, joined the two towns settlements by about 1411. The bridge was then replaced in 1853 by a new one about a hundred yards further upstream; it is the one used today. Up until 1832 the twin towns had two Parliamentary seats - but lost them during parliamentary reforms.

Around 1500, the Guildhall is believed to have been built and one house is dated 1555 whilst another is dated around 1632. The ‘Golden Guinea restaurant’ is one of many ancient houses still in use today and whose gorgeous interiors, give more clues to its age than do the later exteriors that has been disguised. The food there is good too. One might normally expect the Church of England's parish church of East Looe to have the most interesting history, but in West Looe, that of the Congregational Chapel on the Quay overshadow it. It is for the most part one of the extraordinary stories in the history of Non-conformist churches of Cornwall and possibly within the whole of Great Britain. I say this because the Chapel was founded in the 1770s (date not certain), largely due to the efforts of its first pastor, the Rev. Sir Harry Telawny, Bart. However, for some unknown reason he was ordained at Southampton, in itself extraordinary and at the time ‘not the done thing’. It seems not to be known why he was not ordained either at West Looe or at least somewhere nearer than Southampton. The ordination service was attended by an enormous gathering. (The largest recorded in the Southampton chapel's history). It had more pageantry in it than was customary for non-conformists ordinations. There is some vagueness about the dealings, much of which seem to have over-ridden the regular pre-requisites and tradition. Sir Harry, in his address, said the "the dear people at West Looe being, for the most part, brought out of darkness into marvellous light through my poor instrumentality, are abundantly beloved by me". Even at Westminster School, Sir Harry had been a young man of solemn religious preference. At Oxford, he preferred to commerce of men of inferior class rank who were religiously inclined for company, instead of his own peers. As was required in those days, he demonstrate his faith in the established church at the time, he took his Bachelor's degree, though he had something of a crisis of conscience in so doing.

**The Summer Season**

**Eating Out**

*The Moonlight Tandoori Restaurant*
Fore Street
East Looe
Cornwall PL13 1AE
Tel: 01503 / 265372
For a spicy night out. The portions are large and very tasty. It is open Sunday to Saturday 12 noon - 2.30pm 5.30 pm – Midnight, open seven days a week including Bank holidays (except Christmas day) and is Fully Licensed. The prices are reasonable.

Tom Sawyers Tavern: Proprietors: John & Judith
Marine drive,
Hannafore,
West Looe,
Cornwall.
UK Tel: +44 (0)1503/262782
This is probably my favourite restaurant in Looe at present. It as a Restaurant and bar and I would advise booking, as it is very popular. On a Sunday offers an excellent Carvery meal and also provides Live Music.