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| Scroll down to see all this large homepage & to see Index below, left | |||
| In medieval times there were two towns on opposite banks of the River Looe. East Looe includes the fishing harbour, the main shopping centre and the sandiest beach. West Looe is quieter, but also has shops, restaurants and hotels and leads to Hannafore with its fine views of Looe Island. The two towns are joined together by a bridge across the river. |
INDEX
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to select:
Accommodation
Advice
Attractions
Boat owners
Buses & Trains
Churches
Cinema
Ferries, Fowey & Polruan
Facilities
Guest Book
History
Lions
Links
Location
Looe Island
Luggers
News
Polperro
RC Churches
Running
Sailing
Sclerder Abbey
Shops
Staying
Talland Bay
Walks
Wrecks
| Most recent development - 31 March 2012 © 1999 - 2012 www.looe.org |
| www.looe.org was launched on 1 October 1999 and aims to serve both visitors and residents. |
| Sorry! We do not answer
individual queries - all the information we have is on this website! If you are looking for holiday accommodation contact advertisers on our Accommodation page. If you are looking for visitor information contact the Looe Tourist Information Office (tel: 01503 262072) Please note: We do not produce or distribute any printed material, tourist guides, etc - please contact the Tourist Information Office (tel: 01503 262072) for such material. Do not contact this website requesting brochures - despite this and other notices, we receive so many requests that now we do not reply! |
Our Local Biz page lists businesses of all types in and around Looe (but not holiday accommodation which can be found on a different page - click here). So, take a look and next time you are in the town you can check out interesting shops and other businesses - meanwhile you can visit their websites, if they have one, or give them a ring. Click here for the new page. If you own or run a local business, it can be on the Local Biz page - click here |
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| Will Tesco
destroy Looe's town centre? For many years there have been rumours that one or other of the large supermarket chains planned to open a superstore in or near Looe - now Tesco has annouced plans to build a 25,000 sq.ft. store on Barbican Road in East Looe on a 10 acre site which would also include a petrol station, 30 homes and community facilities. Earlier rumours cited the Millpool area of West Looe as being the likely site for a new supermarket - this is where the large scale car parking is for Looe and is just a short walk to the town centre. By contrast, due to the hilly topography of Looe, the Barbican area is effectively a separate place and by car requires a journey of nearly two miles, initially on the road towards Plymouth and then via a turning near the parish church, past Looe School and thence to the Barbican area where the new Tesco store is proposed to be sited. Shop-keepers in East Looe and the Barbican area are understandably concerned about the effect the proposed superstore will have on their businesses and there must be little doubt that the new store will be a major attractor of business and will inevitably reduce demand at existing smaller shops selling food and other items which Tesco will sell. Because the Barbican area is effectively detached from the East Looe town centre where there is little free parking there are fears that there is not likely to be any beneficial effect from the new store on non-competitive businesses either as Tesco's customers will not be likely to come down the hill and repark before or after using Tesco, especially as parking at the new superstore will almost certainly be free. The new planning regime which has just been introduced gives a presumption of approval for "sustainable development", whatever that means, so no doubt Tesco bosses will be expecting to gain planning approval on a fast time track and it is understood that the company expects the new store to be built and open by summer 2013. www.looe.org - news - March 2012 |
A perfect day for
Walking on Water Unlikely
though it seems, on just a few occasions each year when there are
exceptionally low tides, it is possible to walk from the mainland
at Hannafore all the way to Looe Island (St. George's Island). Yesterday
(29 September) was one such day and in perfect balmy weather more
than 100 people, local residents and visitors, did the walk including
the three ladies shown in the photo, all long time Looe residents
who had never attempted the crossing before. And there was a fair
assortment of canine participants who seemed to enjoy the experience
just as much as the humans. There's no time to explore the island
or hang about on this walk as the tide soon floods back in. It would
be an exaggeration to  say
that you can keep your feet dry but provided you don't slip on the
seaweedy sea-floor then you should keep dry above your knees. The
walk should be possible again today (30 September) when the afternoon
low tide at 14:33 hrs BST will be nearly as low (but you will get
a little wetter - and don't hang about!) Next possibilities are in
2012 - consult the Tourist Information Office (01503 262 072) for
more information and future dates when it will be possible to do this
walk. Also Cornwall
Wildlife Trust which now owns Looe Island and manages it as
a nature reserve. There are boats from Looe harbour to the island
most days during the tourist season(weather permitting) - landing
fee payable to the Wildlife Trust. Click images for larger versions.
(photos copyright - www.looe.org - all rights reserved) (30 September 2011) |
Nelson returns - in
spirit at least  For
many years Looe had a popular & much-loved regular visitor to
its harbour - a seal called Nelson (because he had lost one eye in
an injury or accident). Sadly Nelson has gone to the great ocean in
the sky but now he is fittingly commemorated by a handsome life-size
statue in the harbour which was formally unveiled in 2008 by Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston, the famous sailor. Local sculptor Suzie Marsh gave
her services in making the sculpture free of charge and the costs
of casting and siting the bronze statue were met by grants and donations
from many charitable and other bodies and by individuals. Click
on photo for large version. |
LIFE
ABOARD A CORNISH FISHING LUGGER  The
last days of working fishing luggers in Cornwall are vividly captured
in a new book by former Looe fisherman Paul Greenwood. His
frank account of the hardships he encountered at sea as a young crewman
aboard the lugger Iris in the 1960s is a brilliant evocation
of a bygone age that contrasts with modern conditions in the fishing
industry today. In Once Aboard A Cornish Lugger, the author describes how he overcame sea-sickness and learned his job on deck working the nets and lines alongside four other crewmen aboard the Iris, skippered by Frank ‘Moogie’ Pengelly, the last lugger skipper left in the port of Looe. In the four and a half years he spent aboard the Iris, Paul Greenwood endured fatigue, cold and wet, often in rough weather while working night and day hauling nets and lines. “Those four years that I worked with ‘Moogie’ set me up well for the rest of my sea-going career,” he says, “because nothing subsequently ever seemed as hard or as physically demanding as the time I spent working on the deck of the Iris.” Visit our new page on Cornish luggers which has details of how and where you can buy this new book - click here |
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| Want to advertise
on this website? click here Are you a local business? Click here to apply for a listing on this website Please note: this contact address is strictly only for advertisers and editorial contributors - we do not have the resources to answer individual queries or supply information. We do NOT send out tourism brochures - contact the Tourist Infomation Office on 01503 262072. |
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Place mouse arrow on photos below to see captions & click on them for larger photos
Place mouse arrow on photos above to see captions & click on them for larger photos
The top photo (of E Looe beach) is the copyright of Tim Johnson, others copyright www.looe.org
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