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Porthminster was beach that led To the Lighthouse

Posted in books, commodification, St. Ives, Virginia Woolf, tagged Marion Dell, Marion Whybrow, Porthminster beach, Remembering St. Ives, St. Ives, Talland House, To the Lighthouse on Thursday 25 June 2009| Leave a Comment »

Porthminster Beach

Virginia Woolf’s good name has been used to sell many things. Now it is being used to sell 76 acres of beachfront property in Cornwall.

Upton Towans beach, near Hayle, is up for auction with a guide price of £50,000, and it is being billed as “the location for Virginia Woolf’s 1927 work To The Lighthouse.”

Well, not exactly. At least as far as I can determine.

Upton Towans beach is situated in the northeast of St. Ives Bay and is known for its surfing. Virginia and her family frequented Porthminster beach on the southern edge of St. Ives, which is a longtime favorite of swimmers, sunbathers and picnickers instead.

If you travel to St. Ives by train, Porthminster beach is the crescent-shaped slice of white sand and blue sea you encounter when you step off the platform. It is a lovely spot, easily reached by foot from Talland House, which Virginia and her family visited each summer until their mother Julia died in May 1895.

In Virginia’s time at St. Ives, a path led from Talland House through Primrose Valley, an area filled with gardens and orchards, to the beach. There the Stephen family swam, picnicked and explored the rock pools, according to Virginia Woolf & Vanessa Bell: Remembering St. Ives by Marion Dell and Marion Whybrow.

Their book, published in 2003 by Tabb House Publishers, is a real find for anyone who wants to learn more about Virginia’s favorite spot in Cornwall.

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Notable Woolf places in the news

Posted in Godrevy, Monk's House, St. Ives, To the Lighthouse, Woolf Travel, tagged Godrevy, Monk's House, St. Ives, Woolf places on Thursday 11 December 2008| 2 Comments »

Places connected to Virginia Woolf are regularly in the news. Check out these two recent articles:

“I’m not afraid of Virginia Woolf: How living in the author’s former home has proved extraordinary inspiration”
This Nov. 19 article in the Daily Mail tells the story of current Monk’s House tenants, Caroline and Jonathan Zoob, who have been living in Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s former Sussex home since November 2000. The article includes color photos of the exterior of the home, the couple’s second floor living quarters and the garden.

Green Spaces: Godrevy Point, Cornwall, England
This is a Dec. 2 Times review of a carefully conserved patch of North Cornish coastline that offers views of Godrevy Island, its lighthouse and St. Ives. The lighthouse is said to be the inspiration for Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. St. Ives is the place where Woolf spent her summers up until the age of 12. Godrevy Point, which is protected by the National Trust, is popular with nature lovers, surfers, climbers and families.

The Cornwall Beach Guide provides more information about visiting the site. And wonderful 360-degree panoramic views of Godrevy Point and St. Ives can be found here.

You can also visit other Woolf places by clicking here.

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Following Woolf’s sandy footprints

Posted in St. Ives, Virginia Woolf, Woolf blog on Tuesday 9 October 2007| 1 Comment »

For fifteen years, my husband and I have spent some time each summer traipsing around the Lake Erie shoreline.

We stayed at lakeside B&Bs, inns, and cottages. We feasted on fresh perch. We savored the excellent local wines. And we let the sound of lapping waves ease our tensions away.

Sometime during each of our visits, we would bemoan the fact that we hadn’t had the foresight or the funds to snap up a piece of lakeside property back in the 1970s, when it was dirt cheap. By the time we had the means and the motive, property located in the popular spots near the lake was way out of our price range.

That changed this past summer. On a day trip to the lake of my husband’s dreams, we stumbled across a small Northeast Ohio town that actually offers affordable property near Lake Erie.

Within a few weeks, we owned a 92-year-old house in Conneaut, Ohio, just a few miles from the pricey, popular spots. The house has a view of the lake and is a block and a half away from its soothing blue waters.

Our new home immediately caught my imagination. And as any good Woolfian would, I imagined myself in Virginia’s shoes — looking out on the sea at St. Ives or writing from my country home in Sussex.

A similar situation has developed across the pond. At least, that is the report offered by Telegraph writer Anthea Masey.

According to her, St. Ives in Cornwall — the place where Virginia spent her summers up until the age of 12 — is such a seaside hot spot that a simple two-bedroom cottage sells for £350,000. That is $711,888 in U.S. dollars.

But just six miles to the southeast, across St. Ives Bay and the estuary of the river Hayle, housing prices in the town of Hayle itself are about 40 percent lower than in St. Ives. And one can enjoy a three-mile stretch of beach, with good surf towards Godrevy Point, Masey writes.

Hayle is to St. Ives as Conneaut is to Kelly’s Island. Or Put-in-Bay. Or Sandusky. Or Port Clinton. And I am just happy to have a spot by the water where I can read, write, and ruminate about such things. For a mere £27,773.