Porthloo

Summary

Porthloo (sometimes spelled and often pronounced Porthlow; Cornish: Porth Logh "cove of the deep water inlet") is a coastal settlement on the island of St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly, England. It is situated about half a mile northeast of Hugh Town and is a popular tourist spot with a number of guest houses, a restaurant, several gift shops and art galleries.

Porthloo
Porthloo beach
Porthloo is located in Isles of Scilly
Porthloo
Porthloo
Location within Isles of Scilly
OS grid referenceSV909114
Civil parish
  • St Mary's
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townISLES OF SCILLY
Postcode districtTR21
Dialling code01720
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireIsles of Scilly
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
49°55′23″N 6°18′27″W / 49.9231°N 6.3076°W / 49.9231; -6.3076

The only golf club on the Isles of Scilly is situated just to the north of Porthloo. The course consists of nine holes, each with two tees. The club was founded in 1904 and the course and clubhouse are open to visitors.[1]

Beach edit

Porthloo Beach faces west - there are two tidal islets called Taylor's Island and Newford Island which are to the north and south of the beach respectively. At the top of the beach is a small remnant sand dune system with the grassy area behind used for boat standing and repairs. Due to the disturbance hairy buttercup (Ranunculus sardous), along with other arable weeds appear here in one of its few sites on Scilly, and the only known site for wall–rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria) in the Isles of Scilly is just to the south.[2] Porthloo is within an Area of Outstanding Beauty, is a Geological Conservation Review site and was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1996. The 0.66 hectares (1.6 acres) site is notified for a succession of Quaternary sediments listed below with youngest at the top of the list:

Boat yard edit

The Duchy of Cornwall runs a "boat park" at Porthloo, providing ground storage of boats, including ones too large for storing on-land elsewhere on St Mary's.[4] There is a wide slipway leading across the beach, partially sheltered by Newford Island, which is used (in addition to the boat park) by landing barges, loading items which the St Mary's Harbour quay (at Hugh Town) cannot handle, such as large vehicles and machinery. There are boat maintenance sheds adjacent to the slipway.[citation needed]

In television edit

The postbox at Porthloo Terrace was the starting point in a Top Gear challenge to race the Royal Mail's delivery of a letter to Orkney.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ "Isles of Scilly Golf Club". Isles of Scilly Golf Club. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. ^ Parslow, Rosemary (2007). The Isles of Scilly. London: HarperCollins.
  3. ^ "Porthloo" (PDF). Natural England. 1996. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  4. ^ St Mary's Harbour (Duchy of Cornwall) Porthloo Boat Park
  5. ^ Top Gear: series 13, episode 4

External links edit

  Media related to Porthloo at Wikimedia Commons