real time web analytics
Report - - Headlands Hotel - Port Isaac, Cornwall - August 2019 | Leisure Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Headlands Hotel - Port Isaac, Cornwall - August 2019

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Sam the climber

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
History

The site is a derelict 11 bedroom hotel with beautiful sea views, in the Port Gaverne area, near Port Isaac, Cornwall.

The 3rd Earl Fortescue, from Devon, owned the land in the late 19th Century. It's known to have been sold again, in 1946, to a woman named Mary Edith Appleton.

The Headlands Hotel was open for 22 years, and closed in 2011. It was used as a filming location for the television series Doc Martin, as well as being a popular holiday destination.

The hotel was originally offered for sale, at a price of £2.5M. In November 2011, the Taylor family, who run a pharmacy in Warwickshire, bought the site for £1.6M. In January 2015, Cornwall county council gave planning permission for the building to be demolished, and a larger 20 room hotel to be built on the site. To date, work has not begun.


Explore


Struggling heroically through summer holiday traffic, I eventually managed to park the van right outside the site, in Cornwall's last remaining parking spot. I was on my way from a campsite in Bude to the granite sea cliffs of Bosigran, which I was very much looking forward to climbing, but I'd see previous reports from the site, so it seemed like a nice way to break up the journey.

The site is clearly showing its age, with the local teenagers having given it a good coat of low-quality graff. More recently, someone has been along with a wrecking bar and nicked the wiring out of some of the walls. Furniture upended and toilets smashed, the Headlands Hotel offers a derelict and vandalised feel, starkly contrasting with the 22 years of holidays and honeymoons it must once have seen.


A number of artefacts remain on site, including an old intercom handset, beer mats, and a rusted toaster. The kitchen still has its spice rack, and a massive tub of mustard that is presumably no longer viable. Some of the beds still have their original bedding.

821520


821521


821522


821523


821524


821525


821526


821527


821528


821529


821530


821531


821532


821533


821534


821535


821536


821537


821538


821539


821540


821541


821542



 

Sam the climber

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
My God that's bleak. Think it's probably lost its two stars now. But those views look a bit special...
Yeah, the Tripadvisor reviews used to talk about it having the best views in the country. Not sure I'd want to spend the night there now though - I reckon the bedding could do with a hot rinse and spin cycle.
 

The Lone Ranger

Safety is paramount!
Staff member
Moderator
Cheers for posting, interesting to see :thumb

Stopped here a few times in the past while climbing in the area (Pentire Point and Kellan Head), even dossed in the van in the car park. Usually spent a couple of weeks each summer climbing in that area, getting used to the granite ready for spending the rest of the summer in the Alps. Hope you had a great time at Bosigran and got some of the classics ticked off.
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
Area looks nice, hope to come down to Cornwall early next year. This poor place, once had 2 stars, wow, outside gives such a different feeling. Like it.
 

Argyve

28DL Member
28DL Member
Thank you for posting the photographs - heartbreaking to see them though....On family holidays in the 1970s staying in Port Isaac we would look across at this iconic Hotel which always seemed very romantic. As an adult, I've often been for memorably lovely evening meals there with my husband and we've watched the sun setting out in Post Gaverne bay. We've also stayed in the dual aspect double room shown as now completely wrecked and it was a lovely place to be. Chris and Anna were wonderful hosts. Chris always had a good wine list and a lovely selection of wines to complement very well-cooked meals. We've also taken friends there for evening meals and each time we went it felt s[ecial. Anna's own recipe baked cheesecake was always a good choice for dessert. I do hope that something worthy will rise like a phoenix from these ashes..... not something which greedily pillages the site to optimise profit at the expense of respecting the landscape and heritage or making it so exclusive that it is out of the reach of 'normal' people who will cherish the experience, not take it for granted.
Thank you 'Headlands' for all that you have meant to so many people over the years - we will not forget you!
 

Who has read this thread (Total: 363) View details

Top