Way back at the start of our England adventures we were travelling around Cornwall. When planning the trip we’d realised that we’d be travelling near to Port Isaac, a fishing village on the west coast. It’s a typical Cornwall fishing village, but it’s also the location for the Doc Martin TV programme. We both enjoy watching the show although it’s fair to say that Wyn is the bigger fan. One of Wyn’s ancestors had come from Camelford and we stopped for two nights at St Teath, a couple of miles away. And Port Isaac is only a few more miles away from there. It was a nice morning and we decided to head to Port Isaac first, in case it got overrun by tourist crowds later on – it is a very small village.
We knew enough not to try to drive right down to the town and had a nice walk down from the car park. It is a lovely village with little lanes and alleyways.
We’d come in search of the TV show locations and eventually found a sign pointing us in the direction of the house used as Doc Martins’.
We weren’t exactly sure which one it was. There was another couple walking around nearby and Wyn asked the woman something like “Is this his house?” and the woman knew exactly what she was asking about and they agreed it was. She was from Canada. People come from far and wide to see Doc Martin’s village and house and everything else. It’s lovely.
We eventually found a map of the locations, which helped our searching around. And our wanderings revealed many lovely lanes around the village.
Port Isaac is at pains to point out that it’s more than just a movie (‘Saving Grace’ 2003) and TV show set. It is, but it’s rather like a type-cast actor – it’s always going to be associated as the location for the Doc Martin programme. However, it’s still a working fishing village, which is its saving grace.
The fish market is on Fore Street. One thing I’ve learned is that where most towns have a High Street as the main street, some have a Market Street, and fishing villages have a Fore Street.
Port Isaac is a delightful village for many reasons. It is quaint and beautiful, it is idylic, and yet it remains real. It’s almost like it’s too small to spoil.
We could have wandered around for much longer. But the morning was getting on and the visitor numbers were increasing, so we reluctantly walked back up the hill and headed off in search of a castle.
It looks so beautiful and unspoiled. Doc martin is one of my favourite shows so its great to see pics of the town. Wyn is looking great
It is beautiful Gay, and relatively unspoiled I think. I’m not sure how they manage it, but maybe it’s because it is so small and constricted. Wyn was having a great time working out where things were.
Great stuff! Doc Martin is/was one of my all time favourite shows and it’s good to see that it was all filmed in that gorgeous wee place. When I was in England (some time ago) I went to see where Last of the Summer Wine was filmed, but much of it was in outlying areas so we only saw, from memory, the pub and Nora Batty’s house. Maybe the tearoom…
Apparently Anne they even film all the inside scenes locally too, in a converted barn thereabouts. It’s all done in the off-season which seems rather sensible and considerate and English.
I was hoping to get to see Nora Batty’s house and the tearooms; Holmfirth is north-east from here, and was on the list. But in the end it seemed a bit far, and can wait for another time.