These pubs have gone to the dogs!

We are in the county of Cornwall which forms a peninsula on the southwestern tip of England.  Polperro, where we are staying is on the southeastern side and it's harbor flows into the English Channel.  France is a good hearty swim directly across.  Today we drove over to the northwestern side of the peninsula to the towns of Newquay and St. Agnes.  If you hopped in the water and took off swimming from either Newquay or St. Agnes first of all you'd be in some mighty chilly water.  Secondly, if you made it across the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean you'd end up somewhere around Nova Scotia or Maine.
The drive across the peninsula isn't that far, only about 35 miles but because of some of the small roads it took a little over an hour.  Our first destination was Newquay which is a town of about 25,000.  When we read about it the descriptions made it seem like a beach resort type of town where surfing was very popular.  It was as advertised.
The town itself or at least what we saw of it wasn't very interesting and certainly lacked the character we had seen in so many places. There were nice hotels and condo's along the waterfront but no quaintness. We made our way directly to Fistral Beach which is quite a beach.  It seemed as if the beach was about a mile or so long and just about as wide.  There were big waves and plenty of surfers out in the chilly water enjoying some nice long rides.  They had quite a walk to the water and back but it looked as if it was worth the effort.
Our second stop, St. Agnes was more our type of town.  It is a very small town located directly on the coast but it has a similar charm and character as Polperro.  The beach was much smaller than Newquay but was very active with surfers as well.  There were actually more surfers here and they were concentrated into a much smaller area.  We enjoyed sitting up on the coastal path high above the water and enjoying the action.
I'd mentioned in an earlier blog about the pubs around here.  Now keep in mind a pub over here is much more than a watering hole, serving up great meals for the whole family.  When I say "whole family" that includes not only the kids but the dogs as well. 
Dogs are wildly popular over here and it seems as if most folks have at least two.  You see them in stores, shops and of course the pubs.  It's not unusual to see a sign outside a pub stating something along the lines of "Dogs with well behaved, big spending owners are always welcome".   I'd be willing to bet that as I am writing this there are about as many dogs as there are people inside the Blue Peter Inn.  Most are off their leash and just wandering happily about making sure their owners are not misbehaving.

Fistral Beach is this wide

Fistral Beach Coast Path

Fistral Beach

St. Agnes Beach

St. Agnes



My attempt at taking an "artistic" photo in St. Agnes