Incredible UK town where Britain ends and the huge Atlantic Ocean starts

Some places have a special corner in the nation’s collective heart. It might be that they will forever be linked to some glorious historic event, or maybe they’re known through sporting fame or they’re just so plain gorgeous and good-looking that people love to visit.

Penzance in the very far west of Cornwall is one such place. It is mainly famous for being at the end of the line. But it is a truly wonderful terminus, located where Britain ends and the great wild Atlantic Ocean begins.

Writer Martin Hesp says that during the few times he lived in London, he loved the idea that the big and noisy smelly capital city is directly linked to such a place.

To him, the idea that you can climb aboard a train and, without getting off or changing services, you can be whisked westwards to a tough granite-bound place where the waves are wild and where dolphins play, seemed almost miraculous.

Mr Hesp has always had a soft spot for the far west town – and he’s not alone. It’s not as quaintly pretty or anywhere near as rich in surfing beaches as its more popular neighbour to the north, St Ives.

But it’s also – apart from on its annual Mazey Day celebrations – never anywhere near as crowded as St Ives. Nor is it as dominated by holiday rentals.

In comparison, Penzance along with its excellent near neighbour, Newlyn feels like a real and authentic community, wrote Mr Hesp for Cornwall Live.  He says Penzance is  “a bit rough at some of the edges” but you can never escape the feeling that local people live there.

Penzance is very much the capital of West Penwith – the unique, granite-bound, almost-mythical, finger of land that acts so gloriously as the toe of the British Isles.  

Mr Hesp says he was delighted to discover a wonderful venue in the town that lies at the end of the line.  Chapel House was once home to Penzance Arts Club

Mr Hesp – a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers – says he’s stayed at some of the prettiest, glitziest, classiest, poshest boutique hotels around the globe.

In terms of good looks and style, he believes Penzance’s Chapel House would give any of them a run for their money. The grand old town house, situated just a stone’s throw from the harbour, was built in 1790 to the highest standards of the day, and has been home to several notable figures.

These include Admiral Samuel Hood Linzee of HMS Temeraire (made famous by JMW Turner‘s iconic painting). It was also the base of the Carne family, an influential banking and mining dynasty instrumental in the development of Penzance during the 19th century, through investments in the harbour and railways.

  Its current owner, Susan Stuart, discovered the place in 2012 and fell in love with it. 

The ex-City of London executive and charity CEO told Mr Hesp: “I knew Penzance well. I’d had an old friend who moved here in the early ’90s and I helped him move. After that, I regularly came down to stay because I just took to Penzance I really loved the place.”