Polperro

From the 1996 holiday photos. We took a day trip to Polperro, a fishing and smuggling village on Cornwall's south coast.

Some of the family had decided to go on a boat trip and I took the opportunity to sketch a couple of drawings.

Now in 1996 my confidence and prowess at sketching had not reached the dizzy heights of mediocrity that it has now and having people come up to look over my shoulder at what I was drawing was a bit of a nerve racking experience!

Anyway most people made satisfyingly appreciative noises and managed to contain their laughter until they were out of earshot. One old chap in particular started a conversation, much to his family's discomfort, who obviously thought talking to strangers was not the thing to do.

This was a somewhat speedy sketch - I wasn't into the more detailed stuff I do now - an example here - and this probably took no more than 20 minutes or so.

When the family came back I was halfway through another sketch and was standing next to a crab stall.

The stall holder had some very large crabs and was grabbing hold of them and literally cracking and tearing them apart with her hands. Not the sort of lady to argue with...

Polperro has to be one of my favourite places in Cornwall, I've lost count of the number of times I've been there and there's always something fresh to see.

Altogether an excellent place to be - unless you're a crustacean...

Large version of the photo: (believe me, the drawing isn't worth seeing any larger!) Polperro jetty