The South East Cornwall Walking Festival 17-25 September and Looe’s Making Waves Music Festival 23-25 September.

Then you can change from walking boots to dancing shoes to head down to any of the 3 sound stages over the weekend of 23, 24 and 25 September where the focus will be on different music styles in a fantastic music festival ‘Making Waves’ with headline acts including Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds and Roy Wood and his Rock n Roll Band. 

Making Waves Music Festival in Looe - the staged venues:

• West Looe Quay marquee with a Cornish traditional feel
• The Rose Garden Marquee, East Looe with an easy listening ambiance
• The Beach and Seafront with an al fresco rock, pop, punk vibe.

Music will be concentrated during the day on the 3 soundstages then local pubs, restaurants and cafes will take over in the evening to maximise the benefits to the local economy.  Workshops, street entertainment and dance performances will add to the festival atmosphere.

And it’s very affordable!  A weekend ticket is £40 for all venues if your’e over 18, while 14-17 age group pay only £10 and accompanied under 14s go FREE.  Saturday only tickets are £25. The weekend kicks off on Friday with a ‘giant pasty’ procession from East Looe to West Looe where everyone is invited to ‘make some noise’ to welcome the pasty followed by a Noz Lowen on West Looe Quay from around 5pm (traditional Cornish dance). So if you haven’t got your tickets yet, click on the Making Waves Festival logo above and get online to book! After Wednesday, tickets will be sent via text to your phone. You can also get them from the Looe Tourist Information Centre (tel 01503 262072) or on the gate.

If you need accommodation, at Polraen, Check Availability for 2 and 3 night breaks until end September.

See you there!

Looe Valley Bluebells

I set off walking this morning from Polraen Hotel, up the Looe Valley to Sandplace Station with our black labrador May, and ended up having one of those walks that makes you happy to be alive! Continuing along the lane toward Tregarland Bridge, we veered off on a public footpath above the Looe Valley railway line, stumbled across two courting ducks and strolled along the track above the Looe River with wild garlic brushing our ankles.

After about half an hour walking along the track in the valley bottom next to the river, I intended to stop at Lower Wringworthy, but it was a lovely morning so I continued on a circular walk, finally emerging on the main road heading back through Morval. Then we headed down past Tregarland Farm back into the Looe Valley.  The views down onto the valley below are stunning, looking beyond inquisitive cows to fields of sheep grazing at Morval Barton Farm.  We continued past John and Val’s cottage (John grows flowers and soft fruits for our hotel), and we headed back down to the valley bottom to join the B3254 past Sandplace Station back to Polraen.

All in all, a one hour walk which lifted the spirits and made me so happy to be living in South East Cornwall. The dog thought it was a treat too! It’s not often I get the time to do what our guests can do from our doorstep at Polraen! But walking in the Looe Valley is good for the soul!!  Following the long winter which has finally turned into longer spring days warmed recently by lots of sunshine, the hedgerows in the Looe Valley are stunning. With an extended flowering season, the daffodils and primroses are still vying for attention along the roadside while carpets of bluebells are appearing on the wooded slopes. Pink and white campions and violets peep from the grassy banks and the first signs of cherry blossom are showing on the trees.

At Polraen, we like to help guests explore without the car lending them maps and providing public transport information for the bus and Looe Valley train. There’s a range of walks accessible from the stations along the railway line in a handy ‘Trails from the Track’ pack published by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. Spring is one of the best times to visit. The hotel is getting busier but we still have some availability on shortbreaks from £75 per person for two nights B&B.