No trip to the farthest part of the Cornwall peninsula would be complete without a visit to St Ives. It has a beautiful, wide, sandy beach, great sea views, pretty shops and galleries, national art galleries and collections and eateries of all kinds.

St Ives beach from Tate Gallery

The big draw is the Tate St Ives which opened here in 1993. The small coastal town has long been a big draw for artists especially since Victorian times.

Reflections of the Tate

On the Thursday I’d been joined by a friend who came down from London on the Night Riviera Sleeper for the weekend. After a pub lunch we headed first to The Tate where the newly renovated exhibition hall was being prepared for the next temporary exhibition – Patrick Heron. Heron’s work is also included in the permanent collection.

We were asked if were joining the half hour introductory tour and as there were places decided to join the other woman and enjoyed a personal introduction to the gallery and its collection.

From The Tate we headed through the narrow streets of St Ives following signposts to the Hepworth Sculpture Garden. Goodness knows what this is like in summer as it was pretty crowded on a Thursday afternoon in May. It was much smaller than I had expected but has wonderful sea views and is full of sculptures and lush plants. It’s also possible to peek into Barbara Hepworth’s studio. This was a memorable experience especially as the weather was beautifully warm and sunny.

From the Hepworth Garden we made our way via St Ives Bookseller bookshop to the ‘bus station’ with most beautiful view.

Godrevy Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf’s ‘To the lighthouse” – from St Ives Bus Stop

Barbara Hepworth at the Bus Station