St Ives voted top British seaside resort

As Cornwall’s tourism boss warns most businesses could fail if visitors are not able to return this summer, there is one ray of sunshine for the county: St Ives has been voted the best seaside resort in Britain.

Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, told The Independent ​that the coronavirus crisis had already cost businesses in the county £280m.

He said: “Our worst-case scenario is the critical eight weeks of the main summer holidays.

“If we lose July and August – no business can sustain that level of loss.

“So unless there’s a big support package, then four out of five businesses will not survive the loss of summer.”

But in a 19-round Twitter poll conducted for The Independent on Sunday 19 April, the Cornish resort of St Ives took top place as Britain’s leading coastal town.

In the round for Cornwall, St Ives was selected ahead of Fowey, Newquay and Padstow.

It then saw off southern England contenders Whitstable, Bournemouth and Torquay, and in an all-England semi-final defeated Blackpool, Brighton and Whitby in North Yorkshire.

In the final, St Ives won twice as many votes as Tenby in South Wales.

Mr Bell told The Independent: “I am delighted, but not overly surprised.

“The beaches, coastline around the town, the harbour and the narrow streets all come together to create near perfection.”

There was disappointment in Tenby, which lost heavily in the final to St Ives. Lawrence Hourahane, a long-time resident of the Welsh resort, said: “In our BBC It’s A Knockout heat in 1977, Tenby finished last.

“It’s been 43 years of hurt since then. But despite being pierless, Tenby is peerless.”

Third place in the poll was taken by Whitby, with the Scottish resort of St Andrews fourth. Wales has two towns in the top five: Llandudno took fifth place.

Brighton was the outstanding success of the opening round, taking 62 per cent of all the Sussex votes. But in the nationwide poll it slipped to sixth.

Oban in western Scotland, Blackpool, Bournemouth and Southwold in Suffolk completed the top 10.

Devon, Kent and Essex were among the southern counties that did not significantly trouble the scorers.

The voters were all self-selecting. Across the 19 rounds, the average turn-out was more than 1,000.

1. St Ives

2. Tenby

3. Whitby

4. St Andrews

5. Llandudno

6. Brighton

7. Oban

8. Blackpool

9. Bournemouth

10. Southwold

Source: a series of 19 half-hour Twitter polls, averaging 1,000+ votes, conducted on Sunday 19 April

Nature meets art in the most spectacular fashion on the north Cornish shore. After 2,000 uninterrupted miles, the Atlantic breakers enthral surfers and sculpt the coast. Nature is augmented by the artists who have made the town their own – enjoying its spectacular location, intimate heart and clear Cornish light.

The creative community expanded after the railway arrived in St Ives in 1877, making the town much easier to reach.

Today, visitors by train can be splashing in the sea within one minute of arriving at the GWR railway platform.

The town’s artistic intensity was recognised in 1993 with the opening of Tate St Ives. The gallery transformed the seafront above Polmeor Beach, and is itself regarded as a work of art.