Chart your course for an adventure!
Looe Harbour Heritage Centre, The Quay, West Looe, Cornwall, PL13 2BX
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Visit the Heritage Centre
We bring you the adventure of finding out all about the colourful maritime heritage of Looe, its fishing, boats and the Harbour. For those who love Looe - see our lovely archive images. Plus all the family will enjoy our specially commissioned ‘Splatt the Seagull’ film - helping children and people of all ages learn all about how the fishing boats and fish market work in Looe right here and now.
Admission is Free
Opening Times:
School Holidays: 10am - 4pm, 7 days a week
Term Time: 10am - 4pm, 6 days a week
Monday, Wednesday to Sunday
(not Tuesday)
Last entry to the Heritage Centre is at 3.45pm
Enjoy a self-guided tour of Looe Harbour Heritage Centre - an enjoyable experience in all weathers...but especially if it's raining or you need some shade from the hot sun!
See all our exhibits, archive images, films and videos at your leisure. Including the 'Sardine Factory in Time Lapse' video, tales from Looe fisherfolk, images from the great flood in 2014, plus our exclusive, specially-commissioned Heritage Centre 15-minute 'Splatt the Seagull - Let’s Go Fishing’ film
Our team will welcome you to the Sardine Factory building and give you an overview of the Heritage Centre exhibits, then let you enjoy them at your leisure. Feel free to ask your own questions about the heritage of Looe and the Harbour.
The ideal way to see to all the archive slideshows, films and exhibits that the Heritage Centre has to offer - with added stories and anecdotes of Looe from a Volunteer Guide.
Our popular Tours start with an overview of the 'Sardine Factory' building itself, followed by a guided showaround of all the zones in the Centre, from Medieval Looe to the present day.
Bring Looe's maritime stories alive with the help of Guide. Ask questions and take in all the Heritage Centre has to offer.
Tours include time at the end to enjoy the exhibits in your own time - the archive images, videos of oral history interviews, as well as information about the history of Sardine fishing and processing in Looe.
Guided Tours are only available when a Volunteer Guide is available, ask in the Coffee Shop. Suitable for ages 8 and up.
How to find us
The Quay, West Looe, Cornwall, PL13 2BX
Telephone: 01503 264223 Email: info@oldsardinefactory.com
Walking to the Heritage Centre @ The Old Sardine Factory: PL13 2BX
From East Looe, walk over the bridge, take the first left onto Quay Road, and walk along with the river on your left - into West Looe.
When you reach St. Nicholas’ Church and the *Quayside Centre - continue along the Quay walking towards to the river mouth. The Old Sardine Factory is the last building on the right, just before the coast path narrows. The Heritage Centre is on the ground floor.
By ferry : seasonal
In High season and at High Tide, you can take a ferry over from East Looe to West Looe. Fare is £1 per person. The ferry steps is just by the Quayside Centre, follow the walking instructions from *.
By car
Millpool car park: PL13 2ES
Harbour car parking spaces, West Looe: PL13 2AF
Either:
Park in the roadside parking spaces on Quay Road in West Looe, just by the Quayside Centre, follow the walking instructions from *.
Or:
Park at the large Millpool car park in West Looe, which is close to the bridge.
After parking, dDon’t walk over the bridge to East Looe, but instead walk along with the river on your left - into West Looe.
Then when you reach St. Nicholas’ Church and the *Quayside Centre , follow the walking instructions from *.
By train
Looe station is in East Looe. To find The Old Sardine Factory, turn right out of the railway station and then follow the road until you get to the bridge. Then follow the directions in the ‘Walking from East Looe’ paragraph. The picturesque Looe Valley line is one of GWR ‘s ‘Great Scenic Railways’ and runs from Liskeard to Looe all year round.
See here for details of GWR fares and timetables.
See here for details of Trainline fares and timetables.
By bus
West Looe stop - by the Quayside Centre
73 and 73a - Liskeard to Polperro, via St Keyne, Duloe, Looe and Trelawne
77 - Looe to Liskeard, via Pelynt, Lanreath, East Taphouse, Trago Mills and St Neot