Just a quick update on the state of the iLoveLooe Looe App.

I’ve just updated the QR codes so you can scan either of the codes on the right using a QR code reader on your smart phone.

Choose the appropriate code to download the free iLoveLooe App to your phone.

There is masses of information on the App now, all about Looe and the surrounding area. It’s a really useful holiday planning guide or local supplier reference tool.

Let me know what you think and if you’d like to see something specific on it, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

Cheers

Chris

If you’re looking for things to do in Looe throughout 2012 then there are several options.

1. Phone a friend.
2. Trawl the web.
3. Visit the ilovelooe.co.uk things to coin Looe Events page.
4. Download the free iLoveLooe App and look through the month by month Events calendar .

If you have a mobile phone then please download the iLoveLooe App as the things to do in Looe events calendar now has 31 events listed in it. Wow, how many times can I say Things to do in Looe in this post!

We have all kinds of things to do in Looe, including:

• ‘Burns Night Dinner’ at the Jubilee Inn (01503 220312) in Pelynt tomorrow night.
• Looe VMCA Rockpool Ramble (Free) on the 12th February. Call Matt on 01503 262532 for more details.
• West Looe May Fayre in West looe on May 9th.
• Looe Diamond Jubilee Celebrations from the 2nd to the 5th June.
• Looe Food Festival on 23rd and 24th June.
• Looe Carnival Week – July 29th to August 4th.

Sorry, I can’t list them all here. What I do suggest though is that if ever you needed an excuse to buy a new and shiny smart phone, the Looe Events Calendar on the iLoveLooe App is just the reason you need. The App is free so that’s another bonus

Are you holding an event in or near Looe?

If you are then pop on over to the Events page, enter the details and I will add your event to the App and the ilovelooe Events page for Free.

If you don’t tell me about it, I can’t help you publicise it!

Enjoy your day.

Chris

This post was written after a night out in the ‘Ye Olde Fisherman’s Arms‘ in Looe last Saturday…

Click the ‘Read More’ link below to listen to Shamrock a four piece group who were performing on the night.

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Many years ago I sat in a cosy little restaurant in northern France.

It was a dimly lit room with a few scattered tables covered in green tablecloths and silk flowers. Your average café in a quiet town in France!

Strip lights glared relentlessly down and I remained hidden from the outside world by ancient yellowing net curtains and an assortment of dying pot plants. I was safe, nobody knew who I was.

As I enjoyed my meal, I can’t remember what it was now, I got talking to the couple on the next table. It was a polite but humorous conversation about life, travelling and French cuisine. If you’ve ever been travelling, you’ll know what I mean.

The conversation eventually came round to the inevitable ‘What do you do?’ and I said ‘Why don’t you guess’? This led to a 10 second silence before the woman in the couple said ‘I think you’re a graphic designer’!

Read more about: Enjoy life, you are who you are

I’m a little tipsy at the moment but I do design things for a living. Never the less, it seemed incredible at the time that someone should be able to guess, just by looking at me, what I did for a living.

That was 20 years ago. It hasn’t happened to me since, until tonight – in Looe!

Meeting people and my advice to you

You never know what or who you’re going to encounter in life and tonight, for me, was no different. Tonight, I met another person, who just by looking at me, knew what I did for a living!

Let’s face it, I could have been a road digger, a musician, a painter, a fisherman, a baker, a traveller or even a midwife for all they knew. But no. They guessed it, straight off, no questions!

So my advice to you this weekend is; go out and enjoy yourself. Enjoy being who you are. Don’t try to be anyone else, just be yourself. You are who you are and you can’t change it. Make the most of your life. Make the most of the moments you have. Don’t waste the time you have, it’s precious. You’re special and don’t forget it. Don’t try and change who you are either. Don’t ignore it. Be yourself, have fun and most of all, don’t stop. Keep going. Keep pushing. Keep dreaming and keep believing in yourself. You can do it. You can do anything. You can be what you want to be. You can do anything.

Have fun!

Shamrock performing Fields of Atherry (please correct me if name is wrong). If you’re in an office, turn the volume down before clicking the ‘Play’ button.

Looe New Year’s Eve 2011 fireworks display was a cracker.

The rain just about held off and I managed to snap a few pictures which are all below. You can also find them in the Looe New Year’s Eve 2011 fireworks display gallery.

Please tell your friends, family and fans about the photos and link to them from your blog or website if you’d like to.

Hey everyone, a big thank you if you posed for the camera this evening. All photos will be live in a day or so so please pop back – there are a few to go through

Off to bed now… photos of the fireworks coming too.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE…

New Year’s Eve is today!

Time seems to fly and so here we are again on possibly the most exciting day in the Looe festive calendar.

3rd best place to be on New Year’s Eve in the UK

Officially the 3rd best place in the UK to be on New Year’s Eve and THE best place to be on New Year’s Eve in Cornwall.

Below are a few photos to remind you why it’s so much fun and why you should be here if you’re not already. Also, I’d love to know what you think of the evening and what fancy dress costume you’re wearing this year. I’ve seen everything from a herd of cows to about a dozen guys all dressed up in wedding gowns!

Fireworks on the Banjo Pier

The Looe firework display is on and with all the money raised should be a real crowd pleaser. Be down on the beach at 11.50pm for the display at midnight. Thanks to Michala and the team for their hard work and for everyone who donated so generously to the firework fund.

If you see someone shaking a bucket tomorrow night, don’t be shy, chuck them your loose change for next year’s display. As Tesco say, ‘Every Little Helps’ – topical eh!

Have fun

Also, if you’re coming into Looe for the first time you might want to read New Year’s Eve in Looe – 10 Rules for a good night out.

Have fun and see you in town – I’m the one with a camera – haha.

Gallery from 2009

12►

Ho, ho, ho!

Here is my Christmas Mistletoe Quiz which I thought you might like to take to your works do, or home for games and silly japes throughout the Christmas season.

The quiz tests how much you know about mistletoe and will help everyone who has a go, discover whether they’re ‘Peckers’, ‘Kissers’ or ‘Smoochers’.

Intriguing?

It’s a ‘sharebie’

The quiz is a ‘sharebie’ which means feel free to share it around with all your friends and family.

Download, print out and take it with you wherever you go as there’s some ‘Emergency Mistletoe’ for you to cut out if you don’t have any to hand

Anyway, hope you like it.

Roll on Christmas.

Cheers

Chris

»»» Click the following link to download the Christmas Mistletoe Quiz (94)

It’s official, Looe now has its very own App!

It’s finally here!

The first and only mobile phone App dedicated to our lovely, picturesque Cornish fishing town of Looe and it’s called the iLoveLooe App.

The icon on the left is the new icon being used for the App and all other iLoveLooe bits and bobs. I hope you like it. It’s a mix between a delicious jelly bean and a li-lo

Four months in the making, the iLoveLooe ‘mobile guide to Looe’ is an essential guide for locals and visitors alike. It’s packed full of features for all users, and as someone said to me:

“it’s like having the whole of Looe in your pocket!”

It’s a free App

Yep, the iLoveLooe App is completely free to download and always will be.

It works on iPhones, iPads and Android phones and I have plans for HTML5 in the near future so it will work on Blackberry phones too.

All versions are ready for download via the links below.

Please checkout my iLoveLooe Facebook page and ‘hit’ the ‘Like’ button when you get a chance

A short iLoveLooe App video

Here’s a short video about the App. It shows you a few ideas for ways you can use the App and ways in which it will be really useful to anyone who downloads it.

Crank up the volume if you want to get jiggy with it

The App covers Looe and the surrounding area

You will find the Looe App an ever expanding and growing encyclopedia of information on East Looe, West Looe and the surrounding area.

It enables you to keep in touch with Looe and the Looe community website, iLoveLooe.co.uk. By using the App and social media, you can stay up-to-date with local news and events, send messages and even upload photos to the App.

For visitors to Looe

The iLoveLooe App is the perfect tool to help you find your holiday accommodation, somewhere to eat, local attractions, car parks, gorgeous sandy beaches, what’s on and much more.

It will enable you to plan you holiday, work out what to do on rainy days with the kids and reveal all the hidden gems around Looe that you might not otherwise have known of.

You can also watch local videos, browse photos and use the GPS enabled maps already installed on the App.

For locals and residents of Looe and the surrounding area

If you live in Looe like I do, then you will find the App a really useful way to quickly find and communicate with people who offer local services and products in Looe.

1. Say you’re looking for a builder or a plumber, the App has this information already built in.
2. Perhaps you want to know a hairdresser’s number, they’re already in the iLoveLooe App too.
3. What about hiring a taxi for that night out you promised yourself or to pick your mum up from the station? Well, they’re in the App as well.

Having the App on your phone means you have a mobile directory of local information about Looe, with you at all times.

Help spread the word

I really hope you like the App and see how it will benefit Looe and help its users in so many ways.

Because it’s so new, I could really do with your help in showing it to as many people as possible. You can do this by texting friends and family, tweeting and mentioning it in your Facebook feeds etc. Anything you can do will be really appreciated.

If you have a Twitter, Facebook, Google+1 or any other social media account, please send out a tweet or add a ‘Like’ to the iLoveLooe Facebook page.

FREE Looe 2012 Competitions

I am running a couple of free competition giveaways at the moment, so anyone interested in winning a free Looe 2012 Calendar, read on.

First competition

On the iLoveLooe twitter feed, I am coming up to my 1,000th tweet – yehaa!

I will give out a special code in this tweet and the first three people to contact me with this code via the contact form on iLoveLooe.co.uk will be sent one copy of the calendar, just in time for Christmas.

Just follow my tweets and GOOD LUCK!

Second competition

This competition is open to people who have smart phones and download the iLoveLooe App.

Within the App is a QR code reader which enables you to scan QR codes which are a bit like bar codes.

Scan the QR code which will be placed on iLoveLooe.co.uk on Monday 5 times to unlock the hidden message and special code.

As above, the first three people (different i.e. if you win the above competition, you can’t win this one) will be sent one of three Looe 2012 Calendars for FREE.

Again, the best of luck and have fun.

Be part of Looe on the iLoveLooe App.

If you have a Apple iPhone or Android phone, you can download the App right now. Click the relevant link below depending on your phone type and install in the usual way.

Get the latest version

I should also mention that I will be adding new and updated information to the App all the time.

All you have to do to get the latest version, is shake your phone when the App is open. Easy.

Want more information about the iLoveLooe App?

For more information about the iLoveLooe App, simply call Chris, that’s me, on 01503 264422 or email me via the contact page.

This is a guest post from Phil Crouch-Baker who used to visit Looe as a child some 40 years ago.

As a young boy visiting Looe for the first time some 40 years ago, my clearest memories are of the sharks.

Huge beasts suspended by thick tails for weighing at the quay side. Lifeless, but still menacing with their razor sharp grin.

Read more about Phil’s Memories of Looe

Travelling from Kent, holidays in Looe were always an adventure – Cornwall was almost a foreign land.

My brother and I looked forward to the delights of East Looe beach, with its arched sweep of golden sand and buying a buried treasure map or two.

the perfect spot for crabbing or scoffing a Mr Whippy, double flaked of course

Looe harbour, filled with brightly decked fishing boats, was the perfect spot for crabbing or scoffing a Mr Whippy, double flaked of course. With our parents, we strolled around quiet streets of East and West Looe, stopping at cafés and rock pooling on Hannafore’s rugged beach. Looe was fun.

25 years on

25 years on, I returned for a few days and, apart from a large car park, Looe town still regained its picturesque charm.

Attractive, flower adorned houses climbed the hillsides, whilst pretty twittens still encouraged you to explore for that quaint tea shop or unusual gift.

By now, I was a serious outdoor enthusiast and jumped on the Looe Valley Line to Coombe. The line follows the East Looe river, busy with small sail boats and fishermen. From Coombe station, I cut west to Herodsfoot and returned to Looe via the pretty West Looe river path. Just one of many great walks in the area.

In the evenings, Looe town would explode into a myriad of rainbow lights drawing you into the many restaurants and pubs.

In the evenings, Looe town would explode into a myriad of rainbow lights drawing you into the many restaurants and pubs. Looe is very family orientated and offers a varied menu for all tastes and wallets!

My last visit was in June, 2011. Friends who moved to East Looe a few years ago, invited me to their wedding at the Town Hall.

I stayed in a quiet B&B for a couple of days in West Looe over looking St George’s Island, known locally as Looe Island and couldn’t help smiling to myself as memories flooded back. The wedding was a lovely affair, with eats and drinks at the popular Polraen Country House Hotel at Sandplace, just outside of Looe.

The following day, my attention focussed on the walk I had planned – Looe to West Combe via Polperro leaving from West Looe. Blue sunshine accompanied me on this fantastic cliff top walk. My route is a small part of the famous South West Coast Path which stretches for 630 miles from Minehead to Pool Harbour, Dorset. Looe, being on the path, is a popular stop over point for walkers on this classic.

Polperro is a visitors delight. With its whitewashed cottages and no cars, it is just one of many charming villages within walking or driving distance of Looe, along with numerous stunning beaches such as Downderry and Seaton.

My experiences of Looe have always been pleasant, relaxing and sometimes exciting. A friendly, family town with a little something for everyone.

There is one thing though in Looe that I don’t miss. Since 1994, the sharks are no longer brought into Looe harbour for weighing. Instead, they are measured and released. One of the few changes in Looe, but for the better.

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If you would like to write a post for ILoveLooe please send it to me via the contact page. I welcome any interesting stories, memories or photos from the past and I know that others will too.

Also, please comment on Phil’s post, I’m sure he’d appreciate any memories you have of Looe too.