Why the Town Behind UK' Best holiday Is Half Empty

0:00 The emptying streets of Downlong 2:00 St Ives before it became a holiday town 4:08 Fishing, mining and the railway 8:05 Alfred Wallis and the art of St Ives 15:34 How tourism changed the housing market 21:01 The fight against second homes 23:35 Why the ban may have backfired 28:18 What remains beneath the postcard I explore why St Ives, one of Cornwall’s most beautiful seaside towns, is slowly losing the people who made it a living community. From the empty cottages of Downlong to the town’s battle against second homes, I follow the human story behind the postcard. I trace St Ives from its fishing and mining past through the arrival of the railway, the rise of its art scene, Alfred Wallis, Barbara Hepworth and the tragedy of the St Ives lifeboat. I also examine how tourism, holiday lets, house prices and tax policy have reshaped everyday life. Finally, I look at the town’s attempt to ban new second homes, why that policy may have backfired, and what wider lessons St Ives offers for coastal communities across Britain.