The harbour village of Charlestown in Cornwall. An autumn holiday visit.

My wife and I recently had an autumn break in Cornwall.  We stayed at a cottage tucked away in a tranquil woodland valley between Fowey and Par and, thanks to a series of warm sunny days, were able to visit several of the coastal towns in the area.  One such visit was to the harbour village of Charlestown, a place I had never visited but was familiar to my wife who enjoyed family holidays in the area in the 1960s.

The area is well known for its china clay industry and in his The Companion Guide to Devon and Cornwall, (William Collins, 1976), Darrell Bates writes: “A large part of the industry’s products are exported by sea from Fowey, Par and the toy-like, privately owned quay at Charlestown.  The main road from here south to Mevagissey passes through London Apprentice where there used to be an inn of that name,  so called because of the number of men from London who came to these parts to work in the mines.”  

Our drive through Par and St. Austell did not take much time at all, the road obviously sees much more traffic in the spring and summer months.  Although it was a warm bright Sunday the pay and display car park, only a short stroll from the quayside, was half empty.

As it was approaching November the brig Phoenix, moored alongside Charlestown’s quay, was appropriately bedecked with poppies. She had been chosen as the venue for this year’s Cornwall launch of the British Legion Poppy Appeal.

The brig Phoenix, bedecked with poppies, alongside the quay at Charlestown in Cornwall.  

" . . . we do not use gunpowder or cannon balls!"

We enjoyed a very relaxed early afternoon walk around the harbour and down on to the beach before stopping at a small café near the harbour wall where we both had a very tasty cheese and onion pasty.  The pleasant young lady serving us said those pasties were the last available as the café was closing for the season that very afternoon!