Thursday, June 6

Sunshine Brings Out The Magic Of Charlestown Cornwall

Tall Ships at Charlestown, Cornwall

Surprise, surprise, the sun was shinning so we made our way to Charlestown in Cornwall. It's been a small harbour since the late 1700s and is named after Charles Rashleigh, a large land owner back then.

We parked our car in a free space on the road leading to the harbour and, of course, it was outside of a cottage numbered 76.

Cottage 76 leading to Charlestown Cornwall

We then meandered our way to the sea passing craft shops and the likes ...

Craft

... before getting our first glimpse of the sea and the Tall Sailing Ships which frequent the harbour.

Charlestown Harbour Tall Ships Cornwall

The harbour was originally used for exporting china clay all around the world. It was known as white gold back when the harbour was created and made fortunes for the entrepreneurs of the day. There is still a china clay chute on one of the harbour walls. The wagons would unload and the clay went down the chute onto the waiting ships.

China Clay chute Charlestown Cornwall

The Pier House, seen to the left of the photo below, was built in 1794 and is now a pub, restaurant and hotel.

Charlestown Pier House and harbour Cornwall

The entrance to the Charlestown harbour isn't very busy nowadays, so much so that ...

Entrance to Charlestown harbour Cornwall

... local boys jump from the walls into the water - strictly against the harbour rules and regulations, of course!

Jumping from harbour walls in Charlestown Cornwall

Next to the harbour is a small pebble beach ...

Pebble beach at Charlestown

... with, er, lots of pebbles and stones.

Pebbles at Chralestown

Looking west and east are cliffs which help to shelter the harbour.

Cliffs at Charlestown Cornwall

But it's the Tall Ships which dominate most of the harbour views ...

Tall Sailing Ships Charlestown

... from all directions.

Looking back from Charlestown Harbour walls

After spending several hours around the harbour and walking the coastal path we made our way back to our car - passing the Shipwreck and Heritage Centre ...

Shipwreck and Heritage Centre Charlestown Cornwall

... several restaurants and pubs offering many fish dishes ...

Fish menu Charlestown Cornwall

... and we finished the visit with a look at the local church St.Paul's

St Pauls church Charlestown Cornwall

As for the Tall Ships of Charlestown they have been used in many movies including: Moll Flanders, Return to Treasure Island, The Eagle Has Landed, Shackleton's Endurance, Frenchman's Creek, Odyssey, The Onedin Line, The Three Musketeers, Mansfield Park, Longitude, A Respectable Trade and Rebecca.

Several movies have featured Charlestown including Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, The Curse of the Black Spot, an episode of the Dr Who television series and the fantasy adventure movie Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box, to be released in 2013.

When the sun shines so does the magic of Cornwall!

Other Charlestown Posts:
The Magical Charlestown Old Cornish Sailing Ships
Neptune And The Little Harbour In Cornwall
Also see:
10 Mystery Posts About Cornwall

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8 comments:

  1. Great, great, great! Cornwall must be wonderful when the sun is out and the sky is blue.

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    Replies
    1. Problem is: it's not always sunshine - we get lots of rain and grey days as well.

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  2. Nice walk.
    I also found this on You Tube -

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4rLGytaAFU

    and a soundtrack for your walk -

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJC21zzkwoE

    .-)

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    Replies
    1. That's a nice Charlestown video - thanks for link. As for the other one, yes, would attract attention dancing round a walk.

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  3. Wow, you live in a paradise!I love the colors, the stone buildings, the ships, all of it. Great photo, too, of the kids jumping off!

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    Replies
    1. It's not all paradise but when the sun shines it can feel like some of it is.

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  4. Thanks so much for the mini vacation this morning!

    ReplyDelete