In September 2019, Debra and I cruised the British Isles for 14 days on the Pacific Princess. We sailed round trip from Dover, with port stops in England, the Republic of Ireland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Click HERE to read a short introduction about this awesome cruise.
This story, which is part of a series, is about our day in Cornwall, the third port of call on our cruise.
This story, which is part of a series, is about our day in Cornwall, the third port of call on our cruise.
Falmouth, England (September 12, 2019) – We sailed overnight from Portland, about 180 nautical miles to the east, and reached the port of Falmouth (pop. 22,000) before dawn. I loved to be on deck to watch the ship come into port, but a predawn arrival was too early for me!
This harbor was the third largest deep-water harbor in the world, yet it was too shallow for large cruise ships to dock at the port. Not a problem for the Pacific Princess, though – at just 20 thousand tons, it was the smallest ship in the Princess fleet and able to berth alongside the town’s docks.
This harbor was the third largest deep-water harbor in the world, yet it was too shallow for large cruise ships to dock at the port. Not a problem for the Pacific Princess, though – at just 20 thousand tons, it was the smallest ship in the Princess fleet and able to berth alongside the town’s docks.
According to the Princess port guide, “the Falmouth region affords the mildest and sunniest weather throughout the entirety of the United Kingdom.” Well, perhaps, but not this day. The sky was overcast, the temperature was 61 degrees, and there was a light drizzle. But we had rain gear and umbrellas, so we were good to go.
Here’s a couple of noteworthy pieces of trivia about Falmouth: One of Britain’s most famous UFO sightings happened there (2007) and observers in Falmouth asserted that a total eclipse of the sun lasted more than two minutes (1999). If the latter was true, it was the longest duration for a solar eclipse seen in the UK!
The “Backstory” to Our Cruise
This was “THE” day of our cruise, which was to say, this day was the reason that Debra and I booked THIS British Isles cruise. While there were many Princess cruises around the British Isles this year, this was the one and only that included Falmouth on its itinerary. For cruisers, Falmouth was the gateway to the county of Cornwall.
“What’s so important about that?” you might ask. Well, Cornwall has been on Debra’s bucket list of places to visit for a long time – 47 years to be exact – ever since she heard Ian Anderson sing about Cornwall in Thick as a Brick in 1972. If you aren’t familiar with this album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, it included these lyrics:
Here’s a couple of noteworthy pieces of trivia about Falmouth: One of Britain’s most famous UFO sightings happened there (2007) and observers in Falmouth asserted that a total eclipse of the sun lasted more than two minutes (1999). If the latter was true, it was the longest duration for a solar eclipse seen in the UK!
The “Backstory” to Our Cruise
This was “THE” day of our cruise, which was to say, this day was the reason that Debra and I booked THIS British Isles cruise. While there were many Princess cruises around the British Isles this year, this was the one and only that included Falmouth on its itinerary. For cruisers, Falmouth was the gateway to the county of Cornwall.
“What’s so important about that?” you might ask. Well, Cornwall has been on Debra’s bucket list of places to visit for a long time – 47 years to be exact – ever since she heard Ian Anderson sing about Cornwall in Thick as a Brick in 1972. If you aren’t familiar with this album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, it included these lyrics:
So, where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?
And where are all the sportsmen who always pulled you through?
They're all resting down in Cornwall, writing up their memoirs
For a paperback edition of the Boy Scout Manual
And where are all the sportsmen who always pulled you through?
They're all resting down in Cornwall, writing up their memoirs
For a paperback edition of the Boy Scout Manual
Debra knew little else of Cornwall then. After all, those were the days of Compton and World Book encyclopedias, with scant information on most topics, and well before the internet made us all instant experts on every topic. What started as an infatuation with a place in England that she found in the lyrics of a rock song became a “must-see” when Debra (and I) started watching the PBS series Poldark, set in Cornwall at the turn of the 18th century. Debra loved the Cornish scenery, which was beautiful, especially along the coast. And truth be told, so did I.
I wanted Debra to have the best experience possible on this day. After researching tours and tour guides, I chose Doug Evans as our tour guide. He owns Meneage Tours. With hindsight, I couldn’t have made a better choice!
I gave Doug a general sense of what we wanted to see and do, and with that, he created the perfect “bespoke” tour for us – a personalized itinerary of sightseeing that included stops at several filming locations for Poldark. Doug was personable, professional, and a fount of knowledge as we made our way through the day.
I wanted Debra to have the best experience possible on this day. After researching tours and tour guides, I chose Doug Evans as our tour guide. He owns Meneage Tours. With hindsight, I couldn’t have made a better choice!
I gave Doug a general sense of what we wanted to see and do, and with that, he created the perfect “bespoke” tour for us – a personalized itinerary of sightseeing that included stops at several filming locations for Poldark. Doug was personable, professional, and a fount of knowledge as we made our way through the day.
Our route covered less than 100 miles – a mere three and one-half hours if we had driven straight through. But of course, we didn’t drive straight through, as Doug had many places to show us over our eight-hour tour. Some stops were little more than photo ops so that there was plenty of time to explore the ones that were important to us. And while we didn’t see all of Cornwall this day, Debra and I felt that we saw the best of Cornwall!
Where Copper Was King
Cornwall was mined – primarily tin and copper – for more than 4,000 years, since the early Bronze Age (3000 to 1200 BC). There was a time during the 19th century when Cornwall was the world’s leading producer of these metals. At its peak, more than 30% of Cornwall’s male workforce were employed by the copper mining industry. There’s a Poldark connection that Debra and I explored later this day, but for now, we started our tour by taking a look at the Cornish mining history.
Cornwall was mined – primarily tin and copper – for more than 4,000 years, since the early Bronze Age (3000 to 1200 BC). There was a time during the 19th century when Cornwall was the world’s leading producer of these metals. At its peak, more than 30% of Cornwall’s male workforce were employed by the copper mining industry. There’s a Poldark connection that Debra and I explored later this day, but for now, we started our tour by taking a look at the Cornish mining history.
From Falmouth we headed north to Gwennap, a village in Cornwall that was the king of copper mining in the 18th and early 19th centuries – “the richest square mile in the Old World.”
Just north of the village we stopped at the Gwennap Pit, thought to be a natural depression – a “hollow” – created when the ground settled into an abandoned mine dug below it. The depression was large – a couple hundred feet across.
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It soon became a place for social and religious gatherings. And in 1762, on his 14th visit to Gwennap, the Reverend John Wesley, a priest in the Church of England who founded Methodism, preached to the miners and their families there for the first time. In his words:
“About five in the evening I preached at Gwennep. I believe God enabled
me to speak that even those who stood farthest off could hear distinctly…
I shall never see a larger congregation til we meet in heaven.”
me to speak that even those who stood farthest off could hear distinctly…
I shall never see a larger congregation til we meet in heaven.”
The 12 circular terraces we saw were cut by local miners in the early years of the 19th century.
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Nearby, in the hamlet of Higher Ninnis, we saw an “engine house,” the first of several we saw this day. “What’s an engine house?” you ask. It’s a building adjacent to a mine that housed a steam-pumping engine that was most-often used to drain water from the deep vertical mine.
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High Ninnis
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Mitchell's
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South Crofty
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Doug wanted us to have a closer look at an engine house, so we drove to the village of Pool. There we stopped at the Mitchell’s mine shaft engine house, which was used at the East Pool Mine until 1921. Rather than draining water from the mine, this engine house was used to bring ore and miners up from a depth of 1,500 feet. Nearby we saw the South Crofty tin mine, which was the last operating mine in Cornwall; it closed in 1998 after operating for over 400 years.
Debra and I were fascinated by this history, as we had no idea about the importance of the Cornish mining industry. The primer on mining that we got from Doug served us well later on the tour.
Riddle Me This
Debra and I were fascinated by this history, as we had no idea about the importance of the Cornish mining industry. The primer on mining that we got from Doug served us well later on the tour.
Riddle Me This
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives;
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits:
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?
~ Traditional English nursery rhyme
I met a man with seven wives;
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits:
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?
~ Traditional English nursery rhyme
We didn’t meet a man or kits, cats, sacks, and wives as we drove to St. Ives (pop. 12,000), a coastal town in the north of Cornwall. But once we got there, we saw a few of the beautiful beaches that the town was known for. (Oh, by the way – the gray clouds and drizzle had given way to sunshine and a mostly blue sky!)
Debra and I walked along the boardwalk above Prothmeor Beach, the largest beach in St. Ives. This was midweek and school was back in session, so the beach was deserted. But Doug told us that Prothmeor Beach was popular with families and surfers, and in peak season was home to a surfing school. Looking east from our vantage point, we spotted the 15th century St. Nicholas Chapel atop a grassy hill, which locals call “The Island,” but is actually a peninsula. Nearby, we took a moment to admire the south facing Harbour Beach and the three-story homes that fronted it.
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I mentioned to Doug that Debra and I loved to visit churches when we travel, so our next stop was a church – St. Senara, a parish church located on the north Cornish coast in the nearby Zennor (pop. 200). The first thing we noticed was the surrounding landscape: fertile light-green hills lined with dark-green hedgerows that perhaps formed barriers or marked boundaries between neighboring properties. We fancied the scene in this photo: a couple of homes near the church, with their chimneys poking out from the rooflines, and what might have been heather in the foreground, all set against a brilliant blue sky with puffy clouds.
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The 12th century stone church, which was enlarged in the 13th and 15th centuries, was dedicated to St. Senara. The entrance to the church was just past the square bell tower.
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The church was small, befitting a small parish. When we stepped inside, we faced the altar as we stood below a curved wooden ceiling supported on one side by a pillared archway (an on the other side by the stone wall of the church). St. Senara was simple but striking.
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Outside the church, we wandered through a small circular graveyard before we left for the next stop on our tour. AND IT WAS A BIG ONE!
Poldark, Part One
The village of Botallack, located on the north coast of the far west of Cornwall, was once a center of the Cornish mining history. According to the National Trust, Botallack’s mines produced 14,500 tons of tin, 20,000 tons of copper ore and 1,500 tons of refined arsenic, and had shafts that reached more than 1,600 feet deep and nearly a half mile out to sea.
Doug parked near the Count House, which was built around 1861. In its day, the Count House was the administrative office for Botallack’s mine. There, rights to work the mines were sold (yes, workdays were auctioned!) and miners were paid. All very interesting, but, at the moment, what was more important to us was that the Count House had public bathrooms and light refreshments; we needed both before we explored the grounds.
We walked from the Count House to a path near the edge of a cliff that stretched along the coast in both directions. The view was absolutely breathtaking!
The village of Botallack, located on the north coast of the far west of Cornwall, was once a center of the Cornish mining history. According to the National Trust, Botallack’s mines produced 14,500 tons of tin, 20,000 tons of copper ore and 1,500 tons of refined arsenic, and had shafts that reached more than 1,600 feet deep and nearly a half mile out to sea.
Doug parked near the Count House, which was built around 1861. In its day, the Count House was the administrative office for Botallack’s mine. There, rights to work the mines were sold (yes, workdays were auctioned!) and miners were paid. All very interesting, but, at the moment, what was more important to us was that the Count House had public bathrooms and light refreshments; we needed both before we explored the grounds.
We walked from the Count House to a path near the edge of a cliff that stretched along the coast in both directions. The view was absolutely breathtaking!
Fans of Poldark know the story of Captain Ross Poldark, a British “redcoat” who returned to Cornwall after the American Revolutionary War. He inherited a declining tin mine, Wheal Leisure, from his deceased father. This fictionalized mine played a central role in the saga (and other fictionalized mines had secondary roles).
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Debra and I followed the path to a point above The Crowns, often called the most iconic engine houses in Cornwall. The Crowns sat on an outcropping at the bottom of rugged cliff. The path descended to the higher of the two buildings, and it was this building that was a filming location for Wheal Grace, the mine owned jointly by Ross Poldark and his cousin Francis Poldark. (Francis, by the way, married Ross’ girlfriend Elizabeth while Ross was fought the Continentals...but that’s another story, best told by watching the series!).
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The Wheal Owles tin mine was a stone’s throw in the opposite direction, and this was where we headed to next. In 1893, there was a terrible accident – a disaster – at this mine: a wall collapsed, water rushed in and flooded the mine, and the men in the lower level were cut off. Twenty miners died and their bodies were never recovered. Nearby the mine, Debra and I saw a memorial plaque to those who died.
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Although not near the tragedy as the real-life accident at Wheal Owles, Francis Poldark was drowned following a flood at the Wheal Grace mine (perhaps his “due” for stealing Elizabeth from Ross!).
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Debra was excited to see the Wheal Owles’ engine house. Do you know why? Yep – this was the filming location for Wheal Leisure, the mine owned by Ross Poldark. (The Crowns also doubled for Wheal Leisure in some scenes.) Of course, the present-day engine house was enhanced through 3D computer graphics for the PBS series. Still, doesn’t Debra look happy to be standing in front of the unenhanced version? She wore that grin for the rest of the day!
Poldark ran for five seasons (2015 – 2019), a total of 43 episodes. We finished season four before we started this cruise. It was great fun to see this filming location (and later, two others) that figured so prominently in the show. We watched the final season when we got home, and in many of the episodes, Debra or I would exclaim, “We were there!” |
Just in Time for a Pasty
I told Doug that our friends Tanya and Dave from Gravesend, a town in the county of Kent, told us that we must try a genuine Cornish pasty when in Cornwall. Doug said, “No problem,” as we headed to the nearby village of St. Just (pop. 5,000), the most westerly town in mainland Britain. It was a quaint town with granite cottages and a small town square. Doug parked in front of the Kings Arms, a 14th century inn, and we walked across the square to Warrens Bakery, which billed itself as “the oldest Cornish pasty maker in the world.”
I told Doug that our friends Tanya and Dave from Gravesend, a town in the county of Kent, told us that we must try a genuine Cornish pasty when in Cornwall. Doug said, “No problem,” as we headed to the nearby village of St. Just (pop. 5,000), the most westerly town in mainland Britain. It was a quaint town with granite cottages and a small town square. Doug parked in front of the Kings Arms, a 14th century inn, and we walked across the square to Warrens Bakery, which billed itself as “the oldest Cornish pasty maker in the world.”
“What is a pasty?” you ask. It’s a baked pastry shaped like the letter “D” and crimped on one side. The crimp must be on the rounded side to be a true Cornish pasty. The traditional Cornish pasty is filled with beef, turnip, potato, and onion, and sprinkled with a light seasoning. Warrens served this traditional pasty and many variations. So many choices! And the aroma? Out of this world! In the end, Debra, Doug and I went “traditional.” There were picnic tables outside the Kings Arms, and this was where we ate. I needed the right drink to go with the pasty, so I popped inside the inn and ordered a Proper Job, an IPA brewed by St. Austel brewery in Cornwall. What a great lunch!!
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Belerion – The Shining Land (But Not Today)
This was the name that the ancient Greeks gave to this most westerly point of mainland England. It means “the shining land.” Perhaps the weather was better then, I thought, as it was (again) overcast. The present name, Land’s End, was derived from the Middle English name “Penn an Wlas,” Cornish for “end of the land.”
This was the name that the ancient Greeks gave to this most westerly point of mainland England. It means “the shining land.” Perhaps the weather was better then, I thought, as it was (again) overcast. The present name, Land’s End, was derived from the Middle English name “Penn an Wlas,” Cornish for “end of the land.”
There was a visitor center with gift shops, restaurants, historical exhibits, and paid attractions. One shop was called the First and Last House, which was correct no matter whether you entered or left England from this spot! We weren’t at Land’s End, though, for any of this. Rather, we were there to be able to say, “we were there.” Bragging rights, if you will...and a photo op. Snap, snap.
Poldark, Part Two
Thirty minutes after we arrived at Land’s End, we were back in the car and on our way to Penberth, another filming location for Poldark. First, though, Doug stopped near the small village of Porthcurno on the south coast of Cornwall. There we stood on an observation deck and looked down on the Minnack Theatre, which was an open-air theatre built on a granite cliff high above the Atlantic Ocean. The theatre seats 750 people, who watch performances from one of many grassy terraces. The first performance, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, was in 1932.
Nearby, Debra and I stood atop a rocky ledge and gazed down on Porthcurno Beach, where a dream sequence that involved Ross and his wife Demelza was filmed. The water was as blue as anything we’d seen in the Mediterranean or Caribbean, and the view was breathtaking!
Thirty minutes after we arrived at Land’s End, we were back in the car and on our way to Penberth, another filming location for Poldark. First, though, Doug stopped near the small village of Porthcurno on the south coast of Cornwall. There we stood on an observation deck and looked down on the Minnack Theatre, which was an open-air theatre built on a granite cliff high above the Atlantic Ocean. The theatre seats 750 people, who watch performances from one of many grassy terraces. The first performance, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, was in 1932.
Nearby, Debra and I stood atop a rocky ledge and gazed down on Porthcurno Beach, where a dream sequence that involved Ross and his wife Demelza was filmed. The water was as blue as anything we’d seen in the Mediterranean or Caribbean, and the view was breathtaking!
We drove along a narrow country road to the hamlet of Penberth, located in a valley between Lamorna and Porthcurno. Penberth was once home to a sardine fishing industry; today, we saw evidence that there were still a small number of local fishman who made their living fishing from Penberth Cove.
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The narrow road to Penberth became a country lane, and the lane was lined with stone cottages and what appeared to be a manor. It was just what we thought an English hamlet would look like!
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Now on foot (Doug parked the car), Debra and I made our way towards the water’s edge, where we saw a cobbled slipway and working capstan. Debra had gone far enough, but not me. I walked a few more paces to the water’s edge, as I wanted to know how cold the water was. I knelt on one knee, my left leg supporting me, and dipped my hand into the water. Just then, I saw a wave rolling towards the shore, perhaps from a small fishing boat. Too late – the cold sea water rolled over and soaked my left shoe. I heard a chuckle behind me – it was Debra and Doug.
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Penberth was the filming location for the fictionalized village of Sawle, home to Sam and Drake Carne. They were brothers to Demelza. Sawle village – er, Penberth – was featured in many scenes. The bridge I crossed was called a “clapper bridge” – flat stones laid atop round boulders. We spotted this bridge in several episodes of season five!
The Last Leg We were in the home stretch – the last leg of our full-day tour – as we made our way back to Falmouth. But there were still a few more places that Doug wanted us to see. These stops were photo ops only, as we had to be back on board the Pacific Princess by 5. At another time, on a future trip, we will explore a couple of these places. |
About 15 minutes after we left Penberth, Doug stopped along the B3315, a road that meanders in an east-west direction along the southern region of Cornwall. There we saw the Merry Maidens and Tregiffian. Sounded like characters from a fairy tale. Well, not so.
Located in a sloping field a short walk from the side of the road, the Merry Maidens were a late Neolithic period (10000 to 4500 BC) stone circle. There were 19 stone markers of varying heights – the tallest about 4 feet – arranged in a near-perfect circle that measured nearly 80 feet across. Doug said that there were many stories about the name, but Debra and I liked this one best: In the Victorian age, local girls who broke the rules on the Sabbath by dancing were turned to stone. Nineteen local girls must have gone missing!
Located in a sloping field a short walk from the side of the road, the Merry Maidens were a late Neolithic period (10000 to 4500 BC) stone circle. There were 19 stone markers of varying heights – the tallest about 4 feet – arranged in a near-perfect circle that measured nearly 80 feet across. Doug said that there were many stories about the name, but Debra and I liked this one best: In the Victorian age, local girls who broke the rules on the Sabbath by dancing were turned to stone. Nineteen local girls must have gone missing!
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Tregiffian was a burial chamber that dated to the either the late Neolithic period or early Bronze Age. Located only a few feet from the side of the road, the burial chamber had a walled and roofed entrance that covered a passage to the central chamber. The central chamber measured 16 feet long by 6 feet high. I know this because I read it, not because I was inside the chamber, as the chamber was closed to the public. The slab over the entrance of this chamber was a cast of the original, which was kept at the Royal Cornwall Museum at Truro.
Mousehole was another of the many picturesque towns we saw this day – narrow streets tightly lined with stone houses and shops. Welsh poet Dylan Thomas described this once-bustling village as “the loveliest in England.” Doug shared a piece of trivia with us: It was believed that Dolly Pentreath, a resident of Mousehole who died more than 200 years ago, was the last person to speak only the Cornish language.
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We drove east on the B3315 to our next stop, Mousehole, a village and fishing port on the south coast of Cornwall. Doug corrected me when I pronounced the name – I said “mouse hole,” just like it looked to my American eyes. “No,” Doug said, “it’s Mowzel.” Ok then.
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Our next (and final stop) was across Mount’s Bay from Mousehole – Saint Michael’s Mount, which was a tidal island in the bay. There was a ferry that shuttled people to and from the island, and, near low tide, you could walk to the island across a causeway. We did neither, because we would have needed the better part of the day to visit the island, where there was a 12th century castle and subtropical garden. Very beautiful, I’m sure. We settled for a look-see and a photo from the shore.
We arrived back in Falmouth about 4:30, where we thanked Doug and bid our new friend “Cheerio!”.
Debra and I had a quiet dinner in the Panorama Buffet and then listened to music in the Pacific Lounge. We sat off to the side where we could talk, and our talk, of course, was about our day in Cornwall. Debra said, “I’d been waiting 47 years to see Cornwall, and I’ve been anticipating what this day would feel like in the weeks leading up to our cruise. Without a doubt, Cornwall was a magical place, and today it was all I had hoped it would be and more!” Pretty special, I’d say.
Tomorrow we arrive at our next port of call, Waterford Ireland.
Debra and I had a quiet dinner in the Panorama Buffet and then listened to music in the Pacific Lounge. We sat off to the side where we could talk, and our talk, of course, was about our day in Cornwall. Debra said, “I’d been waiting 47 years to see Cornwall, and I’ve been anticipating what this day would feel like in the weeks leading up to our cruise. Without a doubt, Cornwall was a magical place, and today it was all I had hoped it would be and more!” Pretty special, I’d say.
Tomorrow we arrive at our next port of call, Waterford Ireland.
Postscript
“So," you may wonder, "who was Biggles, and just where the hell was he when he was needed the most?" Well, Biggles was the nickname of the fictional James Bigglesworth, the title character and hero in a series of youth-oriented adventure books written by W.E. Johns (1983-1968). He was famous for his flying skills (as a pilot), courage, and ability to stay calm in even the direst of circumstances.
There were 100 books in all. A few of the book titles were Biggles Goes to War (1938), Biggles Hunts Big Game (1948), and Biggles in Australia (1955). Biggles was last sighted in Biggles in the Underworld (1968), where he was asked to track down "Lazor the Razor," a very bad criminal and prison escapee.
After exhaustive research, I could not determine what happened to Biggles. Apparently, Ian Anderson couldn't either, which led him to sing "So, where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?" His whereabouts remain a mystery to this day!