Charlestown and Truro

Rainy day today. Can't complain as it is the first real day of rain in over 4 weeks.

First stop of the day was Charlestown. This grew out of a small fishing village called West Polmear which consisted of a few cottages and three cellars, in which the catch of pilchards were processed. The population amounted to nine fishermen and their families in 1790.

A harbour and dock was built here in 1791. After building an outer pier, he excavated a natural inlet to form the main dock. There was originally a shipyard at the inner end, but this was later demolished when the dock was extended. The first dock gates were completed in 1799. In order to maintain the water levels within the dock, a leat was constructed, which brought water from the Luxulyan Valley, some 4 miles away.

In 1793, a gun battery was built to the west of the harbour mouth, as a defence against possible French attacks.

We did drive into Truro hoping to go the Royal Cornwall Museum but the only parking we could get was a half hour which wasn't enough so we bought a couple of pasties instead! They were yummy.

We then decided to go straight onto Marazion where we were staying tonight as it was already after 2 and we were a bit tired of arriving late each night.

Also we are staying in a holiday park for the next couple of nights so we need To get the washing done. The place we are staying is brilliant. We have a self contained little cabin with 2 rooms and a bathroom which is bigger than we have seen in a long while!

We decided we needed to spend the rest of the afternoon planning the rest of the time in Cornwall as we have so much to see and so little time to do it.