Cornwall

We sailed from the southwestern tip of Ireland to the southwestern tip of England, which is known as Cornwall, an easy overnight trip.

At the time of the Roman Empire, the majority of the people in Britain and Ireland were Celtic.  But as the Anglo-Saxon and Norman invasions continued, the Celts were pushed further north and west, into the remote corners of both islands.  The Cornish people were one of those cultural enclaves.  They remain so today, considering themselves a separate people from England.  They’re proud of their heritage and culture, although their native Cornish language gradually died out.

Falmouth is located at the mouth of the Fal River, hence the name.  Henry VIII built two large fortified castles to guard the harbor mouth against a possible Spanish invasion, though none ever came.  Smuggling was very common along the Cornish coast, particularly in remote coastal towns such as Polperro and Charlestown.  Cornwall was also the home to many lead and tin mines, and many Cornish men immigrated to North America to work in the gold and silver mines in the west.

Falmouth is the one port of this cruise that requires the ship to anchor in the bay and transfer passengers going ashore in the ship’s tenders or lifeboats.  This is always a bit of a hassle as it takes 20 minutes or more to load, sail to the dock, and unload a tender.  Although we used six or seven tenders, it is still much slower than when docked.  Once on shore, we boarded a bus for a 90 minute trip to the village of Polperro, a charming village of narrow cobbled lanes and whitewashed houses.

On the way, we stopped in another coastal village, Charlestown, for a bathroom break and a chance to stretch our legs.  There were three tall ships at the village dock, and they all looked ready for a trip to sea.  We walked about the village for 30 minutes or so, then reboarded our bus to Polperro.

Polperro’s streets are so steep and narrow that cars and busses are not permitted in the village, but have to park in a large parking area at the top of the village.  It’s about a 15 minute walk to the center of the village, but a tiny tram is available for those who choose not to walk.  We passed many beautiful old homes during our walk, which ended in a pub at the harbor’s edge.  The pub has the only working ATM in the village, and we needed to get some British pounds for our local purchases.  Credit card foreign transaction fees and currency conversion by shopkeepers tend to be very expensive. 

Once we had our local currency, we stopped at one of the many shops that make pasties, a local Cornish meat and vegetable pie.  If you’ve ever been to Grass Valley or Nevada City in California, you may have had a pasty, as the many Cornish miners in that area brought the pasty to the US.  The pasty is a ‘hand pie’ which is meant to be eaten without utensils, so we took our pasties and ate them while exploring the village.  We also stopped for a beer at a local pub.



The tides on the Cornish coast are extreme.  The boats in the harbor were all resting on the harbor mud.  They can only be used when the tide is in.  

Once we’d finished shopping, we headed back up the lane to the parking lot where we reboarded our bus for the trip back to Falmouth.  There, we joined a long line of passengers waiting to catch a tender back to the ship.  By this time, the wind and waves had come up, making the process even slower than the trip to the shore.  We did, however, make it safely back to the ship with plenty of time for a cocktail before dinner.