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21st Century Porthleven
History has recorded that Porthleven has thrived and struggled, as all of Britain has thrived and struggled throughout history. However in the early 21st century Porthleven is definitely thriving..there are no kiss-me-quick hat sellers, no burger chain premises and no international hotels..there is no marina, no designer boutiques and certainly no airs or graces...and this is why Porthleven is thriving. If you are looking for the real unspoilt Cornwall, to submerge for a week or two into a genuine community, where locals eat and drink in the pubs, where artists and potters and jewellers paint, make and sell their products in the village, where the ice-cream is made and delivered from within a ten mile radius and where you can walk for 5 minutes either side of the harbour along the coast path and feel really and truly away from it all..then you will have chosen wisely, for whether you choose to come in the height of summer with the sparkling seas and the mackerel trips, or the depths of winter with the smell of wood fires and the sea lashing the pier you will come to know a real Cornish fishing village experience. The accomodation is only half your holiday and we find that Disney do not have the monopoly on magic. We wish you a very happy time.
A very small history
In the 15th century Porthleven was just a cove with a handful of dwellings, its inhabitants eking a hard living from mining or the sea. In the 18th century a customs officer was placed to try to catch smugglers..and wreckers. The sea dominated the lives of the villagers for over 200 years and as the village prospered with fishing and its support industries of sail, rope and net making, Porthleven at the turn of the 20th century was entirely self sufficient. And then the pilchards left..and nobody knows why to this day. 1928 saw the last of the pilchard seine boats.The Ocean Reaper was one such boat which was owned and worked by my great-grandfather. Fishing still survives today with around seven boats working and earning a living from the notorious waters of Mounts Bay. |
