St. Catherine's Parade was originally created in the mid 19th Century as a private carriageway from the main road to Neptune House, overlooking Readymoney Cove. A photo from 1908 shows a majestic, neatly maintained track with a footpath running alongside which a guidebook of 1892 describes "the use of which Mr Rashleigh and his lady have generously and opportunely presented to the respectable inhabitants of Fowey of all classes". In 1949, the carriageway was leased to the council by the Hanson Estate for 50 years as a public walk. In 1970, it was donated permanently as a public footpath by the Hanson family in memory of their ancestors; there are granite dedication stones at either end. Sadly, the Council was not clear if the verges had been donated as well as the footpath, and the confusion over ownership led to them becoming overgrown and swallowing the carriageway. Fowey Town Council have worked hard to sort the situation out and the state of the path is now being steadily improved.
The limekiln at Readymoney Cove was built in 1819 which was able to produce a more potent fertiliser than the beach sand which had been formerly used for raising the pH of the acidic local soils. After Point Neptune was sold in 1935, the limekiln was converted into a store room with a garden on top which includes ornamental turrets. A public shelter and toilets have also subsequently been added.
The cottage set back behind the beach is Readymoney Cottage.
In the late 1930s, the stables and carriage house of Point Neptune were converted into Point Neptune Cottage, now generally known as Readymoney Cottage, and made available for rent. Daphne du Maurier moved to Readymoney Cottage in Fowey in April 1942. Whilst she was living there, she wrote Hungry Hill, based on the stories of her wartime lover Christopher Puxley who used to stay in a hotel in Fowey to spend time with her. In 1943, her husband was hurt in a glider crash and du Maurier brought him to Readymoney to nurse him. But after he rejoined his colleagues in north Africa, it is said that she grew tired of life in the cottage and moved to Menabilly in September 1943.
Wild garlic has been found in settlements dating as far back as the neolithic period which given its springtime abundance and aroma is not that surprising. Its culinary use was eventually overtaken by domesticated garlic which first arrived with Mediterranean traders and had the advantage that the bulbs could be stored for relatively long periods.
The growing conditions for trees varies from year to year (e.g. there might be a drought one summer). The "bad years" and "good years" are reflected in the widths of the rings. The pattern of good and bad summers is the same (more-or-less, depending of the location) for every tree so this forms a calendar - the known sequence of wide and narrow rings can be used to assign an exact year to each ring. This can also be done with dead and even fossil trees both to date them and get an idea of what the climate was doing at the time.
Despite several other paths leading to the left, the path with the signpost is the only one of the paths which reaches the castle so you may wish to have a look and return to the information board to continue the walk.
St Catherine's Castle is named after the headland (St Catherine's Point) and was initially constructed in Tudor times as part of Henry VIII's south coast defences. It was maintained during the Tudor period and manned by Royalists during the early part of the English Civil war. By 1684 it was described as ruinous, although it was used during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1855 it was refurbished and two 64-pounder guns were mounted below the blockhouse but it was abandoned again by the end of the 19th Century. During WW2, concrete defences were added (most of which have since been removed) and two naval guns were installed; the gun emplacements below the castle are the remains of these, adapted from the Victorian cannon emplacements.
English Heritage began in 1983 as a government department responsible for the national system of heritage protection and managing a range of historic properties. In 1999 it was merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the National Monuments Record. In 2015 a charity was formed called English Heritage Trust which was split off from the government to manage the National Heritage Collection (which is still owned by the state). The "English Heritage" name is now associated with this charity. The remaining government body is known as Historic England and is responsible for the statutory and protection functions that were part of the old organisation.
In 1902 land on St Catherine's Point was leased for 100 years from the Rashleigh Estate to build a lighthouse and it was completed in 1905. Shipping fees were increased by a farthing to cover the cost. It was originally powered by gas and was converted to electricity after the Second World War. In 2002, the lease was due to run out so the Fowey Harbour Commissioners purchased the land (permanently this time) from the Rashleigh Estate.
During the late mediaeval period, piracy became a big problem and so merchant fleets began to include some heavily armed ships who were licensed to attack any pirate ships. This evolved into "privateering", where shipowners could obtain Letters of Marque from the Crown which allowed them to attack enemy shipping in a certain area and sell the cargo for profit. It was essentially legalised piracy but allowed the Crown to bolster its navy very cheaply. Partly due to the rapidly shifting allegiances of mediaeval wars and partly due to over-enthusiasm, some privateers were accused of piracy, i.e. attacking shipping without a licence.
Primrose seeds are quite large and therefore, due to their weight, don't travel far from the plant. This causes a clump of primroses to spread out very slowly over time and means it takes a long time for primroses to colonise new areas. This makes large carpets of primroses a very good indicator of ancient woodland where they would have had many hundreds of years to spread out.
Some of the most notorious privateers, and allegedly pirates, in Fowey were the family known as either Michaelstow or Mixstow. The first record of the family is in 1357 when Richard de Michaelstow hired his ship to the Black Prince for £20. The family gained their notoriety in the 14th and 15th Centuries when privateering was a major part of the port's commerce. The settlement of Mixtow, just upriver from Bodinnick, is thought to have been their family home.
Smuggling was also a major part of the economy from Tudor times until the 19th Century.
In 1828, customs officers seized the Fowey sloop Lucy when they discovered that her sleek hull was not purely for hydrodynamic reasons. In a hidden compartment either side of a false keel, 100 small barrels were concealed below the waterline, each filled with spirits.
Flower scents are volatile organic compounds which drift though the air and has evolved as an advertisement to pollinating insects that nectar is available. Squeezing the flowers releases these compounds onto the surface where they can evaporate and therefore intensifies the smell. Similarly the warming effect of sunlight helps the compounds to evaporate faster and so the smell is more intense on sunny days.
In March 1937, the 3500 ton Kanteong, at the time the world's largest tin dredger, was on tow from the builders' yard in Holland to the Far East when she capsized in a storm off the Eddystone reef. She had to be abandoned, and drifted down the coast until she hit the rocks at Fowey, broke up and sank. At low tide, a huge iron gear wheel is visible above the surface of the water, and below the surface is the remains of the massive dredging arm, complete with buckets.
The headland in the distance with the stripy tower is Gribbin Head.
The 84ft tall tower on Gribbin Head was erected by Trinity House in 1832 as a daylight navigation aid for shipping, enabling ships to distinguish Gribbin Head more easily from other headlands along Cornwall’s south coast. It is now owned by the National Trust and can be climbed on some Sundays during summer; a flag is flown to show when it is open.
Polridmouth is pronounced locally as "pridmuth". The cottage behind the beach is thought to be the inspiration for the boathouse in Daphne du Maurier's novel "Rebecca". The ornamental lakes by the cottage were created in the 1920s by the building of a dam. It was used as the basis of a decoy airfield in the Second World War to emulate Fowey harbour. Dams additional to the one remaining were built to create a fake harbour and lights were then placed around the lake, orchestrated to emulate those in Fowey. At least one bomb is known to have been drawn away from Fowey, and on average, it has been estimated that around 5% of German bombs were diverted by decoys, saving thousands of lives across the whole of Britain.
On the rocks on the right-hand side of the beach are the remains of the Romanie.
In January 1930, The Romanie was on her way back from Fowey to Par when she was caught in a sudden storm. The three masted iron sailing ship of just over 100ft in length was pushed into Polridmouth Bay where she lost power and she drifted helplessly onto the rocks. Her captain and crew managed to escape without loss of life but the ship was a write-off. The rusting remains can still be seen at low tide and when Daphne du Maurier walked along the beach during the mid 20th century, the wreck inspired her to make the beach the setting for the murder of her character "Rebecca", and the wreck of her boat.
Due to blackthorn wood's toughness, it was used to make tool handles, walking sticks and as a traditional Celtic weapon for clubbing people to death! It is still regarded as the ultimate wood for making walking sticks. Once cut and trimmed, the wood needs to be dried for at least a year (often several) which allows moisture to escape and the wood to shrink and harden.
Alexanders are a member of the carrot family and grow along roadsides in places similar to cow parsley. The leaves are more solid than the lacy cow parsley leaves and the flowers are yellow rather than white. The name arises because the plant was introduced to the UK by the Romans and was known as the "pot herb of Alexandria". It is also sometimes known as horse parsley.
The collared dove is a fairly easy member of the pigeon family to recognise. The clue is in the name: they are pale with a thin black ring at the back of their neck.
Before 1930, there were no collared doves in Western Europe and the most easterly part of their range was Turkey and The Balkans. Within just 20 years they colonised most of continental Western Europe and in 1955 they bred for the first time in Britain. They have since become one of the top 10 most common birds in British surveys.
Their rapid spread seems to be down to both their ability to make epic journeys of over 400 miles and their ability to breed all year round if the weather is mild. They will even start building a new nest whilst there are still chicks in the current one, and take breaks from incubating eggs in the new nest to nip back to the old nest to feed the recently fledged young. They feed on seeds and grain so arable farming has provided a supply of food.
It has been suggested that Readymoney Cove was a very early premediaeval trading place, which is consistent with the Saint's Way meeting the coast here. The name "Readymoney" is thought to be from redeman meaning "stony ford"; red was an Old Cornish word for ford (as in Redruth) and men means stone. The "stony" part is often assumed to mean "pebbly" but could alternatively be a reference to exposed bedrock such as that seen on the path down to the cove which may have originally continued across the river crossing before the area was developed.
Cornwall has at least 8 different words for "valley".
The two fields alongside the valley of Coombe containing benches are known as Allday's Fields. This was previously a golf course, hence some of the lumps and a number of the benches are located on former tees. The course stretched down into the valley of Coombe where two of the greens were located. The Fowey Golf Club was founded in 1907 and the 9 hole cliff-top course was played until WW2 when the land was requisitioned. An attempt was made to resurrect the course and the club after the war but it only lasted a few years. The land was eventually bought by a wealthy businessman (James Allday) who gave the fields to the town in 1951.
Golf developed in The Netherlands during the Middle Ages and was introduced into Scotland towards the end of this period where it evolved to its present form. The word golf is thought to be a Scots alteration of Dutch colf meaning "club". Golf is first documented in Scotland in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, prohibiting the playing of the games of gowf and futball as these were a distraction from archery practice.
Extracts from ivy were used in herbal remedies and still form the basis of some modern-day cough medicines. It is said to have both antibacterial and antiviral properties. A study for English Heritage also found that roadside ivy absorbed particulates from the atmosphere which may lead to its use in improving air quality.
The path that you are following down to Readymoney Cove is part of the Saint's Way.
The Saints' Way runs for 30 miles from Padstow to Fowey, and follows one of the likely routes of early Christian travellers making their way from Wales and Ireland to the Continent during the Dark Ages. Rather than risk a premature martyring on the rocks around Land's End, they would disembark their ships on the North Devon and Cornish coast and cross the peninsula, on foot, to ports on the south coast such as Fowey. The Bush Inn at Morwenstow is thought to be one of the stopovers from the North Devon ports. The route from Padstow to Fowey was in use before the Dark Ages which is evident from Roman coins found along the route. However it is thought that it was likely to have been in use even earlier still, in the Iron Age.
At the end of the 18th century, record catches of pilchards were made in Cornwall. In 1792, one of the largest pilchard cellars in Cornwall, known as St Catherine’s Cellars, was constructed at Readymoney Cove on the site of a former gun emplacement by Philip Rashleigh. In one year alone, 60,000 hogshead barrels, each containing up to 3000 pilchards caught in St Austell Bay, were exported from Fowey.
Point Neptune, the house with the high walls and large gates on road to Readymoney Cove, was originally built in the mid 19th Century on the site of an old Napoleonic gun battery. The granite buttresses rising from the sea are the remains of this. It was remodelled by William Rashleigh of Menabilly in 1864 to create a 40 room house. For 15 years in the early 21st Century it was the home of actress Dawn French, which are two words that would have caused considerable excitement to the occupants of the original gun battery.
During the 6th century AD, an enclosed settlement was established at Fowey by a small religious community containing a small church and dwellings. Fowey developed its fishing and sea trading industries during the Middle Ages and by 1260, was the most important port in Cornwall, taking over from Lostwithiel when the river silted up as a result of streaming for tin in the river valleys. Fowey was a busy port even during the 20th Century with china clay taking over from the ore exports after the tin and copper prices collapsed in the late 19th century, and china clay exports continue although on a smaller scale than previously.
The location of Fowey close to the mouth of the estuary made it vulnerable to attack by sea. The town was destroyed by fire during invasions by French, Spanish and other pirate ships in 1330, 1380 and 1457. Following the 1380 raid, blockhouses were built on either side of the estuary mouth. A chain spanned between them that could be raised to close the channel in times of need. The chain was later confiscated by the King after boats from Fowey and Polruan were convicted of Piracy.
The Ship Inn is the oldest surviving pub in Fowey, dating back to Tudor times. It was built by the Rashleigh Family in 1570 and some of the 16th Century interiors are still present. It was once linked by a first-floor bridge above the road to 1 Lostwithiel Street and this formed the tollgate to the town.
The King of Prussia Inn, on the town quay in Fowey, is thought to have been converted from a 17th Century merchant's house or market building which was only 2 storeys high. The Inn is named after the smuggler and privateer John Carter, nicknamed "The King of Prussia", who is said to have resided at the Inn in the 1780s. It was demolished and rebuilt as a 3 storey building in 1886, but retains the original 17th century granite columns which form the undercroft area.
The Lugger was a type of sailing boat widely used for fishing until the 20th Century, and was the principal vessel of the Cornish fishing industry. The type of sails it used were known as "lugsails", and were positioned asymmetrically with respect to the mast so more of the sail was behind than in front of the mast. The origin of the name is uncertain, but one suggestion is that it might be from "ear-shaped-sail", which a French name for the class of boats ("aurique") also points to.
In the early 20th Century, small petrol-paraffin engines became available which allowed the boats to enter a harbour more easily. At this point, the boats also began to last longer because oil spills from the engine soaked into the timber, both preventing rot and also killing off woodworm and woodlice that, formerly, had gradually devoured wooden vessels. Some of the vessels from this period have survived, converted to pleasure craft.
The design of the Cornish Lugger was honed into a high-speed vessel for use in smuggling. The largest were up to 75 feet long with three masts of stepped height, allowing a large area of sail to be set. The fastest could average twelve knots between Cornwall and Roscoff, which is fast sailing even by modern standards. The decks were often lined with a dozen or more cannons and another dozen anti-personnel swivel guns loaded with shrapnel-like grapeshot.
From the surviving place name of Langorthou, it is thought likely that the church is on or close to the 6th Century Celtic enclosure, and the church is dedicated to Saint Finbarr - a 6th Century Irish bishop. The current building was originally built in the early 14th century, replacing a previous Norman church on the site. The church was damaged when Fowey was ransacked by the French in 1457, and repaired in 1460 by the Earl of Warwick. It is thought that the aisles and the clerestory may be additions from the 15th century when the carved wagon roof was added. The four stage tower was added a little later, in the 16th century.
Celandine flowers close each night and open each morning. This is controlled by a circadian rhythm, so they really are "going to sleep" at night and "waking up in the morning". It is likely that this has arisen to protect the internals of the flowers from any frost during the night as they begin flowering in March when frosts are still common.
At the top of the steps, to the right of the path is a nice view over Place House and the church.
Place House was built around 1260 by the Priory as their headquarters within Fowey and soon after became the ancestral seat of the Treffry family. Sir John Treffry fought under the Black Prince at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, and captured the Royal Banner of France. In 1457, French marauders besieged the house, but met with Dame Elizabeth Treffry who gathered men together and poured melted lead, stripped from the roof, upon the invaders. The house incorporated fortified elements designed to repel any attacks including what was described in Tudor times as "a right fair and strong embattled tower". The building still includes 15th and 16th century fabric but was largely rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The name of the River Fowey is from Fowydh, based on the Cornish word for tree, gwydh, and more specifically beech, fawen.
As you approach the top of the hill, the large house opposite is Fowey Hall. Hanson Drive, the road that you meet, was once the private driveway to the house.
Fowey Hall was originally built in 1892 as a country house for Charles Hanson, the first Baronet of Fowey who went on to become Sheriff and, later, Lord Mayor of London. Kenneth Grahame, author of Wind in the Willows, spent much time in Fowey and the building is thought to be part of the inspiration for Toad Hall. It later became a hotel, and still is. Residents have included the well-known Cornish author Daphne du Maurier and it was the venue for the marriage of Dawn French to Mark Bignell.
When "The Wind in the Willows" was completed by Kenneth Grahame in 1907, it was met with critical disdain and rejected by publishers both in the UK and US. Fortunately Grahame had a stroke of luck: two years after the book was completed, US president Theodore Roosevelt wrote to Grahame to tell him that he had "read it and reread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends". Roosevelt eventually persuaded US publisher Scribner to take it on. A.A. Milne was also a fan, stating: "The book is a test of character"... "The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly".
In the rocks at Polridmouth (on the right if you are in front of the lake facing the sea) is a seawater bathing pool cut into the rocks, complete with steps. It was constructed in Victorian times for Jonathan Rashleigh "for health reasons". Similar, slightly earlier, pools exist on Portreath beach so it may have been a case of "keeping up with the Bassets".
The sea has worn away the surrounding rocks so that it doesn't hold water when the tide goes out. When it was built, a lead-lined channel was constructed at the bottom to allow it to drain, perhaps to limit weed growth and discourage shore crabs from making it their home! It's possible this "plug hole" originally had an associated plug that could be used to retain water at low tide.
There are two beaches at Polridmouth with separate access points from the coast path. The beaches are shingle at high tide but sandier as the tide goes out with wave-cut rock platforms containing rockpools. At low tide the two beaches are linked by a rock platform. The remains of a shipwreck is along one side of the eastern beach.
Readymoney Cove is a sandy beach sheltered by the cliffs either side and faces into Fowey Estuary. The beach faces east so it's fairly protected from prevailing southwesterlies by St Catherine's Point. Most of the time there is a beach at all states of the tide but on high spring tides the beach can be entirely covered.
The currents in the main part of the estuary can be quite strong at mid-tide and it is busy with boats, often travelling at significant speed. Therefore swimming is safest within the shelter of the inlet. A rope with buoys is sometime placed across the mouth to separate swimmers from the main river channel.
On the seaward side of the wall on Peak Point is the base of a gun battery, which may have been in use as early as the 17th Century. By 1860 there were four guns installed here with a further two on the Fowey side of the estuary to cover the entrance to the harbour. The area was also used for naval training and a drill hut was located where Hoe Cottage is situated now. The wall behind the battery was originally three times its current height and was used as a firing range for rifle practice.
Polruan is located in the lee of the prevailing winds within the Fowey estuary and is therefore a very sheltered natural harbour. The settlement originated as a small fishing village and later became a centre for boat building. The name is associated with St Ruan, who is said to have settled on the hill above Polruan during early mediaeval times.
Many guides to crabbing mention changing water in a bucket containing crabs. There are two reasons why changing water frequently (every 10 minutes) is vital to keep crabs alive:
Crabs have gills and get their oxygen from the water. There is not much water in a bucket and the oxygen quite quickly gets depleted. Too many crabs in one bucket also depletes the oxygen too quickly.
The temperature of the sea in Britain rarely exceeds 19°C and most marine animals can only survive short periods at higher temperatures where their metabolic processes don't work efficiently. Crabs will avoid water warmer than 25°C (room temperature) as long periods in warm water will kill them. The small amount of water in a bucket has a small heat capacity (like in a nearly-empty kettle) and so will warm up quite quickly. Keeping the bucket out of the sun will also help to stop the water getting too warm before it is changed.
Increasing the amount of water will also help by holding more oxygen and staying cool longer.
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