Tywardreath: from Fowey Consols to the Great Western Railway

Tywardreath, between St Austell and Fowey, had seen its population soar after the formation in 1822 of the Fowey Consols copper mine from three older ventures begun in 1817. This mine boomed in the 1830s, attracting workers from a wide area. In the late 1830s and early 1840s the value of Fowey Consol’s output peaked, … Continue reading Tywardreath: from Fowey Consols to the Great Western Railway

Trevalga: unspoilt haven or development opportunity?

Unlike Cornwall’s other tiny tre- parishes, Trevalga is on the north coast, wedged between the small settlements of Boscastle and Tintagel. The farms of this parish had been neatly distributed across the hills and valleys leading inland by Cornwall’s early medieval inhabitants. Meanwhile, its small church and churchtown are hunched down nearer the forbidding cliffs … Continue reading Trevalga: unspoilt haven or development opportunity?

Tregony: a clicker and a Jack of all trades

Site of Tregony's former church of St James Below the long street lined with houses that was Tregony the boats serenely sailed up the Fal. On reaching the bustling quay near the church below the town, supplies were unloaded to meet the demands of the folk from the surrounding countryside who thronged Tregony’s market. But … Continue reading Tregony: a clicker and a Jack of all trades

Tintagel: not what you expect

Tintagel, on the north coast of Cornwall, was a no-nonsense, workmanlike sort of place in the mid-1800s. Its children, sons and daughters of slate quarriers, farmers and their labourers, lived hard lives wresting their livelihood from the land and braving the frequent westerly gales that swept in off the Atlantic. The Tintagel children in our … Continue reading Tintagel: not what you expect