Porthleven
April 23, 2019
Porthleven (soft "th") Harbour is looked after by Phil Ward. Phil was born in the town and has been a fisherman, a builder and is now harbour master. It seems being a builder is a very useful trade for Cornish harbour masters. They spend their time repairing the damage done by the power of the sea. "Leven" is Cornish for "calm sea", which is a bit ironic as the Harbour was originally built as a refuge port on this part of the coast littered with wrecks.
The port is privately owned and one of Phil's multitude of jobs (he is a busy man!) is to lower each of the 31 massive "bolts" of Douglas Fir timber (see photo) into the steel runners to protect the inner harbour from the sea during bad weather. He once had to swim after one when it broke loose and was carried towards the fishing boats in the harbour..... yes he did catch it!
The port has slowly turned from being very commercial with coal, China clay and cement being processed through it, to an idyllic holiday location. More than half the houses are now holiday lets. But that does not detract from the sheer beauty of the place and friendliness of the locals. Thank you Phil for showing me around your mini empire! Thank you too to Martin ( one of my many hitch hiker drivers (see photo), who had previously been a fish buyer at Newlyn fish auction.... more about that coming up!
The port is privately owned and one of Phil's multitude of jobs (he is a busy man!) is to lower each of the 31 massive "bolts" of Douglas Fir timber (see photo) into the steel runners to protect the inner harbour from the sea during bad weather. He once had to swim after one when it broke loose and was carried towards the fishing boats in the harbour..... yes he did catch it!
The port has slowly turned from being very commercial with coal, China clay and cement being processed through it, to an idyllic holiday location. More than half the houses are now holiday lets. But that does not detract from the sheer beauty of the place and friendliness of the locals. Thank you Phil for showing me around your mini empire! Thank you too to Martin ( one of my many hitch hiker drivers (see photo), who had previously been a fish buyer at Newlyn fish auction.... more about that coming up!