Portholland, Cornwall

My time in Portloe 1962

I was married in Veryan Church on 4th August 1962 to Michael Henry Symons Blamey and we lived in Rose Cottage in Portloe after our marriage. Our son Andrew Mark was  born in 1963 and towards the end of 1963 I moved back to Birmingham which is where I originally came from. I remember the winter of 1962 as a particularly bad one, the local bus had to have chains on its wheels in order to get in and out of Portloe, and I spent most of that winter pregnant and trying desperately to save the many frozen birds by keeping them warm on the Rayburn and trying to feed them without success. We had to get our water from the Ship Inn, the local pub. I also remember very windy nights when the men were called out to winch the boats further up the beach and the smoke blowing down the chimney and coating the walls of the living room with soot. Occasionally I would go out in Papa's boat, Vespers with a mackerel line, I never caught much as my hands were always wet and frozen and this townie couldn't feel when I had a mackerel on one of the many hooks! The film Crooks in Cloister was made there during that summer too, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw, Old Man Steptoe and others I can't remember now, poor Barbara Windsor had to trudge up and down the beach in scorching weather in a fur coat and she must have felt even hotter than she looked, while the goat in the film munched his way through endless paper cups without anyone noticing!  I also worked part-time in the Lugger Hotel for a few weeks. I used to love sitting on the bench down by the beach and listen to the old men who told me stories of times gone by or smelling the air in the cellar where Papa, Tim, Joey and others used to sit and mend their nets.  They used to hang bait up on the harbour wall to get nice and ripe to put in their crab pots and it was very amusing to see visitors reaction to this and the many photos that were taken of what can only be described as a nauseous mess on the wall!! We used to have a communal mangle across the way from our cottages, the  biggest mangle I have ever seen covered by an army greatcoat, this had to be removed before you could use it and it was always covered in snails I remember, very offputting. To a townie born and bred, living in Portloe with a loo up the cliff in the back garden and all that went with Portloe was a massive shock to the system, not always one of the pleasantest, but I cherish every memory I had of Portloe and the people there, they were quite unique and I am so very glad I was privileged to be part of their community for a while. I went back to Portloe a couple of years ago and it has changed so much, but it still has the immense charm it always has and always will have. I am very lucky to have those memories of 1962/3.

Town Clock

I am tracing my family history, and one of the stories that I have come across is that one of my ancestors Richard Eva 1734-1806 made the clock for Tregony, and have been told the story that it was hidden to save it from being sold to Australia, I was also told that the clock survived as part of a pigsty on a farm and was found in 1961, but was found too late as it had recently been sent to a scrap yard.  

Tregony clock tower

The clock tower has two dates on it - one from the original building, and one from when it was restored. Apparently the village council sold the clock to a visiting Australian who wanted to take it back to his country. The villagers were outraged, dismantled the clock overnight, and hid it in a local field for twenty years until they were sure it was safe. Ealing comedy via Cornwall! I lived in the house in the photo, so the clock is very dear to my heart.