Portholland
Portholland photos (22 available)
Portholland maps (2 available)
Map of Cornwall
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Portholland books (5 available)
Portholland memories
Read and share memories of Portholland and Cornwall inspired by Frith photos
Heritage 1910 to 1920
My Dad grew up in Portholland, one of seven children. There were five boys and the stories he could tell. The boys would go out at night and splash water on windows and the next day listen to the residents talk about the storm during the night. They also went out in the morning and made the ladies come to the front door by shouting "fish for sale". The funniest was the boys putting sheets over themselves at night and gliding around as ghosts. That must have been something back in those days. My grandmother caught them one day because of mud on the sheets and told them not to do that any more because if the ...read more here
Contributed by Sinclair Hugh
Cornwall memories
Heritage 1910 to 1920
My Dad grew up in Portholland, one of seven children. There were five boys and the stories he could tell. The boys would go out at night and splash water on windows and the next day listen to the residents talk about the storm during the night. They also went out in the morning and made the ladies come to the front door by shouting "fish for sale". The funniest was the boys putting sheets over themselves at night and gliding around as ghosts. That must have been something back in those days. My grandmother caught them one day because of mud on the sheets and told them not to do that any more because if the ...read more here
A memory of Portholland contributed by Sinclair Hugh
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 ...read more here
A memory of Portloe contributed by Pam Andrews
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.
A memory of Tregony contributed by Amanda Pickering
Extracts From Portholland & Cornwall books
This scene has hardly changed for many years; the
beach at Polridmouth is still only accessible on foot.
Although we are just around the corner from St Austell
Bay, this photograph gives us a good view of the
prominent day mark erected in 1832 on the Gribbin
Head as an aid for shipping entering the bay.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".
The old pilchard-curing
cellar, or ‘palace’, beside the
shore in the foreground was
one of the largest in
Cornwall. However, by the
time of this early
photograph the harbour
seems already deserted by
the fishing fleet, perhaps in
favour of Mevagissey on the
far side of the bay.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".
A boat sails across the bay, which was known as Polkerris or Par Bay in the late-18th century.
The little village of Polkerris is situated at the end of a sheltered valley on the east shore of
St Austell Bay. There was an important pilchard fishery here, and the pier (left) was built in
about 1735 for sheltering the fishing boats rather than for trade.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".
Polkerris has hardly
changed, with virtually
no new houses in 70
years. Here we see the
village tucked away in
its valley, with the
great expanse of the
bay reaching beyond
to Black Head (centre)
and the Dodman Point
(left). The garden plots
of the houses are
prominent, sheltered
by hedges and mostly
on the south-facing
slope on the right.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".
The gable end of the lifeboat house is seen in the background, almost
at the end of the road through the village. Stone cottages, teas for sale
and no unsightly road markings are the delights of this village.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".