Portreath
Portreath maps (2 available)
Map of Cornwall
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Portreath books (12 available)
- 4 photos on Portreath appear in 2 Frith books - View photos of Portreath
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Portreath and Cornwall
Portreath memories
Read and share memories of Portreath and Cornwall inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Cornwall below.
Cornwall memories
1960's
In the 1960's as a little boy my dad, mum, little sister and me visted the grandparents in Penponds. They were known as the Laity's, Efe and Les Laity, and the Rodgers were next door, a big family.
A memory of Penponds contributed by STEPHEN BROWN
Uren Genealogy
My wife and I visited St Day in September 13th 2004 to find where my Greatgrandparents lived. We found the house where GreatGrandmother died - 24 Scorrier Street. After searching a lot of St Day for anyone who might have know of either of them, we did find a couple, the gent was a nephew of a lady that was a good friend of my GreatGrandmother. They showed us some of my Grandparents furniture that was left to them in their will. They also sat down with us and talked about my GreatGrandMother. We wanted to talk more but had a cab picking us up in a hour. They told us were she lived and died, so I took a picture ...read more here
A memory of St Day contributed by Raymond Uren
Evacuee Memory
My brother Bryan and I were evacuated to St. Day in 1940 and I spent three happy years there before reluctantly returning to London in 1943. We lived with Mr. and Mrs. Batty who ran a Hardware Shop on the corner of Fore Street. Mr Batty was, during my stay, Chairman of the Camborne and Redruth Urban District Council, We attended St. Day School, Headmaster Mr. Blewitt, teachers Mr. Webster and Miss Opie. The Batty family had a small farm in the village run by a family member, Maude Roper. My after school duties were numerous, delivering charged Accumulators to homes as far away as Scorrier, walking both ways, collecting potato peelings etc. from local homes to be mixed with feed ...read more here
A memory of St Day contributed by Gerard Mos
Magor and Menadue families
In the 1840's Magors and Menadues migrated from Mithian to South Australia, and I am the product of the marriages between the families.
If anyone would like to correspond with me on this page I have more details and would love to learn new ones.
I live in Adelaide South Australia and am visiting Mithian in May 2007 to learn what I can.
Thankyou
Ruth Gates nee MAGOR
My father's mother was a MENADUE
A memory of Mithian contributed by Ruth Gates
Extracts From Portreath & Cornwall books
Portreath was a busy mining port in the 19th century, when sailing vessels loaded copper ore
for the Welsh smelters and returned with coal for the mine engines. A rough sea is coming
onto the beach, but the pier affords protection to the dangerously narrow harbour entrance
beneath the cliffs. Shipping had much declined by this date, and the quays are becoming
derelict. The white daymark on the headland guided ships towards the harbour.
An extract from from"Newquay to St Ives Photographic Memories".
Portreath was little more than a fishing village until it was chosen
by Francis Basset (later Lord de Dunstanville) as an ideal
location from which to ship copper ore from the mines around
Redruth to Wales. In the background is the incline of the
Poldice-Portreath Tramroad. Constructed between 1809 and
1810, the tramway connected the mines at Gwennap and St Day
with the harbour. The incline was worked by a steam engine, and
motive power on the level sections was provided by horses and
mules. By the mid 19th century the harbour was handling
fourteen ships a week, taking copper out and bringing coal and
lime in. As with Polperro, the harbour entrance could be sealed
during bad weather with timber baulks.
An extract from from"Victorian and Edwardian Maritime Album".
The narrow harbour entrance beneath a treacherous cliff was protected from rough seas by a long pier. It is hard to imagine how sailing ships once came in and out of here.
An extract from from"Cornwall County Memories".
Portreath was built to serve the mines around Camborne and Redruth, and in the 19th century it was busy with sailing ships bringing coal from South Wales and returning with copper ores. Coal was imported down to the mid 20th century – we can see a small Dutch coaster discharging her cargo, with coal heaped on the quayside (centre). There is now a housing estate all over this site in the foreground. The old harbour master’s house and dock cottages are on the far side, with more recent housing above. A white daymark stands on the clifftop above the harbour entrance.
An extract from from"Cornwall County Memories".
The Hotel has a fine cloak of ivy. Tregenna Castle is still one of St Ives’ best known hotels, and now boasts a golf course amongst its many facilities.
An extract from from"St Ives Photographic Memories".