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Trenarren
Trenarren maps
Historic maps of Trenarren and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Trenarren maps
Trenarren area books
Displaying 1 of 16 books about Trenarren and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Trenarren
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What A Wonderful Place
Me and my family used to live at Trenarren, what a place, we used to live in the house below Mr Rouse, some lovely cottages there. When the tide used to go out at Hallane beach we used to walk all the way round but you had to know the tide otherwise you would be swimming back. I no longer live there but I had to go back in 2003 and it never changes there. And if you go there don't forget to have a lovely stroll to Blackhead. My brother and I can remember when it was on fire, a lot of animals died in that fire, it was horrible to see that was. Well worth a visit if you like the sound of nature and the views, you can see for miles on a clear day, what a place.
Cornwall memories
The Boat House Porthpean Beach
The tall building at the bottom left hand side of the slipway leading down to the beach was used by a Mr Axford who had two or three wooden rowing boats that he hired out by the hour. He would sit on a bench outside the boathouse and having paid the appropriate monies one was issued with a pair of oars and allocated a boat. My dad bought one of Charlie's boats in the early '50's which we kept on the quay at Charlestown and used it for recreation fishing. We initially powered it with a 4hp Seagull outboard. Then, on one of our fishing trips we come across a large quantity of wood planks that must have washed overboard from some freighter in a storm. In that great tradition of Cornish wreckers we salvaged as many of these 15 or 16 foot long boards as we could pile onto our boat, leaving just a narrow gap to stand in as we ever so slowly made our way back to... Read more
Anti-Invasion Defences-Porthpean Beach
During the invasion scare of WW2, Porthpean beach was protected from seaborne landings by the Germans by having anti-landing craft defences built along the length of the beach at I believe, the low tide mark. This consisted of an A-frame structure constructed from scaffold piping. Possibly this had mines attached but I have found no confirmation of this.
Additionally, on the slope leading up from the beach there were pyramid shaped, concrete pillars about four or five feet high that would prevent vehicles using it.
One of these can be seen in the photo "View from beach c. 1955"
I lived on Porthpean Road at MountCharles from 1939 till 1955 and now live in Illinois, USA
Anti Invasion Devices
I spent many happy hours on Porthpean beach, both with my family and my friends during the summer holidays. I remember the anti invasion devices well as we used them as monkey bars. After the war they became very rusty with many sharp rusty edges to get snagged on.
I also remember during the war years that a few miles off the beach were some bombing targets and we used to watch bomber pilots practising their skills from time to time.
Peter, I believe you were a year behind me at St. Austell Grammar school and that a few years back I think we swapped emails. I now live in Marblehead, Massachusetts, having moved here in 1968.
She Sent us Primroses
In the centre of the picture, the smaller house I believe is 'Cosy Cot' where my aunt Phyllis and cousin Peter spent WW2 and experienced the death of my Uncle Alf in the RAF in 1940. I remember that fragrant parcels used to arrive in the spring, wrapped in greaseproof paper and damp newspaper. They were the primroses and violets that Phyllis picked and sent to us "townies" who lived near London. She had experienced great sorrow in her life, yet she thought of others. My cousin Peter was very ill with what I believe was Lupus, but he was a sweet natured boy - I did not meet him as an adult. He finally died of his problems when he was only 37 - two years more than his father had been when he died. One day I will visit the cottage again and renew my memories of this lovely village and its friendly people. I understand that despite its picturesque appearance "Cosy Cot" was anything but cosy in... Read more
The Tiny Port of Charlestown
I briefly attended Charlestown Infants' school in 1942 as it accepted children a years earlier than Mount Charles Infants (just a mile away) which I lived just a few yards from on Porthpean Road. I was four years old at the time.
During those war years the quaysides around the inner dock had corrugated iron buildings that were used in the fitting out of inshore mine-sweeper vessels. These boats were built at nearby Par and had their engines and machinery fitted at Charlestown. These sheds were removed at the end of the war and once more the harbour looked very much as it had when it was built by Charles Rashleigh in the last decade of the 1700s.
Inspite of wartime restrictions, we locals were permitted access to the beaches and the one on the eastern side of the harbour entrance was our destination whenever the weather allowed. As we grew older mother would be waiting for us there with a snack when we raced down the... Read more
So Many..
I was born 1941 in Raneleigh Road Nursing Home in Mount Charles. I was brought up in Rope Walk Lane opposite the old Primary School. There was a cement works part way down the lane. My mother (aged 19) worked in the 'Food Office' in St Austell dealing with ration books and the allied administration. Her boss she called 'Cherpie' and he was I understand a nice man.
Charlestown to me was a venture playground where we climbed cliffs, took and ate seagulls eggs, ran over rocks at speed, became very sunburned and suffered and may still!! We ran out and swam off the large pipe that took the sewage away from the 'Coastguard Beach' being the pebble one beneath the path to Duporth.
Large noisy lorries came down and deposited clay into shutes to fill the small cargo boats and we hung on the the back of them going up the hill out of the village on our bikes. The boats were usually named with 'ity' at... Read more
