Out and About, Glimpses of our Parishes
Portwrinkle: Nets and Lines
Memories of a south-east Cornwall fishing community.
This page is linked to
Cornish Braids a website devoted to recording the memories, customs and events as
well as the visual evidence of families, homes and landscapes. A crucial
aspect of preserving our links with the past and transmitting those links
to future generations.
Portwrinkle a small villiage in the parish of Sheviock; which by the
end of the twentieth century had more or less ceased to exist as a
fishing community. New residential building and transformation of
fishermens and coastguards cottages into holiday lets and second homes
has removed most traces of the earlier working community. Some artifacts
and architectural features remain. This includes the once grand now
sadly dilapidated 'palaice' of the original pilchard seine netting
industry and the recently restored quay. The village also displays
evidence of a major transforming economic factor in twentieth century
Cornwall in the shape of the Whitsand Bay hotel and associated golf
links. This represents an attempt initiated by Antony Estate of the
Carew-Pole family to replace the declining importance of fishing with
new sources of income and employment based on leisure and tourism.
