Charlestown Port
Polmear, picturesque, sitting at the head of the bay,
Unchanged till Charles Rashleigh came along one day,
he built a harbour, a gun battery, and the port leat,
massive engineering, was no easy feat.
Vessels sit at anchor, serene in the bay,
berthing tomorrow to load copper and clay,
copper from Joshua Rowe’s great Crinnis mine,
the most productive in the world for a very short time.
From the pits, horse-drawn wagons bring clay three tons in a load,
through Fore Street they clatter on the white dusty road,
they return to the pits up on the gorse-covered moor,
laden with coal from the Welsh valleys, in wagons by the score.
Quay Road’s chocolate box cottages sit in a line,
but it wasn’t so pretty back in the time,
my mother opened the window to let in fresh air,
clay dust, coal dust, my mother’s despair.
In our village when the ships come and go,
we have a nickname for it, we call it gate-ho!
When the dock gates are opened, the ships arrive and depart,
turning the tight corner is a very fine art,
it is a sight to behold, it is all very clever,
and when it is over, another piece of Cornwall is gone forever.
Ghosts of the past at every turn,
Rashleigh, Smeaton, Dingle, the memories churn,
For me, a privileged childhood of fishing and farming,
for the dock workers, bad backs, poor wages, hardship, alarming.
Captains Deacon and Beynon, master mariners brave,
set sail from the port on the crest of the wave,
I hear them whispering to me, tales of ancestors past,
that echo through the ages, distant and vast,
long-forgotten names, that still can be found,
in the churchyard, on slates, stuck in the ground.
I wonder today what my ancestors would think,
would they now be sat in the Rashleigh having a drink,
would they be talking about emmetts, second homes, and all things not local,
Granny Lucking for one was always so vocal,
there is one thing though that I think we would all agree,
we were so lucky to grow up in Charlestown close to the sea.
I wonder at what the future may hold,
as this Cornish port’s story unfolds,
for in my opinion, one thing is most vital,
it must keep its World Heritage title,
for tis a place close to my heart,
because my family were here right from the start.
Lyndon D Allen 2024.
Lyndon Allen grew up in Charlestown, St Austell. He comes from two longstanding historical families in Charlestown, who have been an integral part of village life for over 230 years, particularly in its maritime heritage. Lyndon attended both Charlestown and Penrice schools before leaving in 1981. He pursued a career in the commercial fishing industry, working from the port of Charlestown for thirty-six years, in line with his family’s strong connection to the sea. He retired from the fishing industry in 2019.
Currently, Lyndon operates the award-winning Charlestown Walking Tours, a business he established after the lockdown. He is also an author, a passionate historian, and manages eleven Facebook historygroups, including the popular St Austell History Group. Lyndon has authored four comprehensive history books: two on Charlestown’s history, one on St Austell’s history, and a maritime history book about the St Austell and Mevagissey Bays.
His books are available for purchase on his website at www.charlestowntours.co.uk
