Portreath 20th Oct 2020

A quick flight around Portreath Harbour on a beautiful sunny Autumn day in North Cornwall a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about three miles northwest of Redruth. The village extends along both sides of a stream valley and is centred on the harbour and beach.

The name Portreath (meaning "sandy cove") was first recorded in 1485, and tin streaming in the valley was recorded from 1602. Devon contractor Samuel Nott was engaged to build the first mole (or quay) in 1713 on the western side of the beach, near Amy's Point The quay was destroyed by the sea before 1749, and the foundations are occasionally seen when the sea washes away the sand. The harbour we see today was started in 1760 to service the expanding ore industry in the Camborne and Redruth area. The quay was extended and the inner basin constructed in 1846; New Dock, now known as Little Beach, was constructed in the 1860s.

In the late 1770s, during the American Revolutionary War, Francis Basset, lieutenant-colonel of the North Devon militia, commanded local miners to fortify the port, which helped counter a Franco-Spanish invasion fleet gathered as part of the European theatre of the war. Some of the foritifications are still standing to this day.

By 1827, Portreath was described as Cornwall's most important port and was, with Devoran on the south coast, one of the main ports for sending the copper ore mined in the Gwennap area to Swansea, Wales for smelting. The ships returned with Welsh coal to fire the steam engines used on the mines. The peak of this enterprise was around 1840, when some 100,000 tons of copper ore were shipped out each year.

The Portreath Tramroad, the first railway in Cornwall, was started in 1809 to link the harbour with the copper mines at Scorrier and St Day. By 1812 the tramroad reached Scorrier House, one of the financiers' houses, and was completed by 1819. It was horse-drawn with wagons on an approximately 4 ft (1.2 m) gauge using L-shaped cast iron plates on square granite blocks. The line was little-used after the Poldice mine closed in the 1860s, and the tramroad was closed in 1865.[13]

The Portreath branch of the Hayle Railway was opened in 1838. To the south of the harbour, and on the west side of the valley, are the remains of the old cable-worked incline that linked the harbour to the mainline at Carn Brea. The Portreath incline was one of four on the Hayle Railway; it was 1,716 ft (523 m) long with a rise of about 240 ft (73 m). It was worked by a stationary steam engine, used as the winding engine. Part of the main line of the Hayle Railway was incorporated into the route of the West Cornwall Railway in 1852; the branch line finally closed in 1936.

The railways and Portreath Tramroad associated with the minerals trade today form the Mineral Tramways Coast to Coast, a long-distance cycleway and footpath extending 15 miles (24 km) from Portreath to the south coast.

RRH Portreath, on Nancekuke Common to the north of the village, is now a radar station operated by the RAF, but was originally built in 1940 to be the RAF's main fighter airfield in Cornwall during WWII

The hut at the end of the pier dates back to the days when Portreath was a busy port, shipping copper out and coal in. Whilst the harbour was important the entrance was still treacherous. The Monkey House (although not known as that in those days) was used for shelter by the harbour pilots who would wave flags or lanterns to guide ships into harbour, or warn away if conditions were too dangerous.

The daymark on top of North Cliff at Portreath is known locally as the Pepperpot. It was built as a sign to passing shipping so they knew where they were. It was built in 1846 and also used as a coastguard lookout.