Charlestown, Cornwall - one of the best coastal walks this summer

The Charlestown, Cornwall is one of the best coastal walks this summer.  The harbour village of Charlestown has extraordinarily survived as a working port to this day; a small amount of china clay is still exported in an roughly 30 to 40 ships a year. You may also come across a film crew or two as several harbour shots are filmed here for movies and television shows.

Charlestown, Cornwall Begin at the nearby town of Par (you can get here by local bus or drive yourself). Head for Carlyon Bay and follow the coastal path that will take you past the railway line and golf course.

The harbour village of Charlestown was a Georgian 'new town', a port development planned by local landowner Charles Rashleigh (after whom it was named) and built between 1790 and 1810 for the export of copper and china clay. all through the nineteenth century the little dock was crowded with ships and the harbourside sheds and warehouses thronged with complementary businesses: boatbuilding, ropemaking, brickworks, lime burning, net houses, bark houses and pilchard curing.

The Charlestown, Cornwall harbour is the home port for a famous collection of old ships which are employed in film projects all over the world - they have brought work and life to the quays and harbour buildings and are a particular draw for visitors. You’ll first spot Charlestown Harbour when you reach Appletree Point, where legend has it that monks once had an apple orchard.