THE CORNISH BIRD REVIEW

When I published Charlestown – Time and Tide five years ago, I believed I had uncovered much of the true history of my ancestors' village. The book was the culmination of years of research into Charlestown's past, drawing together original records, maps, newspapers and family documents to tell the story as accurately as the evidence allowed. But history has a habit of refusing to stand still. Since the book was published, new evidence has emerged, overlooked documents have co

Personally, I believe far too much of our local history has been set in stone, so to speak. A story is written down, repeated often enough and, over time, simply accepted as fact. Rarely do we stop to question where the information originally came from or whether the evidence actually supports it. I've always been someone who goes against the grain. I don't accept history simply because it's the version we've always been told. I like to look at things differently, to question

For many years, I have suspected that the change of name from West Polmear to Charlestown took place earlier than prominent local historians, including A. L. Rowse and Richard Larn, have suggested. I have openly said this at talks and on my tours. However, I needed evidence. The date usually given is 1800 or 1801, when the new village was said to have been completed. Yet it always seemed more likely to me that such an important change would have marked a specific achievement.

This is a story, a Cornish story, about a little Georgian port that would grace television and cinema screens worldwide, famed for its unspoilt character, and it became a go-to location for film companies Early Film History in Charlestown Filming in Charlestown began in 1936 with The Cornish Pyramids, a black-and-white film exploring the china clay industry. Its Charlestown scenes show dock workers manning the capstans to open the harbour gates and release the Dutch vessel Be