Polperro harbour

A tourist boat trip leaves Polperro harbour

Polperro is a small fishing village on the south Cornwall coast in south west England. Situated on the River Pol, four miles west of the major resort of Looe and 25 miles west of the major city and port of Plymouth, it has a picturesque fishing harbour lined with tightly packed houses which make it a popular tourist location in the summer months.

Tourism

Tourism is now Polperro's main industry. Visitors cannot take their cars into the village; they leave their vehicles in the main car park just outside the town as they approach from the north and walk the remaining half mile to the harbour. There are horse and cart rides and milk floats disguised as trams for anybody who feels they cannot manage the walk.

Attractions for visitors include the South West Coast Path, the 630 mile long walk from Dorset to Somerset which passes the village and offers day walks along the scenic local coastline, especially to the pretty Talland Bay, just adjacent to Polperro. The village also has the Polperro Heritage Museum of Fishing and Smuggling which is housed on the harbour side in an old fish processing warehouse, it has interesting photographs from the village's history. Guided walks are available for the visitor who wants some help in finding the more interesting parts of the village and there are boat trips from the harbour to view the coast line and occasionally dolphins and seals.

Fishing

Fishing has always been a principal occupation for the people of Polperro. For centuries the village was a pilchard fishing and processing port. The fish were drawn to the south Cornwall coast to feed in late summer and brought rich pickings for local fishermen. Once ashore, the fish were salted and pressed and the oil was collected as a by-product and used for heating and lighting. Polperro pilchards were exported to many parts of Europe. Shoals of the fish diminished in the 20th century and pilchard fishing died out in Polperro in the 1960s, but today the port still has around 12 commercial vessels fishing for flat fish, scallops, crabs, monkfish, rays, pollocks, bass and cod.

Smuggling

Smuggling has been rife since Polperro developed as a port in the 12th century. It reached its zenith in the 1700s when Britain's wars with America and France forced high taxation of many imported goods, making it worthwhile for the local fishermen to boost their income by covertly importing spirits and tobacco. The introduction of a more organised coast guard service in the 19th century along with stiff penalties led to the level of smuggling dropping significantly. The above-mentioned South West Coast Path actually came into being as a working path as it was originally used by Revenue Officers as they patrolled the coast in search of smugglers.