Between Safe Flags: Bathers and Visitors Enjoying Portreath Beach at Low Tide – Exposed Shore with Sand Patterns, Calm Sea View with Blue Sky.
Portreath today is a very popular Cornish village whose beach is enjoyed by surfers and visitors alike. The RNLI provide lifeguards to keep it safe. In its early days, residents of this small settlement owed their existence to fishing, agriculture and tin streaming. In 1800 a small fleet of seine boats were based here and their main catch was pilchards. Once salted they were either consumed locally or exported to Italy. At the same time copper and tin mines in the area needed a port from which to transport their ore. From 1760 this began to develop at a great pace following construction of the current pier. This offered shelter to the small vessels taking the minerals to Wales and returning with cargoes of coal. In 1801 the outer basin was excavated, to provide shelter for 25 of these small vessels known as the ‘Welsh Fleet.’ The white structure at the end of the wall is known locally as the ‘Monkey Hut’. The early pilots would shelter here between guiding vessels into port, by waving flags or waving coloured lanterns. Another structure here is known as ‘Dead Man’s Hut’, being a resting place for the bodies of drowned sea farers. In January 2014, following winter storms, a section of the old wall near this Look-out Hut, collapsed into the sea. This has now been repaired.
Size: 5714px × 3809px
Location: Portreath Beach, Cornwall, England.
Photo credit: © John Insull / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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