Fred Charman is seen driving the boat. His sons Fred and Trevor are rowing in the background.
Estuary.
Both were connected by a chain. When potential enemies were sighted, it was simply raised through the water, providing an impenetrable barrier to the settlements behind.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth century pilchards were caught and exported from the estuary to Mediterranean countries in large numbers. Converted net lofts on Town Quay are among the best remains of Poruan`s fishing industry which, unlike Fowey`s was still very active in the centre of town during the later 19th century. Fish cellar sites (palaces) are recorded in West and East street. Here pilchards were layed in walls or `bulks`, and then pressed into barrels using weighted beams held in sockets in the walls then pickled in brine or smoked for export.
Polruan was first referred to by name in 1292 when Philip Daubany and his heirs received a grant from the king for a weekly market on Tuesday for “his manor of Polruan”. But, with its sheltered natural harbour , Polruan would have been a focus for trade by river and sea from prehistory.
The ruined but still prominent chapel on top of the headland was probably designed as a mark for the harbour approaches. In 1488 Sir Richard Edgcumbe made a pilgrimage to Polruan to give thanks at St Saviour`s for his safe return from Ireland with three ships from Fowey.
With the wars of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century, activity in the port greatly increased as local shipping was used to carry men horses and arms to France for the Royal campaigns.
In 1457 the French Navy attacked Fowey and probably prompted the building of two defensive blockhouses on each side of the
