Ah Fowey – having braved a considerable south- westerly as I rounded Gribbin Head, it was a pleasant relief to find relative shelter in this busy little port town. This was another place that my parents loved and like so many places in Cornwall, holds wonderful memories for me as well. Apart from the wonderful seascapes, the only object worthy of mention prior to entering Fowey is the Waymark Tower on Gribbin Head. This again was the “gift” of Charles Rashleigh; sailors looking for safe passage into Carrick Roads at the entrance to Falmouth harbour often mistook Gribbin Head for the former, so in 1832 Rashleigh provided the funding and commissioned the construction of the red- and white-striped tower which, contrary to popular belief, is not a lighthouse, but merely a beacon to distinguish between the two headlands.
Fowey as ever is bustling today; the town has a proud maritime tradition, not all of it necessarily on the side of law and order. In the days of the Crusades it was, with Barnstaple, Dartmouth, and Exeter, one of the most important ports south of Bristol. In 1346, it was said to have mustered 47 ships and 770 men for Edward III’s blockade of Calais. Today, it remains a thriving port albeit for different reasons.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, few towns on the northern French coast were spared constant raids by the “Fowey Gallants,” the “rich, proud, and mischievous men” who were part traders, part privateers, and part pirates. Edward IV agreed with the French to stop this constant harrying, but the Gallants decided this was not in their best interests and continued the raids with a new-found vigour. The result of this was that Edward joined forces with the Dartmouth men and mounted a daring plan to steal the Fowey men’s ships, which effectively put an immediate halt to their piratical deeds.
Relics of these swashbuckling days are to be found all around the area. The river mouth had a chain draped across it between two “blockhouses” to slice the masts from any unwelcome visitors’ ships and St Catherine’s Castle. On the headland is a relic from the time of Henry VIII, when it was originally a lighthouse before becoming a fort to defend the river mouth.
Today, Fowey is an exit port for China Clay (kaolin) that is mined around the St Austell area, and it is quite a sight to see a 10,000-tonne ship being shepherded up the river by the pilot vessel to the deep-water jetties farther upstream, where it will be loaded.
Finally, Fowey has facilities for small craft, and in the summer particularly, you will see many yachts and pleasure boats at anchor as their owners enjoy a beer and a meal in the town.
Fowey is quintessentially Cornish, with that heady mix of narrow streets, history, ancient buildings, and seafaring legends, none more dastardly than those of the Fowey Gallants.