A Sojourn through Smuggler's Cove

Behind Cornwall's charming coastal villages lies an infamous, seafaring past

- Teja Lele

Located between Lands End and Penzance, Mousehole is still home to a working harbour and small wooden fishing boats still line the quay today.

A STRIKING, 1930 TOPSAIL SCHOONER, dubbed Anny, looms large over a small fleet of square riggers that pepper the blue waters of the Charlestown Harbour in Cornwall, UK. Along with the Kajsamoor, a two-masted ketch built in 1939, this Danish-built, fishing boat turned daysailing flagship takes pride of place at the renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site, ready to take to the seas. The vessels are anchored not far from a row of charming Georgian buildings that sit cheek by jowl with tiny fishermen's cottages. Gazing at the towering ship's masts and quaint, slant-roofed cottages, I am jolted by the feeling of having stepped back in time. Could I have turned back the clock?

My fascination with Cornwall began when I first read about it in a Famous Five adventure by Enid Blyton many moons ago. So, when a chance to travel to this ceremonial county came along, I grabbed it. My pre-travel research revealed that the foundation of Charlestown was laid between 1791 and 1801 by Charles Rashleigh, a local landowner, who constructed the port to export copper and China clay—Cornwall's 'white gold'—from local mines. As I explore the harbour on foot centuries later, my mind pictures the small port bustling with the arrival and departure of ships and boats in the early 1800s.

I soon find however that the history of Cornwall truly comes alive in its small seaside villages where piracy—and later smuggling—thrived. The Shipwreck Treasure Museum in Charlestown may have closed down, but many locals keep a wealth of stories about the region's seafaring past.