| Boscastle |
13th October 2009
A lovely sunny warm day, just the perfect weather for taking a
short bus ride to Boscastle and dragging my dad along with me.
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The name Boscastle is derived from Bottreaux Castle, which was built by
the Bottreaux family after the Norman conquest. It's first occupants dates back to the iron age when a castle was built on Willapark Headland. The harbour was built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville. With it's tiny port and natural harbour, Boscastle used to be a thriving port before the coming of the railways (1893), serving much of Cornwall with ships and boats coming in to drop off and load their cargo, which would then of been loaded onto horse drawn transport, up the old road with deliveries being made to other local villages. |
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Boscastle is where Thomas Hardy met and courted
his wife to be, Emma Lavinia Gifford. The courtship and oscastle had a lasting impression and was a big influence on Hardy's work as a poet and author. |
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We found a bench to sit and have lunch in
Valency Valley, a tasty pasty bought from the village and made by
Malcolm Barnecott Pasties from Wadebridge. My dad was happy to see these pasties being sold here as he used to buy them, when he was a boy, from the bakery in Trebetherick, known as Rock Bakery. |
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A walk through the Valency Valley where the river winds through the wild and unspolit woods down to Boscastle Harbour. |
The new bridge was built after Boscastle was more or less destroyed in a flood on the 16th August 2004. Four properties were completely demolished and another sixty or so were flooded by the 40mph floodwaters that rushed through the village, carrying 116 vehicles, (84 damaged cars were found in the harbour and streets, 32 are probably still out at sea), trees and boulders. Helicopters airlifted people to safety, no-one was seriously injured. |
For photographs of the 2004 flood visit the North Cornwall National Trust blog site. also visit the Boscastle flood photo set |
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| Photographs © Anna Marrie 13th October 2009 |