Portreath Celebrates
and the Rector blesses a wagon
Two hundred years ago - not long after Trevenson Church opened - the Railway Age came to Portreath.
It was in October 1809 that Lord de Dunstanville laid the first rail of his new horse-drawn tramway, linking Portreath
with the mines of Poldice. Bicentennial celebrations were timed to coincide with Harbour Fun Day and St Mary’s folk were well to the fore - though it wasn’t always easy to spot them in their period dress!
The lugger Barnabas sailed into the harbour, recalling bygone days when thequay-side teemed with sailing boats, bringing coal from South Wales and returning with copper and tin ore for smelting.
Children from Pool Business & Enterprise College createda magnificent reproduction of one of the wagons that used to run on the old tramway. It’s now on permanent display in Greenfield Gardens, and as part of the festivities Mike Kippax was called upon to bless it. “I’ve always tried to avoid blessing inanimate objects,” he explained, but happily made an exception in this case. What railway enthusiast wouldn’t?
St Mary’s Church was at the centre of festivities, hostingan amazing display of historical photographs and artefacts. There was even a working model of the Incline and we had great difficulty dissuading the Wednesday morning congregation from playing with it!
