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The ever-enthralling resort of
Falmouth - otherwise known as Pennycomequick -
lies at the mouth of the River Fal on Cornwall’s
idyllic south coast, the so-called Cornish
Riviera, and looks out onto the world’s third
largest natural harbour.
An important port since the days of the Tudors, it
is guarded both by Henry VIII’s angular Pendennis
Castle and St Mawes Castle (1543).
A Ness-style, hump-backed sea monster said to lurk
in the bay has allegedly been sighted many times. |
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Falmouth Custom House Quay -
Photo:
Tony Atkin
CCL |
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Falmouth Harbour - Photo:
John Spivey
CCL |
The town only became a holiday centre with the
arrival of the railways but before that pioneered
the use of mail boats from the Continent.
Britain's defeat of the French at the Battle of
Trafalgar, and the death of Admiral Nelson, are
said to have been first announced here.
Curiously, Falmouth was the inspired creation of
Sir John Killigrew in the early 1600s. He had been
urged to build it by Sir Walter Raleigh, a man
well aware of its strategic position. On the
harbourside is the award-winning National Maritime
Museum Cornwall.
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