( Overview
/ Two Scilly Bullocks on a Boat
HMC Searcher entered service in 2002 as part of the cutter fleet in the now HM Revenue and Customs.
Using the wonderful water taxi service and helmed by Clare, we went into Fowey. Kevin spent the journey reminiscing with Clare who was brought up in Brentwood, and went out with one of Kevin’s school mates.
Last night’s water taxi driver told us this house has recently been won by an Essex widow in the Omaze draw.
Fowey’s one design keel boat, it was named the Troy after the Troy Town novels of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. First built in 1929 they are only made by approved builders using the specific Troy templates and patterns. The Troy can be identified by the letter T and a number on the main sail.
The Ship Inn is the oldest pub in Fowey. Formerly a merchant’s house owned by the Rashleigh family, in Frenchman’s Creek, the heroine Dona, dressed as a cabin boy, knocks on the door to summon Rashleigh to his ship in Fowey Haven.
St Fimbarrus Church which features in”My Cousin Rachel” is where Q married and is buried. He wrote “The Astonishing History of Troy Town”, a thinly disguised Fowey, which pillories the town’s genteel middle class, whilst celebrating the down-to-earth wit and wisdom of the local Cornish.
Stained glass in St Fimbarrus.
Unfortunately we didn’t detour to Lanteglos church yesterday. Daphne du Maurier married Major Frederick Browning here in 1932 after a whirlwind romance. Having read “Loving Spirit” he searched for her along the coast in his yacht Ygdrasil, and sent her a note asking if she cared to come out in it.
Named Isla, but known as The Rook with a Book, Thrussells created this sculpture to celebrate Daphne Du Maurier who was massively inspired by Cornwall. One of Du Maurier’s most popular stories is ‘The Birds’, famously adapted into a horror film by Alfred Hitchcock.
One interpretation of the story suggests that it reflects the British experience during the Second World War, evoking anxieties about the government's failure to protect their citizens and intrusions into domestic spaces by aggressive interlopers.
In 1892, Q and his family moved to The Haven, and made it their home for the rest of their lives. We do wonder when and why Arthur Quiller-Couch decided to name his daughter Foy. Did she find it funny to say she was Foy from Fowey (pronounced Foy)?
We discovered the Royal Fowey Yacht Club down some steep steps.
The verandah is a great place to enjoy a drink overlooking the estuary. Near the quay is very touristy and busy, but it’s easy to escape the crowds.
Pegasus is a gaff rigged pilot cutter built in 2008 based on the designs of the Bristol Pilot Cutters. She is skippered and offers chartered berths and races competitively in the Tall Ships’s Races.
Snark is also available to charter or for dining aboard in Exeter docks. She is a 110 feet modern spiritsail sailing barge, commonly referred to as a Thames Barge.
Polruan Blockhouse. The blockhouses were built on either side of the harbour mouth around 1380. A chain was hung between both, which could be raised in order to prevent undesirable ships entering the harbour.
A delicious meal at Appletons’s with clams to start and freshly made pasta.
Jules (and Beau) were our taxi drivers back directly to Avalon.
We’ve not met many people who enjoy their work so much as the water taxi drivers. They all have had previous jobs, but told us they would literally do this for nothing!
Our attempts at online shopping had issues! The bilge pump is the wrong model, and the Tesco delivery became a saga. Fortunately we walked to the quay early to wait for the driver to phone - which he did because he couldn’t get through the security gate a mile up the hill as it was after hours.
Working on number plate recognition it refused to open. Luckily at that moment some chaps returned from evening racing. Cap (and a bottle of wine) in hand we asked if someone could drive us to the van and back. Daniel obliged, and Martin was patiently waiting. A late night for him, so a real star.
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