Before the next heatwave, we venture north to Boscastle. This little harbour was busiest in the 19th century, when heavy goods (such as coal, ironwork and timber) and general merchandise were brought from south Wales and Bristol, with returning cargoes of slate, china clay and manganese ore. Incoming vessels were towed in through the tortuous entrance by “hobbler” boats, manned by oarsmen, and disembarked goods hauled inland by teams of horses.
Today, visitors stroll on the quays and along the higher paths beside dried-up vegetation enlivened by orange swaths of invasive montbretia. A few daredevils swim out past the breakwater and climb on slippery rocks by the blowhole on Penally Point. In the summer calm, it is difficult to imagine the flood of August 2004, when water gushed down the narrow Valency Valley, demolishing houses and washing cars, caravans and trees out to sea.
