Charlestown harbour

Charlestown is a Georgian harbour village a couple of miles east of St Austell. The harbour itself is unchanged since the late 18th century – it was built by Charles Rashleigh between 1791 and 1801 to ship out copper ore and china clay – which is why it has been used so often for film and television, including the recent Poldark series. Tall ships are sometimes moored in the dock.

We went on a very wet afternoon at the back end of a day out in early June. Most of the cafes and the harbour-side food places were closed for the day by the time we arrived. The harbour itself is a tight little basin with stone quays and Georgian buildings around it, and even in the rain it was beautiful. On a sunny day with the food places open and a tall ship in the dock it would be a different experience entirely.

A few things worth knowing for a dog visit:

The shingle beach at Charlestown – down the steps from the harbour wall – does not allow dogs between 1 April and 31 October. We discovered this only after we had walked down to it. The dog ban is on the beach itself, not on the harbour-side paths.

Wilma is happy on calm beaches but does not want to be near moving water. There is plenty of moving water at Charlestown – the harbour gates, the breaking waves at the harbour mouth – and she found the whole thing a bit much. If your dog is similar, you might prefer to walk the upper harbour-side streets and admire it from a distance.

The harbour has the Shipwreck Treasure Museum (dogs allowed in the outdoor sections but not inside), a small selection of food and drink places, the Charlestown Galleon ship moored as part of the heritage display, and the South West Coast Path running through. The clifftop walks east and west are beautiful in dry weather.

We had a cup of tea before driving back to the cabin. The drying coats earned their place in the kit bag again.

The Charlestown beach dog ban runs 1 April to 31 October. Dogs are welcome year-round on the harbour streets and quays.

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