Ertach Kernow - Old guidebooks illustrate growth of Cornish towns
Cornish guidebooks are now mostly found online as the most economical and accessible way of sharing and getting information about holiday towns and places of interest. But from their early inception in paper form they provided tourists with descriptions of Cornwall’s ‘watering holes’ and surrounding areas. Today these books are of great interest to historians as they map the growth of towns, often evolving from small coastal communities to large centres attracting holiday makers in their thousands.
Railways are not perhaps as busy in relation to tourism as they once were, todays travellers often preferring their own transport. For those coming to Cornwall to surf, sadly trains are not always particularly accommodating to surfboards. It was however the railway system that opened Cornwall to mass tourism from the later part of the 19th century once the Royal Albert Bridge was completed in 1859.
Most of Cornwall’s coastal communities are tourist destinations with local people often pushed out through high prices as second houses and Airbnb’s take over. Expansion of tourist parks and holiday villages outside major towns with their own wide range of entertainment facilities mean fewer people are spending time and money in town centres as they may have done in past decades. Do these towns which came into being and expanded during the 19th and 20th centuries on a wave of mass tourism now need to evolve once again? There may now be fewer hotels but those who have invested and expanded their amenities are benefiting from far more profitable quality tourism also benefiting local businesses.
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Looking back to the early days, Black’s and the perhaps better-known Ward Lock red guidebooks provided some indication of what was taking place within Cornish towns and Cornwall as a whole. It is not just the infrastructure which has changed over the 160 years since guidebook companies began promoting Cornwall, but increasingly the culture and interest in Cornish heritage. The resurgence of the then almost lost Cornish language can be seen throughout Cornwall with towns, street and road signage in Kernewek.
Adventure in publishing : the House of Ward Lock, 1854-1954 by E G D Living, published in 1954, noted the public’s growing tendency to explore the British Isles. He noted ‘The ubiquity of the railway lines had played its part in the growth of the travel at holiday times and the increasingly popular weekend’. Relating to Cornish travel Edward Living wrote; ‘At Easter, Cornwall was the resort of the well-to-do; in August of working-class folk.’ Speaking to tourists from Germany, USA and other countries beyond the UK who visited Newquay Museum during the early part of the season, they tell how much interest they have in Cornish culture and heritage. With higher visitor museum numbers than those from the United Kingdom they certainly outspent them as well. This helps illustrate a small but interesting fact about the economy relating to Cornish heritage and the economic benefits of quality foreign tourism.
Places such as Bude, now a thriving tourist town, albeit far smaller than Newquay, did not exist as part of the guidebook itinerary in any meaningful way until around the late 19th century. Black’s Guide of 1855 has no mention of Bude whatsoever or even Stratton its much more ancient close neighbour. However, in 1866 Bradshaw’s Guide had written; ‘Bude–a small port and picturesque village in the north-eastern extremity of Cornwall – has, within the last half-dozen years, risen to the dignity of a fashionable marine resort, to which distinction the excellent facilities it affords to bathers, and the picturesque scenery of its environs, have in a great measure contributed. The bed of the harbour, which is dry at low water, is composed of a fine bright yellow sand, chiefly consisting of small shells. The sea view is of a striking, bold, and sublime description – the rocks rising on every side to lofty broken elevations; and those who desire a sequestered and romantic retreat will find in Bude the very object of their wish.’ Bradshaw’s was obviously visionary as in Black’s Guidebook of 1871 Bude and Stratton warranted a mention only as far as population was concerned at 396 and 500 respectively. The Tregellas ‘Tourist Guide to Cornwall’ in its 1880 edition says of Bude, ‘a favourite and growing watering-place’ but nothing else and Black’s again says nothing of the town apart from a railway connection and population in its 1883 edition. The population of both Bude and Stratton had risen considerably since 1871 to 1,983 in Stratton and Bude Haven as it was then known, to 914. It was in 1898 the final link of the London & South Western Railway line from Holsworthy to Bude was completed and opened the town to greater expansion. Certainly the Thorough Guide had been including Bude for the previous decade although noting rail transport needed to be completed by horse coach from Holsworthy.
Bude had its canal, but this is time was overshadowed by the railway, although remaining an important part of the towns heritage offering. It also benefitted from the construction of Bude Castle originally the residence of its builder Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, later from 1947 council offices and now the towns museum, a wonderful tourist attraction. Hotels include the Falcon established in 1798 with lovely views overlooking the Bude Canal. The Grenville Hotel completed in 1912 eventually morphing into the Adventure International in 1988 now offering a different type of holiday experience. Although the railway was closed in 1966 Bude has become established as a successful evolving resort. It’s also encouraging to know that the local council has a dedicated Cultural and Heritage Services Committee.
On Cornwall’s south coast Falmouth although already a busy port also became known as a holiday resort and expanded through its railway connection. Originally a small settlement around a manor house begun by the Killigrew family during the early 17th century the settlement grew into two small hamlets known as Pennycomequick, derived from early Cornish meaning ‘head of the creek’, and Smithwick. It was renamed Falmouth in 1660 by order of King Charles II who granted a Royal Charter in 1661.
Black’s Guide of 1855 does not expound its virtues as a place to holiday although mentioning something of the towns history as well as three inns the Green Bank, the Royal and King’s Arms. Later many large hotels were constructed and expanded to meet the needs of the holiday trade. Novelist Mrs Dinah Craik mentions her visit to Falmouth in 1881 preferring the older less opulent Greenbank Hotel for her stay there. Although maritime trade had led to the initial spurt in building and population it was the arrival of the first passenger train on 24th August 1863 that led to Falmouth’s increasing expansion. Some thirty years later Black’s Guidebook had increased Falmouth’s entry considerably, noting that the population of the town had fallen by twelve percent to 4,373 over that same period. The 1886 guide shared more of Falmouth’s history mentioning its incorporation, fairs and markets, as well as facts and importance of Carrick Roads and Falmouth as a harbour and the hall of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society as points of interest. For Black’s it seems Falmouth was not quite ready to be a holiday destination saying, ‘There is little within its limits to interest the tourist or delight the topographical antiquary’.
Tregellas’ guide of 1880 was a little kinder to Falmouth as a tourist town, pointing out that it was now recovering from the loss of the packet service to Southampton in 1850. It mentions; ‘Its magnificent situation charming climate and beautiful surrounding walks render Falmouth a highly attractive resort’ also ‘There is a beautiful drive recently formed around the promontory’ illustrating that there was work undertaken to improve its tourist interests. Tregellas goes into some detail about the two castles at Pendennis and St Mawes and their individual histories. The Thorough Guide of 1892 mentions the population as 4,273, so still hadn’t recovered to its previous peak in the mid-19th century. Although its importance as a trading centre had fallen it was apparently becoming more popular as a resort due to its climate and picturesque views, but sadly let down by the towns main street described as ‘long, narrow and rather dingey’ although it had some good shops and a fair number of lodgings and villas.
Following the railway connection Falmouth now had the newly built Falmouth Hotel completed in 1865 in addition to its earlier visitor accommodation. The first purpose-built hotel for modern tourism it was the start of an expansion of hotel accommodation through the town which also saw the hotel itself extended twice in its first decades. The Green Bank an inn from the 1640 was updated and extended and first advertising itself as a hotel in 1831. The Royal Duchy Hotel when first completed in 1893 was known as the Pendennis Hotel and following World War I the ‘Falmouth Hydro’. During the early 20th century many new hotels were completed or converted from large houses fuelling Falmouth’s growth into a tourist destination. This included the Bay Hotel designed by the famous Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail which opened in 1911. This like many holiday resort hotels has now been demolished replaced by alternative accommodation. A few still remain including early ones like the Green Bank and Falmouth Hotels.
These historic guides followed the fortunes of holiday regions until they gradually fell out of use replaced by cheap paper disposable brochures and the internet. Many buildings, activities and places described became obsolete and demolished, including railway lines, or changed almost beyond recognition. Happily they are recorded and recalled in these guidebooks of past times.
Our ongoing Cornish Place Names project promoting knowledge about the Cornish language names of Kernow's towns, villages and places. Downloadable poster and audio pronunciation is available via this link to 'Koyt / Quoits'. Click image to access.
