Portloe
OS Grid ref:- SW937395
The small and unspoilt Cornish village of Portloe, located twelve miles from Truro is considered by many to be one of the most attractive villages on the Roseland peninsula.
The village lies in a superb location at the foot of a steep valley leading into beautiful Veryan Bay. It is the very essence of a Cornish fishing village, with a small fishing fleet hauled up onto the pebble beach by the harbour, while lobster pots and nets crowd its quay.
Surrounded by spectacular scenery the village retains much of its old world charm. It acquires its name from the Cornish Porth Logh meaning “cove pool” and grew up in the seventeenth and eighteenth century due to pilchard fishing. The village once supported a small fleet and fishing boats still operate from Portloe today, catching lobster and crab potting.
In the village above the harbour a winding narrow street climbs up the hillside past the quaint stone cottages up to the inn. Dating from the seventeenth century, the Portloe Lugger's Inn, situated near the centre of the village, was once reputed to be the haunt of Cornish smugglers. A former landlord, known as Black Dunstan, was hanged for smuggling in the 1890's. French brandy was a favoured item of the smugglers and was brought ashore and hidden in cellars.
The Ship Inn, crammed with nautical bric-a-brac, dates from the seventeenth century and began life as a fisherman's cottage. The tiny All Saint's church occupies the site of a former lifeboat house.
Portloe was the location for the BBC comedy series Wild West, which starred Dawn French and Catherine Tate and the film “Forever England” which starred John Millls.
Caerhays Castle and the Cove of Portholland lie just to the east of Portloe.