DISCOVER FALMOUTH, Cornwall
Falmouth (Cornish: Aberfal) is a town and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England. It is both a town and a civil parish.
The name Falmouth comes from the river Fal, which is a Norse/Danish Viking name, strongly suggesting that the Danes used the deep water harbour as a landing/resting place.
During the Viking Age, the Danes did ally with the Britons of Cornwall, and the Vikings helped their Cornish allies by making pillaging raids on the South coast of Devon and Dorset, which was then controlled by the Saxons of Wessex, who were historically the enemies of both the Danes and the Britons.
Falmouth is the "gateway" to the Lizard peninsula and South-West Cornwall as a whole.
 FALMOUTH HARBOUR
Falmouth is famous for its harbour. Together with Carrick Roads, it forms the third deepest natural harbour in the world, & the deepest in Western Europe. It is also famous for being the start or finish point of various round-the-world record-breaking voyages, such as those of Sir Francis Chichester and Dame Ellen MacArthur. It is at the terminus of A39, which passes in succession close to the neighbouring town of Penryn .
There is a year-round ferry service to St Mawes, on the other side of Carrick Roads. During the holiday season several other ferry services operate, mainly sight-seeing cruises up the Fal. These vessels are also available for hire.
ECONOMY, INDUSTRY AND TOURISM
Whilst Falmouth's maritime activity has much declined from its heyday, the docks are still a major contributor to the town's economy. It is one of the largest ports in Cornwall. Falmouth is still a cargo port and the bunkering of vessels and the transfer of cargoes also keep the port's facilities busy. The port is also becoming popular with cruise ship operators with sixty-four cruise ship calls to Falmouth due in 2007. Further up the sheltered reaches of the Fal there are several ships laid up, awaiting sailing orders and/or new owners/charterers.
With its fine Georgian town houses converted into guest houses and small hotels, often overlooking one of the beaches, Falmouth has proven a popular holiday destination and it is now primarily a tourist resort. The five main beaches starting next to Pendennis Castle and moving along the coast towards the Helford river are Castle, Tunnel, Gyllyngvase, Swanpool and Maenporth beach. The National Maritime Museum Cornwall opened in February 2003.
There is a Tesco on Killigrew Street in the centre of the town. The nearest Asda is on Jennings Road, near the A39 Penryn bypass and Mabe Burnthouse. There is a Co-op in Ponsharden at the north end of the town close to the A39 Draceana Avenue.
CULTURE OF FALMOUTH
The Lady of the Lamp, Florence Nightingale, visited Falmouth and stayed at the town's Greenbank Hotel. Her name in the register can be viewed at the hotel today.
Falmouth has many literary connections. The town was the birthplace of Toad, Mole and Rat.
Kenneth Grahame's classic Wind in the Willows began as a series of letters sent to his son. The first two were written at the Greenbank Hotel whilst Grahame was a guest in May 1907. Reproductions of the letters are currently on display in the hotel.
Poldark author Winston Graham knew the town well and set his novel The Forgotten Story (1945) in Falmouth.
The town has been the setting for several films and television programmes. British film star Will Hay was a familiar face in Falmouth in 1935 whilst filming his comedy Windbag the Sailor. The movie had many scenes of the docks area. The docks area was featured in some scenes with John Mills for the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic. Robert Newton, Bobby Driscoll and other cast members of the 1950 Walt Disney movie Treasure Island, (some scenes were filmed along the river Fal), were visitors to the town.
Stars from the BBC TV serial The Onedin Line stayed in the town during filming in the late 1970s.
The town has a football team in the South Western League, Falmouth Town F.C., who play at Bickland Park in the south-west of the town, and also Falmouth RFC, a rugby union club who play at a site at the top of the moor.
RECREATION IN FALMOUTH
With its proximity to sheltered and unsheltered waters, Falmouth has long been a popular boating and water sports location. Solo yachtsman Robert Manry who sailed the Atlantic from Falmouth, Massachusetts to Falmouth, Cornwall from June-August 1965 in the thirteen and a half foot Tinkerbelle, (the smallest boat to make the crossing at the time), stayed at the Greenbank Hotel upon completion of his voyage.
The town was the location for the 1998 Tall Ships' Race in which approximately ninety Tall Ships set sail for Lisbon, Portugal.
It also saw total coverage of the total eclipse of the sun at 11:11am on 11 August 1999 where the eclipse lasted just over two minutes — the longest duration in the UK.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FALMOUTH
Formerly Falmouth College of Arts, University College Falmouth has two campuses in the Falmouth area; the original town site, Woodlane, and the other in the Combined Universities in Cornwall campus at Tremough, Penryn. The College offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses chiefly in the fields of Art, Design and Media.
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Falmouth as seen from the harbour.
Photo by Eva K.
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Falmouth Harbor
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