Visit Porthleven Harbour, Cornwall, England

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Porthleven is a town, civil parish and fishing port near Helston in Cornwall, England, UK. As the most southerly port in Great Britain, it was originally developed as a harbour of refuge, when this part of the Cornish coastline was infamous for wrecks in the days of sail. The South West Coast Path from Somerset to Dorset passes through the town. William Cookworthy acquired leases on the Tregonning Hill quarries and shipped china clay to his porcelain factory in Plymouth. In 1826, 150 tons of china stone and 30 tons of china clay were exported, and in 1838, 500 tons of china stone. By 1876, 970 tons were exported and in 1883, 1002 tons. Granite was also exported, from the quarries at Coverack Bridges and Sithney. Fifty-two fishing boats were built between 1877 and 1883, employing at times up to twenty people. They ranged in length from 22 feet (6.7 m) to 55 feet (17 m) and were built not only for Mount's Bay ports, but for others in the UK and in South Africa. Overnight on 12–13 December 1978, Police Constables Joseph James Childs and Martin Ross Reid of Devon and Cornwall Police were killed when their patrol car was swept into the harbour during a heavy storm. A stone memorial was erected on the south-facing harbour wall.

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