Helford River

A little further up river is Tremayne Quay, built for a visit by Queen Victoria in the 1840s which she then declined to make, allegedly because it was raining.

In 1882, Merthen Hole was the highest point at which the colliers unloaded and Bishop's Quay was the base for a dozen pilchard boats.

This activity amounts to about 1 million pounds sterling a year, and the oyster fishery is being revived.

The industries have largely been replaced by tourist activities, in particular those relating to the sea, although at the head of the river the landscape is dominated by the extensive operations of Gweek Boatyard and the base of marine drilling and construction company Fugro Seacore, although the latter has moved its main base to Falmouth.

These introduce and recommend safeguards, such as those put forward by Helford River Marine Conservation Group.

Aged oaks and ″firs″ between Gweek and Pont St Fual Lodges, and surplus wood from the rest of the estate was exported from Bishop's Quay (grid reference SV721225) to the colleries of south Wales and the principal towns of Cornwall.