Polruan (Cornish: Porthruwan)[1] is a coastal village in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

Polruan was the major shipbuilding site in the harbour and the owners and the families of the mariners lived in the village.

[7] As wooden shipbuilding declined in late 19th century, Brazen Island became a sardine processing factory which also supplied electricity for the village.

[12] Other transport includes the Polruan ferry, which crosses the river to and from Fowey every 15 minutes and operates every day of the year.

Now, through the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI), a voluntary charity, many of the surviving old coastguard lookouts and towers are being re-staffed by qualified volunteers.

(The current His Majesty's Coastguard headquarters for cliff rescue, including the equipment store, is on St Saviour's Hill adjacent to the NCI Station, above the main village carpark.

[16]) The current Polruan NCI Station overlooks the Fowey estuary and also St Austell Bay beyond the village.

[17][18] Daphne du Maurier once stayed in the village and based her first novel, The Loving Spirit, on the Slade family of shipbuilders and mariners.

Actor Patrick Malahide, who amongst other roles, played Inspector Chisholm in the popular television series Minder is also another Polruan resident.

The illustrator Mabel Lucie Attwell lived in the village,[20] as did the absurdist English playwright Norman F.

[21] Raynor Winn, the author of The Salt Path, used to live in Polruan, which is the mid- and end-point of the 630-mile walk described in the book.

The latter part of the film follows an actress who comes to Polruan to live out the remainder of her life, following a brain tumour, with her surgeon husband.

A local, Mrs Baker, was included in the filming of the egg and spoon race and calls... "Let's get shoes off!