BOSCASTLE

 Boscastle (Cornish: Kastel Boterel) is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall. It is 14 miles (23 km) south of Bude and 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Tintagel.

It's another of those pretty little fishing villages with which Cornwall abounds. The harbour is deep set into the cliffs, and you need to climb up to the viewing point to see it in its entirety.

A flash flood on 16 August 2004 caused extensive damage to the village. Residents were trapped in houses as the roads turned into rivers: people were trapped on roofs, in cars, in buildings and on the river's banks. and the village's visitor centre was washed away
Boscastle was flooded again on 21 June 2007 although the scale of destruction was not nearly as serious as in 2004.

Boscastle's small harbour dates to the 16th.century, when it was built to handle slate from the nearby Delabole quarries, and it is now looked after by the National Trust.



The curious thing about Boscastle harbour is, you can see the boats tied up, but you can't see either the entrance or the sea!  From the view below, the boats turn right, then sharp left through the narrow harbour entrance, completely hidden from view. It's then still a fair distance to where the river finally empties into the sea.

Entering the harbour could be fraught with peril, so every ship was towed into the harbour by a 'hobbler' boat, rowed by 8 men, while more men on shore used ropes to keep the ship in the centre of the channel. Once ships were safely at anchor, goods were offloaded and put on carts. Strong teams of horses pulled the carts up the steep slope out of Boscastle. The horses were often kept at the Palace Stables, which is now the youth hostel.