Falmouth- A Fascinating Little Town

For the end of December and beginning of January, we were in a town called Falmouth. During our time there, we visited the local maritime museum many times and went for a few walks with Colin Speedie, a friend who knows a lot about the maritime history of the area.

 Here are three of us with Colin. We were walking along this beach before we stopped for the picture.

Of all the things I learned, three things were particularly interesting: oyster boats, "Falmouth for Orders," and packet ships.

While we were walking with Colin, we saw four boats sailing in Carrick Roads, the bay outside of Falmouth. These boats were old-looking wooden gaff-rigged twenty-foot cutters, a type of sailboat. They were saying with just a small jib, a type of sail, and could have been going much faster. Colin explained that they were fishing for oysters. Apparently, they drag a metal net across the bottom of the bay. Oysters bounce into it when it runs over them, and get pressed into the back of the net until the fisherman hauls it up. 

What is really interesting are the regulations of the industry. As you might expect, there is a rule about the size of oyster that can be kept. Small ones must be thrown back. The more surprising regulation is that you have to be under power of sail or oar to catch oysters. This instantly regulates the sailing side of the fishery through the wind. If the wind is too light, the boats cannot pull as many nets. If it is too strong, then they go faster and catch fewer oysters. By oar, they dredge a different way, and more slowly. They drop an anchor to the bottom and then drift back for hundreds of feet before dropping the net. They then drag themselves forward to the anchor, dragging the oyster net behind them. Once they reach the anchor, they haul in the net. The regulations also mean that people have been fishing in the very same boats, the same way for hundreds of years. Many fisherman are the fifth generation of fisherman using the same boat and net. I was happy to learn from Colin that the Falmouth Oyster fishery is healthy and it preserves some of Falmouth's history. 

 This is the empty shell of an oyster. We found it on a beach covered in boats, fisherman, and equipment.

There is one main problem with the fishery. Slipper limpets, the things stuck on top of each other and the scallop shell, are an invasive species that are choking the bottom and taking away habitat from the oysters.

"Falmouth for Orders" is an order a captain of a ship might be given and means that he is to sail to Falmouth where he will receive orders for the next step. Falmouth is well placed for any ship coming from the Atlantic to Portsmouth or London, two historically important English ports. Unfortunately, the English Channel is a risky place to sail straight into. The ships instead would sail into Falmouth, get their orders, wait for the right weather, and sail on. In the case of a merchant sailing from Australia with a cargo full of wool, the wool could have changed hands many times before it even arrived in England. The wool's final owner would have orders sent to Falmouth, and the ship would receive those instructions in Falmouth before sailing on to meet the cargo's owner at the desired port.

As you might imagine, this practice had a serious effect on the culture of the town. The first effect was the increase in number of pubs and bars on the waterfront. Although the journey was not over, the captain would often advance some of the men's pay in Falmouth. None of the sailors would spare more than a penny for anything other than alcohol and gambling once they could get to the pubs, though they did pride themselves in their appearance during a shore-run. Every sailor would carefully mend and improve his nice clothes, only bringing them out for use during church and for going ashore. Unfortunately, sailors lived a tiring life which wore out clothes, even the most carefully cared for. The prospect of having a new tailored outfit and a fresh shave was therefore very appealing, but even so, the lure of alcohol in the pubs was strong. The tailors and barbers needed a trick to stay in business. They would row out to the ships and measure the sailors for suits, shave them, and collect their money before it disappeared in the pubs. This was a step that the pubs could hardly take, as private alcohol was strictly forbidden on ships. It is worth noting that some merchants would help the sailors try to smuggle it aboard without the officers seeing. The practice of rowing out to meet ships was quite common. Bright individuals could make money by buying fresh food and fancy looking merchandise to sell at a massively marked-up price on the ships anchored in Falmouth harbor.

The first boats out to the ships naturally did the best business, so there was competition. One clever man who lived on the top of a headland built a tower on the top of his house. From there, he looked through a spy glass until he spotted an incoming ship. When he did, he would fly a message in flags, giving warning of the ship's pending arrival. He was clever enough to use a secret code, a code that changed weekly. All the tailors and barbers would buy the code and bribe him to send them an earlier message. The man got quite rich quickly. 

The packet ships go hand in hand with "Falmouth for Orders." A packet ship was a small fast ship tasked with the duty of carrying mail and orders. Only the best seamen were used to carry the top secret information around the British Empire, which, at the time, was scattered most of the way around the globe. Packet ships not only carried mail, of inordinate value to sailors at sea, some of which did not step ashore for years on end, but word of promotion to the less senior officers. For people on land, the packets meant they might hear word from a loved one at sea. As a result, little pleased a ship's crew or a naval officer's family more than seeing a packet ship come over the horizon. So Falmouth, well positioned to send ships to the Mediterranean, North America, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, India, Australia, and China, became a major base point for packet ships.

The one development that made Falmouth an important place for mail delivery was the building of a train over land to London and to Portsmouth, the base of the government and the base of the Royal Navy, respectively. The result of all this was strengthening the pub business and making Falmouth one of the first places in England to know of any exciting news, regardless of its origin.

Walking through Falmouth, I could see the effects of the town's history. The oyster boats cruise slowly back and forth. A tall hollow brick cylinder called His Majesty's Pipe where illegal tobacco was burned stands next to the restaurant that once was the post office. An empty case that used to hold weather instruments for the public to see stands on the edge of a wharf. Next to a church, many grave stones say,"Here lies one of God's sailors. Lost in a ship wreck. May he rest in peace." A sign points to Packet Quay, by the old post office. The little town is now a wonderful spot on the Cornish coast, with an interesting story beyond the buildings.-Porter

Author's Note: All of this I learned from three sources. From Colin Speedie, a friend and consultant about boats of all sorts, I learned nearly everything. This was supplemented by the National Maritime Museum-Cornwall, and by my reading of two sets of historical fiction books about the era: The Aubrey and Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian and The Hornblower series by C.S. Forester.