Perranporth

Perranporth has a rich and fascinating history: according to legend, St Piran, the patron saint of Cornwall, was cast into the sea from Ireland tied to a millstone and washed up on these sandy shores. He built a Christian oratory in the dunes and the story goes that his first disciples were a badger, a fox and a bear! The ruins of this oratory, or the ‘lost church, dating from the 6th century are still preserved in the sand dunes to this day.

It is also said that St Piran discovered tin, which went on to become the backbone of Cornish industry (in the 19th century Perranporth had two working mines), and St Piran’s Day is celebrated every 5th March when hundreds of people make a pilgrimage to Perranporth with their black and white flags.

Known for its waves, Perranporth attracts surfers from far and wide, but it is a little known fact that the UK’s first surfboards originated here. Soon after the end of World War 1, soldiers returning home from the Western front told of South African surfers they had met and swapped stories with.

Perranporth’s local undertaker and builder, Tom Tremewan was inspired, and so designed and made the UK’s first bellyboards/surfboards, made out of coffin lids!

The Perranzabuloe museum, just off Perranporth’s high street, has a wealth of information on the village’s social and industrial heritage, with displays on mining, fishing, costume, farming and of course, surfing.