A four vertical frame panorama of this harbour in Cornwall, England. Taken whilst on The Great West Country Getaway 2010

PLEASE VIEW LARGER

Shot in RAW and stitched in Autopano Pro, cropped and processed in CS4.

Original size 28ins x 11ins reduced by 50% for this display.

Canon 400D, Canon EF-S 17 – 85mm IS USM Lens at 38mm. ISO 100, f22, 1/20sec (compensation -0.5EV)

Porthleven is a town, civil parish and fishing port in Cornwall, United Kingdom, near Helston. It is the most southerly port on the island of Great Britain and was originally developed as a harbour of refuge, when this part of the Cornish coastline was recognised as a black spot for wrecks in days of sail. Nearby Loe Bar was particularly infamous, with swimmers and surfers being warned off the area to this day.

Historically and for local-government purposes, Porthleven was included within the town boundaries of nearby Helston. After years of growth, it now has its own town council. Its population in 2001 recorded by the UK census was 3,190.

Including tourists and surfers would swell that number considerably. Porthleven has exploited its location and exposure to powerful swells to become one of the best-known and highly-regarded surfing spots in Britain. Waves regularly exceeding 2 metres break on the shallow reef that was shaped by blasting the harbour. Due to the prevailing westerly winds it was very easy for a ship under sail to become entrapped within the bay and be cast up on the rocks which made up the small fishing coves of Mullion, Kynance and the Lizard.

Arguably, Porthleven’s most recognisable building is the Bickford-Smith Institute which is next to the pier and harbour entrance. With a tower of about 70 foot in height, it has the appearance of a church but currently is used as a snooker club and houses the town council offices. It featured (along with various other scenes from the town) as the incident room in an episode of the TV detective series Wycliffe.

Porthleven was the home town of the Dambusters’ Commanding Officer, Guy Gibson, and there is a road named in his memory. Former motor racing driver Chris Craft – who competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race for over a decade, including a third-placed finish in 1976, as well as two races in Formula One – was born in Porthleven.

Porthleven is the hometown of the internationally renowned operatic Heldentenor John Treleaven.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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