Carrick Roads
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Carrick Roads ( kw, Dowr Carrek, meaning "rock anchorage") is the estuary of the
River Fal The River Fal ( kw, Dowr Fala) flows through Cornwall, England, rising at Pentevale on Goss Moor (between St. Columb and Roche) and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and ...
on the south coast of
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
in England. It joins the English Channel at its southern end near Falmouth.


Geography

It is a large flooded valley, or
ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...
, created after the
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
by the melt waters that caused a dramatic rise in sea level, resulting in a large natural harbour which is navigable from Falmouth to
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
. The Carrick Roads have large tidal flows; the water starts to recede six hours and five minutes before high water at Dover. Tidal speeds can reach three knots in the upper parts of the basin and one and a half to two in the lower stretches. The journey from Truro to Falmouth is a Grade A route for kayakers. The Carrick Roads can be seen well from the Trelissick Peninsula. From this viewpoint the waters stretch away towards Falmouth. On the left is Camerance Point, a tree-clad promontory. The Feock Peninsula is on the right and beyond that is the creek leading to Mylor village, with the Fal Estuary in the distance behind. Nearby lie the gardens of Trelissick House with their oaks, pines, beeches, rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. The
Roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...
are crossed by the historic and scenic
King Harry Ferry The King Harry Ferry Bridge is a vehicular chain ferry which crosses the Carrick Roads reach of the estuary of the River Fal in Cornwall, England, UK. The ferry crosses between the parishes of Feock and Philleigh, roughly halfway between the c ...
, a vehicular chain ferry that links the parishes of Feock and
Philleigh Philleigh ( kw, Eglosros) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom; one of the four in the Roseland Peninsula. Philleigh lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Co ...
.


Natural history

Carrick Roads and the Fal Estuary are favoured by ornithologists for birdwatching, especially the waders and waterbirds that visit in autumn and winter. The little egret and kingfisher can be seen all year while various passage waders pass through in spring, late summer and autumn. These include the whimbrel, the spotted redshank, the greenshank, the common sandpiper, the curlew sandpiper and the little stint. In the winter, the great northern diver and the black-throated diver can be seen, as well as the black-necked grebe, the red-necked grebe and the Slavonian grebe, the goldeneye and red-breasted merganser, and sometimes the long-tailed duck and the scoter.


Use as an anchorage

Fal Estuary is the third largest natural harbour in the world, of which Carrick Roads itself extends from Black Rock to Turnaware Point with nowhere being less than wide. As a result Carrick Roads has always been an important
anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
especially given that it is at the gateway to the Western Approaches serving shipping arriving from the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. As a result, to protect both ships anchored in it and the harbour itself (whose capture would have made the perfect place for an enemy fleet to establish a foothold during an attack), Henry VIII, who was under threat from Catholic Europe, made plans to construct five artillery forts to protect it. Only
Pendennis Castle Pendennis Castle (Cornish: ''Penn Dinas'', meaning "headland fortification") is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, England between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect agai ...
and
St Mawes Castle St Mawes Castle ( kw, Kastel Lannvowsedh) is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman ...
were built, with the work undertaken between 1540 and 1542. The waters of the fiord-like Carrick Roads are steep-sided and deep, with depths of in many places, and can allow large ships to anchor safely midstream. It is a popular location for layup moorings for a wide variety of commercial vessels, during economic downturns, when changing owners or when being mothballed near the end of their careers.


Industry

A pilchard fishery was still operating in the 1880s. In 1882, at a meeting of the
seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...
owners at St Mawes, it was decided to place a huer (lookout) on a hill, for the first time in a few years, to look out for shoals. Names given to the seines at that time were Diligence, Enterprise, Hope, Onward and St Just. Truro Council's Oyster Fishery Committee closed the oyster-beds of Mylor and St Just-in-Roseland for two years. The beds were over-dredged and shut in September 1883.


Governance

The Falmouth Harbour Commissioners are the statutory port authority with responsibility for the Inner Harbour at Falmouth (excluding
Falmouth Docks Falmouth Docks are a deep-water docks of the town of Falmouth in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The docks are the southern shore of the Fal Estuary which is the third largest natural harbour in the world and the deepest in Europe. They ex ...
), the Penryn River up as far as Coastlines Wharf, the southern part of the Carrick Roads and a large part of Falmouth Bay. It issues directions for speed limits in Carrick Roads.


Gallery

Image:King Harry Ferry Carrick Roads.jpg,
King Harry Ferry The King Harry Ferry Bridge is a vehicular chain ferry which crosses the Carrick Roads reach of the estuary of the River Fal in Cornwall, England, UK. The ferry crosses between the parishes of Feock and Philleigh, roughly halfway between the c ...
between Trelissick and Roseland Image:Carrick Roads May 2004.jpg, Carrick Roads near Trelissick Image:TruroFalmouthAerial.jpg, An aerial view showing Carrick Roads, Truro and Falmouth Image:King Harry Ferry 2.JPG, The Feock terminal of the King Harry Ferry in 2005 File:J79154 Yul cdg 20140624-044343.15 Angleterre.jpg, Carrick Roads in Cornwall bordered by Penryn, Falmouth & St. Mawes. Taken from flight AF0349


References

{{Reflist


External links


The River Fal
Falmouth, Cornwall Ports and harbours of Cornwall Roadsteads of the United Kingdom