Smuggling
Memories
By
S.A. Opie
Sometimes it would appear that a wagon, with wheels muffled to deaden
the sound, was used. An old lady who, about sixty years ago, used to visit a
friend near lllogan, was on several occasions nearly frightened to death by the
appearance of a ghostly chariot without wheels at a crossroads between Illogan
Church-town and Broad Lane, probably at what is now Paynter’s Lane End. She
discovered later that it was the smugglers’ wagon, the wheels of which were
muffled to reduce the sound to a minimum; but the sudden appearance of a wagon
which made no sound, dashing at full speed through the lanes, was enough to give
the impression to a superstitious person of a chariot without wheels. It is
possible that the smugglers tried to increase the suggestion of the
supernatural, as I was told that the men in the “chariot” were “dressed
all funny.” A gentleman then resident in Four Lanes made several trips across
the Channel in the pursuit of this profitable trade. Sometimes it was necessary
to resort to such stratagems as hiding liquor in coffins, or other unlikely
hiding-places, to escape the vigilance of the preventive men, but often
underground hiding-places were specially excavated. Some time ago such a
smuggler’s bolt was discovered by the subsidence of a garden wall in
Stithian’s Row, Four Lanes. Although reports were published in the Press
(e.g., The Cornubian) at the time, I
can gather no record of what was found; if any reader has any information or
newspaper-cuttings regarding this I should be glad if he would communicate them.
At
Cam Brea village, near Redruth Churchtown, there is a row of whitewashed
cottages. Although most of these are fairly modern i.e. 1920’s, one of them (I
believe the third in the row) is apparently much older. When some alterations
were being carried out, a large space was discovered in one of its walls, the
only apparent outlet being a small window in the back of the house. It could not
have been part of the old open fireplace, as the open grate was in the wall
opposite: the thickness of the wall had often been commented upon before.
Local opinion conjectured that it was a forgotten smuggling store-place.
Many
of the farms of Wendron and the district around possess caves cut in the marl or
pot-granite. These usually consist of a tunnel, extending in one case for fifty
feet, with branches on either side. These branches are not usually more than ten
or twelve feet in length, but one that branched from the main tunnel at Mount
Wise, near Carn Menellis, took sixty cartloads of material to fill the gap it
left after it had collapsed beneath the weight of a steam’ tractor. There are,
or were, examples of these caves at Mount Wise, Filtrick, Gregwartha, Hendra,
North Penhalurick, and a farm near Penhalvean. Although the prominent positions
of some of these forbid the view that they were excavated for smuggling, it is
more than probable that they were occasionally used as hiding-places by
smugglers. It is likely that they were first made, however, for a purpose
similar to that which they served until recently, that of storing roots, etc.
They were so used for potatoes, many sacks of which were heaped inside, the
entrance being then filled in with earth, thus protecting them from frost in the
severest winter. The entrances of some have an extremely ancient look and there
is a remote possibility that some such may be of early date, as similar tunnels
are sometimes connected with undoubtedly ancient Logos or passage-chambers. My
reason for mentioning them at such length, is to record the purpose to which
they were recently put, before this, too, is forgotten and “lost in the mists
of antiquity.”
If you leave the site use your back button to return
george<at>penhalvean.freeserve.co.uk
please cut & paste e-mail address and replace <at> with @ with no spaces. This has been done in order to stop spam.
George P Design