The Cornish Riviera

Sail away to a bygone Cornwall - from Looe to Land's End by way of Polperro's weathered fishermen, Falmouth's picturesque harbour, and Newquay's rocky shores. Lingering on poetic details, this wistful coastal travelogue portrays a county bursting with rustic charm: ancient mariners, a St Ives artist, children clambering barefoot over the skeleton of a wrecked ship. Cornwall's popular image hasn't changed too much since. It's 1916, and as the First World War rages across the channel, conscription is introduced in Britain. Yet these Cornish village harboursides are busy with sailors and fishermen, their occupations reserved from the draft.