Gorran Haven’s £120,000 race to save its cracked quay

Stand on the beach at Gorran Haven on a still summer morning and the old stone quay looks like it will outlast everyone watching it. Look closer and the picture changes. Fissures have opened in the 19th century wall that shelters the harbour, and the people who love this village are now in a race against the tides to stop the end of it falling into the sea.

What has gone wrong

The Gorran Haven Harbour Trust (GHHT) says cracks have appeared in the quay that protects the harbour, and without repair the end of the structure could break away. That would leave boats, buildings and moorings exposed to the open water.

The fix is a technical one. Engineers want to drive steel rods into the end of the quay and fix them into a new concrete core, anchoring the old stonework so it holds. The trust has brought in a surveyor and a local marine civil engineering company that has done the same kind of work on other quays around Cornwall.

“We have procured the expertise of a surveyor and a local marine civil engineering company, who have experience in this kind of work on other quays in the county,” said Geoff Fox, Chairman of the Gorran Haven Harbour Trust. “They are confident that the suggested approach will deliver a long-term solution, but we need to raise the money very quickly for the project to start in October.”

The £120,000 target

The full repair will cost £120,000. The trust has ringfenced £40,000 of existing funds for the work, badged ‘The Quay to the Village’ project, and a further £23,000 has come in through the campaign’s JustGiving page and a run of local events. That leaves around £60,000 still to find, and a tight window to find it in.

“Gorran Haven is such a special place to live, work and visit and we want to protect it for decades to come,” Geoff said. “This will only be possible if we raise another £60,000 to meet the £120,000 costs required to complete the repairs.”

He did not soften what happens if the money does not arrive. “Failure to act would be absolutely devastating. The 19th century quay will be lost forever and the impact on local homes, tourism and fishing will be irreparable.”

Why the quay matters

Gorran Haven sits a few miles from Mevagissey, a picture-book fishing village whose harbour pulls in locals and visitors, boatowners, walkers, sun-seekers and bucket-and-spade engineers drawn by the sandy beach and clear water. Its history runs from smuggling to one of the most productive pilchard fisheries in Cornwall. At one point it was said the lights of London were fuelled by oil pressed from the fish landed in the bay.

The village and the coastline around it have also had their turn on screen, featuring in Richard Curtis’s About Time and in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Michael Bunny, a resident, local councillor and historian, said the loss would reach well beyond the wall itself. “If we don’t repair the quay, numerous coastline properties will be affected, along with the historic fisherman’s buildings ‘Big Cellars’ and ‘The Pound’.

“The quay and these associated buildings are irreplaceable representations of our national heritage and, while no longer commercially active, continue to provide an all-important historical narrative to our place in the world.”

Money coming in from around the world

The appeal has reached a lot further than the harbour car park. Michael said the response had been striking, with money arriving from families who left the village decades ago.

“We have been overwhelmed by the response from everyone who loves Gorran Haven, and the financial backing has come from all over the world, including families who emigrated to Australia forty years ago,” he said. “The fundraising is going well and we’re now over halfway there. We’ve got grant applications going in and have several local events planned to raise money, including the GHHT Gala Day (August 4th) and a major sports event and music festival being planned for August 13th.”

Geoff singled out one group in particular. “Second homeowners have a big role to play, and they have been quick to support our campaign. Time is ticking, but we’re hoping that we will be successful in protecting one of Cornwall’s coastline gems and a village that generates more than £5m to the local economy every year.”

The project needs to start in October. Donations to ‘The Quay to the Village’ campaign can be made through the GHHT JustGiving page.