The source of the River Tamar lies less than 4 miles from the North Cornish coast, but instead of flowing the short distance into the Celtic Sea it makes a sixty mile journey in the opposite direction across the south-west peninsula towards Plymouth Sound where it enters the English Channel. The river forms most of the Devon/Cornwall border almost making Cornwall an island, and along with its Celtic background, makes the county feel very different from the rest of England.

Travellers to Cornwall still regard it as a long way from anywhere even though communications have improved over the years, but being cut off from the rest of the country may have had some advantages, but there were disadvantages as well. If you look at a topographical map of the region you’ll also notice that Dartmoor is another obstacle that gets in the way of a direct route into Cornwall, and how to get to the other side of Dartmoor and over the Tamar was the dilemma that faced those in the 19^th century who needed to improve transport connections to London and the rest of the country.

For years, Falmouth had handled most of the international mail from the colonies by using packet ships, but its poor road connections were leaving it vulnerable to other ports which were able to take advantage of an expanding rail network with better access to the capital – and when the government announced proposals to transfer the bulk of the packet service to Southampton, it was time to do something about it, and so plans were put forward to build a railway line that would connect Falmouth to London.

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Originally posted 2024-10-29 10:14:02.