Channel 4 - Walking Through History Series 2 (2013) Part 3 Smuggler’s Cornwall
Walking Through History: Series 2
Tony Robinson embarks on more spectacular walks through historic landscapes in search of rich stories from Britain's past.
Part 3: Smuggler’s Cornwall
In the late 18th century there was a sure-fire way to earn a living along the Cornish coast: smuggling. The tiny secretive harbours, beaches and secluded coves were ideal for the infamous illicit imports: brandy for the parson, tobacco for the clerk… It's also great walking country, as Tony discovers in his four-day trek along the stunning coastline between Plymouth and Falmouth. And the facts are extraordinary. Half of the brandy drunk in the country in the 1780s had been smuggled in illicitly through Cornwall. The smuggling business was so huge that it threatened the national economy. Tony discovers why so many people were involved in the trade, and why everyone else turned a blind eye. Along his route, visiting such beauty spots as Lantic Bay and Polperro, he encounters all sorts of reminders of the trade. He meets descendants of the smugglers, handles weapons used in battles with the revenue men, and inspects secret account books kept by the smugglers' banker. He also hears how the government gradually turned the screws on the criminals, making their lives almost impossible, and how, in a surprising twist; the Cornish themselves decided that maybe their activities were slightly immoral!
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