0:00:02 > 0:00:04'Pubs have been at the heart of Britain for hundreds of years.'
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Cheers, mucker.
0:00:06 > 0:00:07'In city taverns...'
0:00:07 > 0:00:08'..and village inns...'
0:00:08 > 0:00:12'..landlords have pulled pints for locals, travellers...'
0:00:12 > 0:00:14..and, well, the odd 'King' or two.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15'Meself included.'
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Try and have a drink now!
0:00:18 > 0:00:20LAUGHTER
0:00:20 > 0:00:22'But with 30 pubs closing every week,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25'our historic taverns need defending.'
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Step! Step!
0:00:27 > 0:00:30We're heading out to discover amazing stories
0:00:30 > 0:00:32linked to the nation's watering holes.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34- Not far to go.- How far?
0:00:34 > 0:00:36- Oh, a couple of miles.- What?!
0:00:36 > 0:00:38'From the Wars of the Roses...'
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..to shipbuilding on the Clyde!
0:00:40 > 0:00:44We've ditched our bikes so that we can sample an ale or two.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Get in!
0:00:46 > 0:00:47This is very good.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49LAUGHTER
0:00:49 > 0:00:50'So join us for...'
0:00:58 > 0:01:01'When you picture Cornwall, you see turquoise waters,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04'stunning beaches, and dramatic coastal paths.'
0:01:11 > 0:01:13'But this stunning county has a murky past.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19'Its historic pubs, and many of those who drank in them,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22'were at the heart of an illegal but fascinating industry.'
0:01:24 > 0:01:25BOTH: Smuggling!
0:01:25 > 0:01:27And down there is Polperro,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29a tiny village with a very fishy history.
0:01:29 > 0:01:34Yes, and even fishier secrets that go back over 200 years.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37- CORNISH ACCENT - Oi-ee! And I spies a pub
0:01:37 > 0:01:40and a chance to unravel some very salty tales!
0:01:40 > 0:01:42- Shall we go?- Aye.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48'We're heading back to the late 1700s,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51'and to the village of Polperro on Cornwall's south coast.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57'Fishing has always been central to life here, but back then,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00'it wasn't just fish they were hauling in from the waters.'
0:02:04 > 0:02:07'Smuggling had become Cornwall's unofficial industry,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11'and local fishermen were sneaking in precious goods illegally
0:02:11 > 0:02:13'from the continent. Why?
0:02:13 > 0:02:14'Because they were broke.'
0:02:18 > 0:02:20'As was Britain.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22We'd just lost the American War of Independence,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25'and were going head-to-head with France.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28'To raise cash, the government raised taxes
0:02:28 > 0:02:29'on salt and other goods,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32'and as salt was used for preserving fish,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34'the fishing industry was hit hard.'
0:02:38 > 0:02:41'In remote and inaccessible Polperro, smuggling became rife.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46'And the village pub was right at the heart of it all.'
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Ah, the Three Pilchards.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54I'll have you know, Si, in the early 1800s,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58there were three pilchard processing factories in this very town.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Was there? So, really, if, like, you know, pilchards weren't your thing,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05- you were pretty stuffed, then, weren't you, really?- Mm-hm.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10'The Three Pilchards, like many Cornish pubs, was a perfect
0:03:10 > 0:03:13'and discreet meeting place.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16'Most of the locals lived a double life -
0:03:16 > 0:03:17'fishermen by day...
0:03:17 > 0:03:19'and smugglers by night.'
0:03:25 > 0:03:28'We've come here to meet local writer Jeremy Johns,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31'who is himself a direct descendant of Polperro smugglers.'
0:03:31 > 0:03:33- Very nice to meet you. - Happy to meet you.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35- Hi, Jeremy.- Nice to meet you.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37So, Jeremy, can you tell us about smuggling,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40and more specifically, its connection with the Three Pilchards?
0:03:40 > 0:03:45Well, the Three Pilchards was one of the three pubs around the harbour
0:03:45 > 0:03:52that thrived here in Polperro when smuggling was at its height.
0:03:52 > 0:03:58And in these pubs, smugglers would have met, exchanged tales
0:03:58 > 0:04:03- of smuggling, and probably exchanged contraband at the same time.- Mm-hm.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04So pubs were at the centre of
0:04:04 > 0:04:07the smuggling industry if you like, then?
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Absolutely, because they were the meeting places of the smugglers
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and the people who bought the contraband goods when they came ashore.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17But why? Why was smuggling so prevalent?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Well, because it was a good way of making money.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I mean, if you're a poor fisherman,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and all you can do is land pilchards,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27what better way of earning a little bit of extra money?
0:04:27 > 0:04:30And nobody in Cornwall thought
0:04:30 > 0:04:32there was anything remotely illegal about it.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36You couldn't even get a Cornish jury to convict a smuggler.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40'That's because even the magistrates were in on it.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43'A fisherman could make a month's wages in just one night,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46'sneaking in goods like brandy, rum and salt
0:04:46 > 0:04:48'from France or the Channel Islands.'
0:04:52 > 0:04:54'Pubs like the Three Pilchards were vital
0:04:54 > 0:04:57'in keeping the whole operation ticking over,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00'and the landlord was right in the thick of it.'
0:05:02 > 0:05:03Charlie Jolliff,
0:05:03 > 0:05:08who was the landlord of the Three Pilchards here in the 1830s...
0:05:08 > 0:05:11- So he was the landlord of this pub? - He was.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13When he was saddling his horse at midnight,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16everybody knew what Charlie was up to.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21'But it wasn't just Charlie who was up to no good.'
0:05:21 > 0:05:25'The whole operation was an extremely well coordinated affair,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29'masterminded by Polperro's very own smuggling Don Corleone...'
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Zephaniah Job.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35He organised it on an industrial scale,
0:05:35 > 0:05:40and over a period of 25 years, towards the end of the 18th century,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43literally thousands and thousands of pounds,
0:05:43 > 0:05:48- millions by today's value, was shipped through here.- Wow.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53'Zephaniah's business was so successful,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56'he even had his own banknotes printed for use in Polperro.'
0:05:57 > 0:06:01'Tell you what, Kingy, he must have been doing something right!'
0:06:03 > 0:06:07These are two of the earliest banknotes ever produced.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12'And at the centre of this story, another historic Polperro pub -
0:06:12 > 0:06:14'the Crumplehorn Inn.'
0:06:17 > 0:06:21'Zephaniah Job lived in this building when it was a mill.'
0:06:21 > 0:06:23'And 100 years after his death,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26'a stash of paperwork was found in this attic.'
0:06:29 > 0:06:30'Job's immaculate accounts tell us
0:06:30 > 0:06:33'how big a business smuggling had become.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37'He was worth a cool £7,500,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40'making him almost a millionaire in today's money.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Ah, shiver me timbers and twist me sprigs!
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Takes you back in time, don't it, Polperro?
0:06:50 > 0:06:51It does, mate, it does.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54And you can tell that smugglers would have favoured
0:06:54 > 0:06:56this sort of place with its narrow streets and passages.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Oh, yeah, and around every corner there lies a pub,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03- and within every pub lies a story. - Get in.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06'And every pub sign tells a story too.'
0:07:06 > 0:07:08'And a big clue to our fascinating past.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13'Here are three of our Cornish favourites.'
0:07:18 > 0:07:20'The Miners Arms in Mithian gets its name from
0:07:20 > 0:07:22'Cornwall's ancient tin mining industry.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27'Does what it says on the tin, then, Si!'
0:07:29 > 0:07:33'The Sir Humphrey Davy in Penzance is named after the inventor of
0:07:33 > 0:07:34'the ingenious Davy Lamp,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37'which saved thousands of coal miners' lives.'
0:07:37 > 0:07:40'He was a Cornishman and all!
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'And as for Cornwall's fisher folk, well, they used to
0:07:43 > 0:07:47'divvy up their earnings at the Old Success Inn in Sennen Cove.'
0:07:48 > 0:07:50'And if the pickings were slim,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53'then there was always another way of making a bob or two.'
0:07:58 > 0:08:00'Indeed there was, Kingy.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02'Back on our Polperro pub crawl,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04'we're still on the trail of smugglers,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07'and the tricky task the government had of trying to stop them.'
0:08:09 > 0:08:13'That unenviable job lay in the hands of the revenue men -
0:08:13 > 0:08:15'tax collectors employed by the Crown.'
0:08:19 > 0:08:23I tell you what, mate, it's like a game of cops and robbers, isn't it?
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Yeah, it's like a game of cat and mouse
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- amongst the mean streets of Pol-perr-oh!- Right, this is it.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29What do you want to be?
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Do you want to be a revenue man
0:08:31 > 0:08:34or do you want to be a mean, mean smuggler?
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Smuggler, cos I was born to be bad!
0:08:37 > 0:08:38Miaow!
0:08:40 > 0:08:42'OK, Dave, I'm coming after ya.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46'You've got a five-second head start.'
0:08:49 > 0:08:50'You can't catch me!'
0:08:53 > 0:08:55'I'm behind you!'
0:09:00 > 0:09:04'Joking aside, the battle between the revenue men and the smugglers
0:09:04 > 0:09:07'was a serious and often very dangerous business.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13'I'm meeting a Polperro fisherman who knows all about the tough life
0:09:13 > 0:09:16'of a smuggler and the perils they faced at sea.'
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Is it Chris? Dave. Nice to meet you.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22'Well, mate, while you're messing about on a boat,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25'I'm staying on the right side of the law.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30'The nooks and crannies of Cornwall's coast were
0:09:30 > 0:09:32'perfect for sneaking in contraband.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37'And here at the remote Lansallos Cove,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39'two miles west of Polperro,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42'brandy and rum were sneaked ashore by the barrel load.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47'I'm meeting ex-customs officer Mark Bullen...'
0:09:47 > 0:09:50- Now, you must be Mark. - Yep, that's me, yep.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52'..who knows a thing or two about policing smugglers.'
0:09:52 > 0:09:55- Absolutely beautiful, isn't it? - It is stunning, yeah.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Absolutely beautiful. So, Mark, tell me about the revenue men.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Who were they? Where did they come from?
0:10:01 > 0:10:04On the shore, you would have had what they called riding officers.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08- Right.- There would have been maybe one for every 10, 12 miles of coast.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12And what organisa...? One to every 10 or 12 miles of coast?
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- In this part of the world, yes. Not many.- That's not a lot.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17- It's not a lot.- No wonder smuggling was worth a giggle.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19- Absolutely, absolutely, yeah.- Wow!
0:10:19 > 0:10:21So, this customs officer,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26- this riding customs officer stumbles upon this smuggling operation.- Yeah.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29How many people would he be faced with on the beach?
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Well, if you had a really large cargo,
0:10:31 > 0:10:32maybe two or three hundred kegs,
0:10:32 > 0:10:37you might have a group of 100-150 men that had gathered together,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40and the riding officer's got a pistol and a sword - and a horse.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Hold on a minute, Mark, let me get this very clear.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47There was one riding officer, with a horse, a sword,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and a single shot pistol,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54and 150 or so armed men smuggling on the beach?
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Yeah, that's right, yeah,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00so odds were pretty much in favour of the smugglers!
0:11:00 > 0:11:02- Yeah, definitely don't fancy those odds.- No!- Dear me.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07What would you do?! 'Oh, hi! Erm...!'
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- MARK LAUGHS Do you know what I mean?- Yeah.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14'As well as riding officers who patrolled the shoreline
0:11:14 > 0:11:18'on their Jack Jones, the revenue had ships, or cutters,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22'stationed along the coast, trying to catch the smugglers red handed.'
0:11:24 > 0:11:26So, Mark, what would be the incentive of the lads
0:11:26 > 0:11:28on the cutters to capture smugglers and their vessels?
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Well, essentially, it was a financial one,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34because if they captured a smuggling vessel and all its contraband,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37they would get a seizure reward, and the commander would get
0:11:37 > 0:11:41maybe as much as a year's salary from that one seizure.
0:11:41 > 0:11:42SI WHISTLES
0:11:42 > 0:11:47- So, a good incentive.- That's worth it.- It is.- Isn't it?- Yeah.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Whose side to be on? What are the odds?
0:11:49 > 0:11:50Be a smuggler, be a customs man.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54- Be a smuggler - smuggler sounds a bit more...- Smuggler, I think, yeah.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57- It's a bit more exciting, isn't it?- Definitely.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01'Oh, life as a smuggler certainly was exciting, Si,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05'navigating the treacherous Cornish coast and plotting down the local.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11'The smugglers relied on all their years of experience at sea.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16'Polperro fisherman Chris Curtis knows these waters
0:12:16 > 0:12:20'better than anyone, and he's going to tell me more.'
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Fishing goes well with the smuggling,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24because the fishermen were the ones who could navigate the waters,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27and you'd need to know what you were doing to actually...
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Easy, yes. I mean, they were brought up as boys on the water.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32They knew every bit of the water,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35the depth of the water, the seasons...
0:12:35 > 0:12:38They would navigate by stars, by the compass,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40and, er, they didn't need any sat navs -
0:12:40 > 0:12:41not that they knew about it!
0:12:41 > 0:12:44- Aye, aye!- And, er, everything was done by sail and wind.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46And are these dangerous waters?
0:12:46 > 0:12:51You mix the weather in, the storms, and there were a lot caught out.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54- And in those days there were quite a few fatalities as well.- Yes.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02'Maritime records show that the Cornish coastline was
0:13:02 > 0:13:03'the most dangerous in Britain.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07'A combination of wind, weather and waves wrecked countless ships,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09'but that's not putting me and Chris off!'
0:13:10 > 0:13:14One can imagine what it was like for smugglers putting up with this!
0:13:14 > 0:13:15Can you imagine it?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18I mean, you know, going over the side of the ship,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20being chased by the revenue men...
0:13:20 > 0:13:23- Aye.- Yeah, life doesn't get any better than that, Dave.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Well, I don't know, I'm glad we've got an engine!
0:13:28 > 0:13:30'I've loved fishing ever since I was a boy,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32'but the only thing I used to smuggle
0:13:32 > 0:13:35'was the occasional biscuit out to the riverside!
0:13:35 > 0:13:38'But I can't pass up this opportunity
0:13:38 > 0:13:40'to see if the fish are nibbling.'
0:13:40 > 0:13:43- Chris, I've got one on! - Oh, go on, Dave! Get him in!
0:13:43 > 0:13:45Oo-ooh!
0:13:45 > 0:13:49- You've got a whopper there, Dave! - I've got something.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52- Oh, I can see him, Dave. - Bloody hell, aye.- A nice cod.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54- It's a beauty. - It's a beauty.- Phwoar!
0:13:54 > 0:13:57- Go on, Dave, bring him in, mate!- Yes!
0:13:58 > 0:13:59We've got cod and chips for tea,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and the only way to eat cod is straight from the sea like this.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Cod, chips and a visit to the pub.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Hold him up, mate, it's your fish.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Happy days.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Mr King, how's your day going?
0:14:15 > 0:14:17'Well, there's no fish on the menu here, mucker,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20'but Mark's taken me down to the shore to show me
0:14:20 > 0:14:23'just how the smugglers transported their booty inland.'
0:14:25 > 0:14:27So, Mark, what is this place? It's amazing!
0:14:27 > 0:14:31This is, erm, this is Lansallos Cove, and as you can see,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35it's sort of a perfect place to land kegs of brandy.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39It is! I mean, it's perfect in the sense that it's, that it's very,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- er, remote.- It's very remote, you've got a flat beach...- Yeah.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45..so to actually get the stuff off your vessel
0:14:45 > 0:14:47and then start to bring it up to take it inland.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53'It's reckoned as much as half a million gallons of French brandy
0:14:53 > 0:14:56'were smuggled into Cornwall every year.'
0:15:00 > 0:15:03These are examples of sort of 10-gallon barrels.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Hold on, it's Dave! That's amazing, look!
0:15:07 > 0:15:09SI LAUGHS It looks like him!
0:15:09 > 0:15:13That is amazing! Look at that! He's out there being a smuggler!
0:15:13 > 0:15:15- This is what they called a 'tub man.'- So, this is...
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Steady on, I've lost weight, you know.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20So, a tub man would be...?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24A man would be... Basically to physically carry the barrels,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26and often they would be roped together like this.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28When they brought them over on the Channel Islands,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30they'd all be ready to...
0:15:30 > 0:15:33- So it's quick.- Exactly. Ready to go, over the shoulders.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Two of those would have weighed about a hundred weight.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38So you're talking a substantial amount.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43'Each 25 kilo barrel still had to be transported
0:15:43 > 0:15:46'a couple of miles or so up to the village.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49'But the smugglers had one more clever trick up their sleeves.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54'This ancient hidden path carved through the rocks.'
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Originally that probably would have been cut by farmers
0:15:57 > 0:16:01bringing their carts down to collect seaweed and sand to take back
0:16:01 > 0:16:04- and put on the fields as organic fertiliser.- Sure, sure.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08But, obviously, perfect way for the smugglers to get their stuff away
0:16:08 > 0:16:12- on carts, and also, the double advantage, it's sunken.- Right.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16So, a riding officer'd come along, wouldn't actually see them.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20'And while Dave's messing about on a fishing trip,
0:16:20 > 0:16:21'Mark's got me grafting.'
0:16:23 > 0:16:25- It's not easy, this, is it? - It's not.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29I mean, there's easier ways to make a living. God, right...
0:16:29 > 0:16:30- OK?- Yeah.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36- Not far to go.- How far? - Oh, a couple of miles?- What?!
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Flippin 'eck! Slippy, like, isn't it? Yeah, it's not the...
0:16:40 > 0:16:42- Stop moaning, just get on with it. - Honestly!
0:16:42 > 0:16:46- It would be easier, surely... - You can have a rest here.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49- What?- Just pop it down there, have a rest.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52I tell you what, the things I do...
0:16:52 > 0:16:53to tell a story.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58'The smugglers weren't on their ownsome like me. Oh, no.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01'As many as 150 would lug the barrels up this path.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07'Most went inland to supply the country.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10'But much of the booze would end up...
0:17:10 > 0:17:12'well, you've guessed it, in the pub.'
0:17:12 > 0:17:19What's really coming to the fore here is how the, the pubs
0:17:19 > 0:17:24were absolutely at the epicentre of this smuggling kind of industry.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Yeah, ultimately, cos they were the retail outlets.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29- That's the point, this is where this stuff went.- Yeah.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31So that you would be able to go to the pub
0:17:31 > 0:17:35and you pretty well knew that you were drinking smuggled brandy.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40'Well, I suppose I'd better get this barrel to the boozer, then.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43'You know, maybe a swift half's in order.'
0:17:51 > 0:17:53'Back at the Three Pilchards...'
0:17:53 > 0:17:54MEN SING
0:17:54 > 0:17:57'..the local choir are giving it laldy!'
0:17:57 > 0:18:00# ..to sit at his hand
0:18:00 > 0:18:02# For this is my... #
0:18:02 > 0:18:06'The Polperro Wreckers meet in village pubs for regular singsongs,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09'keeping their locals very much at the heart of the community.'
0:18:09 > 0:18:13# For this is my Cornwall
0:18:13 > 0:18:17# And this is my home. #
0:18:17 > 0:18:19CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:18:22 > 0:18:24So, gentlemen, you're known as the Wreckers, why is that?
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Is that because of the state you get yourself into
0:18:27 > 0:18:29with all the laughing gravy or what?
0:18:29 > 0:18:32- Well, no, we just thought it was a nice name for a pub group.- Aye.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37Erm, the Wreckers has come from a choir which has been
0:18:37 > 0:18:40established in Polperro for nearly 100 years.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43We're very proud of our Cornish roots, you know,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45- we like to sing about that. - Well, so you should.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48- You're musical smugglers, aren't you?- Yeah!
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Is the culture and is the history really important to you,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- of Polperro?- Very much so. We have a lot of fun doing this
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- and we've raised a lot of money for charity.- Fantastic.- It is great fun.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00- We'd like you to sing with us, actually.- You wouldn't, would you?
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Yes, we've heard that you've both got good voices, so...
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Somebody once said I've got a voice like a broken drill bit.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08THEY LAUGH
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Well, I may add something on the bass section.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Listen, mate, you've got a good baritone,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and nobody can take that away from you.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Aye, it's the tone that's questionable, though.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21That's it! The 'bari' is all right, but the 'tone?' Not entirely sure.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23Oh, we'd be privileged to sing with you.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25- Come and join us. - Thank you, thank you.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27# So let's hear it for Trelawney
0:19:27 > 0:19:30# May his army never die
0:19:30 > 0:19:32# Let's hear it for Trevithick
0:19:32 > 0:19:35# And his engine steaming by Woo-woo! #
0:19:35 > 0:19:37'Well, we're singing all the right notes...'
0:19:37 > 0:19:40'Just not necessarily in the right order!'
0:19:40 > 0:19:43# Let's hear it for the miners
0:19:43 > 0:19:51# Who we hope will mine again. #
0:19:52 > 0:19:55- Cheers, lads!- Cheers! - That was brilliant! Cheers!
0:19:59 > 0:20:01'Great British boozers are unique,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04'but they're nothing without their regulars.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07'Let's meet a local who loves his local.'
0:20:13 > 0:20:15'Meet Pete Darracott.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19'The Admiral Benbow in Penzance is his favourite watering hole.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22'He's been a regular for nigh on 50 years.'
0:20:24 > 0:20:25I love the place.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28It's a part of me and I'm a part of the Admiral Benbow,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I love it so much, and I'm just going to go and have a drink.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33I'm thirsty.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36'Quite right, mate.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41'This Grade II listed 17th century building is full of characters.'
0:20:41 > 0:20:42How are you doing?
0:20:43 > 0:20:47'And the walls are adorned with all manner of maritime objects
0:20:47 > 0:20:50'salvaged from shipwrecks.'
0:20:50 > 0:20:53What makes this place quite unique is, obviously,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56the decor and the fittings, but also the clients that come in.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59We all love this place and we're all part of the atmosphere,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01we make our own atmosphere within it.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08'But there's more to this pub than meets the eye.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12'Underneath the Benbow lies a dark and mysterious surprise.'
0:21:14 > 0:21:17'A tunnel dug out by the Benbow brandy men,
0:21:17 > 0:21:22'a 19th century smuggling gang who sneaked contraband up to the pub
0:21:22 > 0:21:24'from Penzance harbour.'
0:21:27 > 0:21:30This tunnel was a two-way tunnel.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32They cut recesses in, as you can see one here,
0:21:32 > 0:21:33so you could stand back
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and let somebody go through with an empty barrel
0:21:36 > 0:21:39or let somebody come up the tunnel with a full one.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Everything came up this tunnel -
0:21:42 > 0:21:46brandy and silk, tobacco, money, everything.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48All the stuff came into the Admiral Benbow.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53'At the last count, three other British boozers have claimed
0:21:53 > 0:21:55'the name of the famous Admiral.'
0:21:57 > 0:22:00'As did Robert Louis Stevenson for the name of the pub
0:22:00 > 0:22:03'in his classic novel Treasure Island.'
0:22:04 > 0:22:07'And it's another great work of fiction that takes us to the
0:22:07 > 0:22:12'final stop on our smugglers' pub crawl of Cornwall.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15'We've left Polperro, and are now following the route of
0:22:15 > 0:22:18'the contraband 20 miles north to the top of Bodmin Moor.'
0:22:22 > 0:22:26As smuggling pubs go, they don't get much more famous than this.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Aye. I don't know why they called it Jamaica Inn, though.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32- There's nothing Jamaican around here.- I'm perished!
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'This chilling location was perfect for discreetly shifting
0:22:37 > 0:22:39'smuggled contraband,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43'and for inspiring the most famous smuggling novel of all time.'
0:22:46 > 0:22:50'Its author, Daphne Du Maurier, stayed here in 1930.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54'Six years later, her best-selling novel, Jamaica Inn, was published.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00'Author Bret Hawthorne is an expert on Du Maurier,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03'and has come to tell us more about the role this famous pub played
0:23:03 > 0:23:05'in her most iconic work.'
0:23:05 > 0:23:08You know, Bret, I find the tales of smuggling completely
0:23:08 > 0:23:10and utterly fascinating.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Do you think Daphne Du Maurier felt the same
0:23:12 > 0:23:14- when she arrived here? - I'm sure she did.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18She'd been in Cornwall since she was about 20, she'd been down in Fowey,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21- so she would have heard a lot before she even arrived.- Yes.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23And then she gets here and, obviously,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26over the front of the fire, they're talking about smugglers
0:23:26 > 0:23:28and things that used to go on...
0:23:28 > 0:23:30So, yeah, I'm sure that inspired her.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Well, I mean, look at the building itself,
0:23:32 > 0:23:34I mean, it's inspirational in itself.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42'To avoid detection, the smugglers had 61 secret routes from the coast
0:23:42 > 0:23:44'across the moor to this inn.'
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Can you tell me how the very fibre of Jamaica Inn
0:23:47 > 0:23:49inspired Daphne Du Maurier?
0:23:49 > 0:23:52If you just look at it, I mean, it's clad in black,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56it's got a black cloak on. It looks like a villain already.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00- I mean, it's a character in itself. - Yes.- And not for nothing.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02She doesn't call the book after one of the heroines
0:24:02 > 0:24:04or after Joss, the landlord.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06The book is "Jamaica Inn."
0:24:06 > 0:24:10I think because the inn, the pub, is here now, it grounds the book,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13- it makes the book even more real. - Yes, absolutely.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Your imagination can run riot here.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22'Today, the Jamaica Inn pulls in punters from all over the world,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26'keen to soak up the atmosphere that inspired Du Maurier so much.'
0:24:32 > 0:24:36- Kingy, it's another proper lovely pub.- It is.- Whoa...!
0:24:38 > 0:24:39'Time to get out of the cold
0:24:39 > 0:24:43'and sample some refreshments from back in those smuggling days.'
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'Those barrels of contraband rum and brandy, like the one
0:24:47 > 0:24:51'I was lugging earlier, would get contaminated with salty seawater.'
0:24:53 > 0:24:56'Luckily, a fruity solution helped salvage the booty,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59'and Louisa from St Austell brewery is here to give us
0:24:59 > 0:25:02'a taste of this smuggler's cocktail.'
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- Hello, Louisa.- Hello. - Hello, I'm Dave.- Hi, Dave.
0:25:06 > 0:25:07Louisa, hi, I'm Si, how are you?
0:25:07 > 0:25:09- Nice to meet you. - Hi, Si, nice to meet you.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12- Tell us the origins of the rum shrub.- Ah, a rum shrub.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Well, a rum shrub goes back to the days of smuggling, which was rife
0:25:16 > 0:25:22in Cornwall, and they would hide their barrels of rum under the sea.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25But this had the problem that they'd then taste of salt,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27so how could they get rid of the taste of salt?
0:25:27 > 0:25:31They used fruit - oranges, lemons - that they could easily get from
0:25:31 > 0:25:34the Med, and also put some spices in,
0:25:34 > 0:25:35cinnamon and nutmeg, and...
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I think this might taste quite nice,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40- cos we love a bit of savoury-sweet these days.- We do, that's true.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43- We've got salt caramel. I'm looking forward to this.- Yeah, so am I.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46- Well, do you want to see how it's made?- Oh, yeah.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52'For a traditional rum shrub recipe, take your salty rum and mix it
0:25:52 > 0:25:56'with the rinds and juices of citrus fruits as well as some spices.'
0:25:58 > 0:26:01'Leave it for three days and then add some sugar.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04'And by 'some' I actually mean quite a lot -
0:26:04 > 0:26:05'400g per litre.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11'This gives a higher concentration of flavour and helps preserve it.'
0:26:13 > 0:26:14'Store it for about a week,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17'and it's ready to drink when you add a bit more rum
0:26:17 > 0:26:18'for good measure.'
0:26:21 > 0:26:22- Cheers, mate.- Cheers.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27- Oh, yes.- Oh, yeah. - That's much more palatable.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30- Any taste of salt?- No.- No. - OK, so that's how they drank it.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33It's very syrupy, and I suppose the longer that you leave it
0:26:33 > 0:26:35the more dense it's going to be.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38- Yeah, and the concentration of the sugar and the spices.- Yeah.- Wow.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41- Oh, aye, it's nice, actually.- Mm.- Mm.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Oh, rub-a-dub-dub, I like your rum shrub.
0:26:44 > 0:26:45SI LAUGHS
0:26:45 > 0:26:47- Fascinating stories. - It is fascinating.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53It's the sense of smuggling as an industry that I kind of quite love.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56When it's into the drink culture of that community, I mean,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59it's absolutely entrenched then, isn't it, you know?
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Yeah, and I believe that pubs should still be the heart of the community.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06- Hear hear.- You know, for the church, the industry, the social life,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08and, you know, this is one example of...
0:27:08 > 0:27:10all these hundreds of years ago,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13with something that was criminal, it was all working quite nicely.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15And everyone was involved, like you said,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18so very much heart of the community.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21- Cheers, Louisa.- Cheers. - Cheers, Louisa.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24'But life was to change.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29'By the mid-1800s, the creation of the coastguard, lower taxes,
0:27:29 > 0:27:30'and more affordable living
0:27:30 > 0:27:33'meant smuggling in Cornwall pretty much died out.'
0:27:35 > 0:27:39'But thankfully the amazing stories and legends live on,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43'especially through the history and heritage of its wonderful pubs.'
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Well, that warms the cockles, mate, doesn't it?
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Well, yes, it certainly was a fitting end to
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- our historical pub crawl. - Mate, I've got one for you.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Do you know what a 'kiddlywink' is?
0:27:56 > 0:27:57A what?!
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Well, a kiddlywink is a Cornish name for a licensed premises
0:28:01 > 0:28:04that's only allowed to serve beer, you see?
0:28:04 > 0:28:06But if you give the barman...
0:28:07 > 0:28:11..a wink, you'd get a rum chaser underneath the counter, you know.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14- Ee, ya clever sausage!- Oh, aye. - Cheers!- Cheers, mate, cheers.