I grew up in and around Truro and thought I knew the city quite well. True, I knew all the lanes, alleys and short cuts having spent hours roaming or cycling around as a child but today I saw and learned so much more! We went on a guided tour, Truro Now and Then and discovered more than I can possibly tell you about. I will give you a gallery with captions and wish I could remember all the fascinating stories we heard! Next time you are in Truro, book a tour with Viv Robinson, Blue Badge guide and have the secrets unfurled as you walk around. Click on any photo for the detail and the caption.
Boscawen Street was not always so wide. There were houses and shops down the middle, called Middle Row
Squeeze Guts Alley, named not as we always thought for the tiny alleyway but because the fish market was next door and the fish were gutted there!
The Cathedral from St Mary’s Street
Just outside the cathedral, the road had wooden cobbles to keep down the noise of the carriages for those inside at the service. The wood can still be seen where the tarmac has worn away.
The architect, John Loughborough Pearson, who designed Truro Cathedral
The Cathedral was built to incorporate St Mary’s Church
This Gryphon appears to be protecting her young. This wasn’t part of the tour, just something that caught my eye.
See the damaged lead and the very blue glass? A naughty boy shot a hole in the original and it was couldn’t be replaced by the original window maker as his shop in London had been bombed. Temporary glass was put in and is still there.
The damaged pane of glass from inside the Cathedral
The spire from St Mary’s Church is in the grounds at the back of the Cathedral
The old Assembly Rooms built in 1780 which had inside a ballroom and a theatre hence Mr Garrick and Mr Shakespeare having their portarits in stone on the frontage
David Garrick
William Shakespeare
Victorian public toilets which later became a Police station and more recently an art gallery!
The oldest building in Truro
This bronze sculpture by Tim Shaw was unveiled in 2011 by Queen drummer Roger Taylor, who was born in Truro, and is meant to symbolise the spirit of Cornwall
Inside and upstairs of The Cornish Food Box premises. It is a listed building as the beams have Socialist slogans from the 1920’s painted on them
Walsingham Place
