Editing Falmouth, Cornwall (section)

=== 19th and 20th centuries ===
[[File:Falmouth Lifeboat (DSCN0324).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Falmouth Lifeboat Station|Falmouth Lifeboat]] moored by the docks with the old town and The Penryn River in the background]]
In 1805 news of Britain's victory and Admiral Nelson's death at [[Battle of Trafalgar|Trafalgar]] reached Falmouth from the schooner ''Pickle'' and was taken to London by [[post chaise]]. On 2 October 1836 {{HMS|Beagle}} anchored at Falmouth at the end of her [[second voyage of HMS Beagle|noted survey voyage]] around the world.<ref>{{cite book  | last= FitzRoy  | first= Robert  | author-link=Robert FitzRoy  | year= 1839  | title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Appendix to Volume II  | publication-place= London  | publisher=Henry Colburn | url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2a&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 }}</ref> That evening, [[Charles Darwin]] left the ship and took the [[Mail coach]] to his family home at [[The Mount, Shrewsbury]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1925&pageseq=479 |title= Charles Darwin's Beagle diary |first=R. D. |last=Keynes |author-link=Richard Keynes |year= 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=447}}</ref> The ship stayed a few days and Captain [[Robert FitzRoy]] visited the Fox family at nearby [[Penjerrick]] Gardens. Darwin's shipmate Sulivan later made his home in the nearby waterside village of [[Flushing, Cornwall|Flushing]], then home to many naval officers.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In 1839 Falmouth was the scene of a [[gold dust robbery]] when £47,600 worth of gold dust from Brazil was stolen on arrival at the port.<ref>''[[The Times]]''; Saturday, 29 June 1839; pg. 6: ''The Gold-Dust Robbery''</ref>

The [[Falmouth Docks]] were developed from 1858,<ref>{{cite web| title =Falmouth Docks| work =Falmouth Packet Archives 1688–1850| url =http://www.falmouth.packet.archives.dial.pipex.com/id121.htm| access-date =2008-07-14| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080705112726/http://www.falmouth.packet.archives.dial.pipex.com/id121.htm| archive-date =5 July 2008| df =dmy-all}}</ref> and the [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]] (RNLI) opened [[Falmouth Lifeboat Station]] nearby in 1867. The present building dates from 1993 and also houses [[His Majesty's Coastguard]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Morris |first= Jeff |title= The History of the Falmouth Lifeboats |edition= 2nd |year= 2002 |publisher= Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society |location= Coventry }}</ref> The RNLI operates two [[Lifeboat (rescue)|lifeboats]] from Falmouth: ''Richard Cox Scott'', a {{Convert|17|m|ft|adj=on}} {{sclass2|Severn|lifeboat|0}} all-weather boat,<ref>{{cite book |last= Denton |first= Tony |title= Handbook 2009 |year= 2009 |publisher= Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society |location= Shrewsbury }}</ref> and B-916 ''Robina Nixon Chard'', an [[Atlantic 85-class lifeboat|Atlantic 85]] inshore lifeboat.

[[File:Jacob's Ladder - geograph.org.uk - 726196.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Jacob's Ladder, an 1840s flight of mostly dressed granite steps, rises from Killigrew Street to Vernon Place.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1270008?section=official-list-entry|title= Jacob's Ladder|website= historicengland.org.uk|publisher= Historic England|access-date= 17 May 2022}}</ref>]]
Near the town centre is Kimberley Park, named after the Earl of Kimberley who leased the park's land to the borough of Falmouth. Today the park has exotic and ornate plants and trees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.falmouth.co.uk/see-and-do/parks/kimberley-park |title=Kimberley Park |publisher=Falmouth.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-21}}</ref>

Falmouth was connected to Plymouth and the rest of the United Kingdom by electric telegraph on 30 August 1857.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Falmouth. Completion of the Electric Telegraph |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005038/18570902/063/0004  |newspaper=Penzance Gazette |location=England |date=2 September 1857 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref> The telegraph office was adjoining the Custom House and Globe Hotel. In 1869 the telegraph office moved to the new Falmouth Post Office on Church Street.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Falmouth Post Office and Telegraph |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005038/18570902/063/0004  |newspaper=Commercial, Shipping & General Advertiser for West Cornwall |location=England |date=27 November 1869 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref>

A telephone trunk line to Falmouth was opened in January 1899. It was noted in Lake’s Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser of 14 January 1899 that “the tariff for conversations carried on over any distance is too high to suggest the use of the telephone for anything except urgent business”.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Telephonic Communication |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000620/18990114/069/0004  |newspaper=Lake's Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser |location=England |date=14 January 1899 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref> The exchange was over the Post Office on The Moor.

The [[Cornwall Railway]] reached Falmouth on 24 August 1863. The railway brought new prosperity to Falmouth, as it made it easy for tourists to reach the town. It also allowed the swift transport of the goods recently disembarked from the ships in the port. The town now has three railway stations. [[Falmouth Docks railway station]] is the original terminus and is close to Pendennis Castle and Castle beach. [[Falmouth Town railway station]] was opened on 7 December 1970 and is convenient for the [[National Maritime Museum]] Cornwall, the waterfront, Gyllyngvase beach and town centre.

[[Penmere railway station]] opened on 1 July 1925 towards the north of Falmouth and within easy walking distance of the top of The Moor. All three stations are served by regular trains from [[Truro]] on the [[Maritime Line]]. Penmere Station was renovated in the late 1990s, using the original sign and materials.

The town saw a total [[Solar Eclipse|eclipse of the Sun]] at 11:11&nbsp;[[Ante Meridiem|a.m.]] on 11 August 1999. [[Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999|This eclipse]] lasted just over two minutes at Falmouth, the longest duration in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jonesbryn.plus.com/astrophenom/eclipse1999/eclipse1999falmouth.html|title=THE 1999 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OBSERVED FROM FALMOUTH|author=Bryn Jones|publisher=Jonesbryn.plus.com|access-date=20 September 2014|archive-date=2 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402191151/http://www.jonesbryn.plus.com/astrophenom/eclipse1999/eclipse1999falmouth.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Second World War ====
[[File:DSCN1679StNazaireMemorialFALMOUTH.jpg|right|thumb|upright|St Nazaire memorial]]
During [[World War II]], 31 people were killed in Falmouth by [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[The Blitz|bombing]]. An anti-submarine net was laid from Pendennis to St Mawes, to prevent enemy [[U-boat]]s entering the harbour.

It was the launching point for the [[St Nazaire Raid]] in 1942. Between 1943 and 1944, Falmouth was a base for American troops preparing for the [[D-Day]] invasions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Viki |title=What happened on D Day in Cornwall |url=https://cornwalltoday.co.uk/what-happened-on-d-day-in-cornwall/ |publisher=Cornwall Today |access-date=30 October 2018 |archive-date=30 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030170439/https://cornwalltoday.co.uk/what-happened-on-d-day-in-cornwall/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Many of the troops involved embarked from Falmouth harbour and the surrounding rivers and creeks. There are commemorative plaques at Turnaware Point, Falmouth Watersports marina, [[Tolverne]] and [[Trebah]] gardens.<ref>{{cite web |title=War in Cornwall |url=https://www.intocornwall.com/features/war-in-cornwall.asp |publisher=IntoCornwall.com |access-date=30 October 2018}}</ref> The [[United States Navy]] had a large base in Falmouth harbour as well.

====Post War====
The ''[[SS Flying Enterprise]]'', a cargo vessel that had sailed from [[Hamburg]] on 21 December 1951, ran into a storm on the Western Approaches to the English Channel. A crack appeared on her deck and the cargo shifted. A number of vessels went to her aid including the tug ''Turmoil'' which was stationed in Falmouth, but they found it initially impossible to take the ''Flying Enterprise'' in tow. The ship was finally taken in tow on 5 January 1952 by the ''Turmoil'' when she was some {{convert|300|nmi|km}} from Falmouth. It took several days to reach port. On 10 January the tow line parted when the ship was still {{convert|41|nmi|km}} from Falmouth. Two other tugs joined the battle to save the ship and cargo, but the ''Flying Enterprise'' finally sank later that day. Captain Carlsen and the tug's mate Kenneth Dancy, the only crew members still on board, were picked up by ''Turmoil'' and taken to Falmouth to a hero's welcome.