Trade increased dramatically with imports of coal, limestone and timber, and exports of tin, copper and china clay. From the 1850's the Porthleven boatbuilding industry became a major employer. The large slip saw the launch of clippers, schooners and yachts destined for ports around the world. Two Porthleven-built trawlers still work from Brixham but the last boat was launched from here in the late 1970's. Much of Porthleven's daily routine is still played out in the harbour, with houses and cottages cramming the hillsides for the best view.
Boats still fish from here, the main catch being crab, lobster and crayfish.
A few yards from the harbour you can soak up the sun from the beach or take the South West Coast Path east to the wild Lizard Peninsula or west to the spectacular cliff-edge tin mines of Rinsey. Come in the summer and you'll catch Porthleven in its holiday clothes, with quayside concerts by the town band, gig racing and the festival of St. Peter's Tide. As you stroll round the harbour, you'll be passing buildings which can tell a story or two of times past, when the quayside heaved with activity. As you turn into Breageside, the three storey building across to your right was built in 1889 as fish-curing cellars which turned thousands of hogsheads of pilchards for export. The two cannon either side of the harbour were once fired in anger at Napoleon's navy during the battle of Brest and come from the frigate HMS Anson, wrecked on Loe Bar in 1807 with the loss of 120 sailors.