of restaurateur Rick Stein can be seen in the port, and tourists travel from long distances to eat at his restaurant and cafés. This has led to the town being dubbed "Padstein", by food writers in the British media. The tourist traffic is greatest in the summer, with little activity in the winter. In January 2023, a journalist described Padstow as a "ghost town". Plans to build a skatepark in Padstow were proposed and funds were raised to create this at the Recreation Ground (Wheal Jubilee Parc). Construction was completed in 2019. Transport Maritime traffic Padstow had considerable importance in the Middle Ages as a manor belonging to Bodmin monastery and as the site of a safe haven (one of the few on the north coast). So it became a busy fishing port. Padstow prospered through trade with Ireland and the English and Welsh ports on the Bristol Channel, and during the early 18th Century returned over £100 in duties related to coal imports for both the periods 1708-1710 and 1710-1713, more than any other cornish port except Falmouth. Later trade was the export of tin, copper, lead, slate, cured fish and dairy produce, as well as the importing of timber from Norway and Sweden, salt and wine from France, and hemp, iron and jute from Russia. In the first half of the 19th century Padstow was a significant port of embarcation for emigrants, particularly those bound for Canada, and during the mid-19th century ships carrying timber from Canada such as the barques Clio, Belle and Voluna; and the brig Dalusia were making the journey across the Atlantic. Quebec City was a specific destination recorded and while such vessels brought timber, the offer of cheap travel to passengers wishing to emigrate enticed some to make the journey to Canada. Local shipbuilders also benefited from the quality of incoming cargoes, although shipbuilding had been practiced in Padstow for centuries and the town provided ships for the siege of Calais in 1346. The practice continued, aided by the imported materials, and there five shipyards recorded in the late 19th century though by 1900 this had declined. In 1964, the harbour commissioners regained control of the harbour from the British Transport Commission and then made some improvements to it. The approach from the sea into the River Camel is partially blocked by the Doom Bar, a bank of sand extending across the estuary