Is it a ginnel, is it a snicket? Nope, it’s an ope. Barracks Ope in Falmouth is like a hole punched through the fabric of the town. Walk along the urban parade and suddenly there it is: a glimpse of briny paradise amid the earthly pleasures of a retail high street, offering views across the Penryn River towards Flushing.
The name ope is close kin to the archaic expression “to ope,” meaning to open.
Opes are characteristic of Cornwall’s old ports: narrow passageways squeezed between tightly packed buildings, connecting the streets with the working waterfront. Barracks Ope descends from Falmouth’s Old High Street, giving access to Jane’s Court and Packet Quays. From here the Cutty Sark could once be seen framed in the opening, during the celebrated clipper’s years as a training ship in Falmouth Harbour.
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