Calstock nestles between two bends in the river Tamar, where a majestic 100 year old railway viaduct spans the valley.

A village shop and Post Office, a riverside pub, an active village hall, and an art gallery now form the nucleus of the village. Calstock was once a busy port from which ships laden with arsenic (used as an insecticide in cotton fields) sailed for the New World. Before then, tin mining made the area wealthy. Subsequently, the south facing slopes gave the area comparative advantage for market gardening. At first the early vegetables and flowers were shipped up the Tamar, and then, with the advent of the railway, taken by train straight to city markets. In the woods around Calstock daffodils still grow in straight lines.

The Tamar Valley Railway line and Calstock station, because it took Plymouth dockyard worker to work, survived Dr. Beeching's cuts, so direct travel to London Paddington from Calstock by train is possible in under four hours.