Summer has ended, and rather suddenly at that. As chef Paul Ainsworth remarks on page 67, it was as if on September 1, autumn arrived in full force, blowing and washing away any trace of the heatwave.
Just a few days later, Her Majesty the Queen passed away, and the nation fell into mourning. On page 8, we reflect upon how Cornwall reacted to the news and celebrated the life of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
There is much to look forward to in autumn: dog walks among crunching leaves (see advice on how to stay safe on dark evenings, p12); and Hallowe’en or, as some prefer, the traditional Cornish celebration of Allantide – shine up your red apples (p20). October is Black History Month, and singer Angeline Morrison shares tales of black history in folk songs from Cornwall and beyond (page 30).
It might seem early to mention the C word, but Christmas starts in earnest in November. Get in the mood with Makers Cornwall Christmas Fair, Padstow Christmas Festival and a rundown of events including festive productions by the Hall For Cornwall and Miracle Theatre in December.
There’s so much more in this edition, from shipwrecks in Cornwall’s furthest north (p39) to a plaque marking Virginia Woolf’s childhood in St Ives (p24).
So hunker down for a good read, and we’ll see you in December!
Oll an gwella Kirstie
Acorn Cup by Abigail Brown. Britannia silver with gilt interior. Available to commission, single or pair. Photograph by Syd Buron at Trelissick.
6 Cornwall Air Ambulance: Work begins on a bigger HQ
8 News: A fond farewell to HM Queen Elizabeth II
10 10 Things to do in October/November
12 Dog-Friendly Cornwall: Staying safe on winter walks
16
A Day Out: Makers Cornwall Christmas Fair, Penryn
18 Treasure Island: A Cornish Christmas pantomime at the Hall For Cornwall
20 Allantide: Traditional Cornish Halloween celebrations
21
A Christmas Preview: The festive season kicks off in November
24 The Sea Blazed Gold: Virginia Woolf in St Ives
27 Falmouth Book Festival: Seven days of literary enrichment
28
A Secular Requiem: A new recording to remember lost loved ones
30 Black History Month: Folk songs collected by Angeline Morrison
32 Learning to fly: Liberating aerial dance
34 Adore My Store: Jo Downs Glass
36 The Want List: Nine items from Circa 21, Penzance
38
Cornish language: Looking ahead to winter
39 An Account of Wrecks: North Cornwall’s 19th-century expert
42 My Cornish World: Folk duo Our Atlantic Roots
46 Art News: Exhibitions from Bude to St Just-in-Penwith
52 Art Focus: Suki Wapshott at Whitewater Gallery, Polzeath
54 St Michael’s Mount: A new home for a Newlyn School collection
56 Meet the Maker: Hazel McNab of Cornwall Crafts Association
58 New Gallery, Portscatho: The art of portraiture
60 Very Important Piece: Cowhouse Gallery
Bites:
Christmas Festival:
Taster
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Cornwall Air Ambulance starts work on extending its headquarters
Savinglives since 1987, Cornwall Air Ambulance was the first service of its kind in the UK and provides critical care to over 1,100 seriously sick or injured people across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly every year. As it marks its 35th year, the charity has been busy planning for the future, a major part of which is the extension to its headquarters at Cornwall Airport Newquay.
The charity has grown and extended its operations over the decades; with the purchase of an AW169 helicopter and increased operating hours from 12 to 19 per day, 365 days per year, it became apparent the current building was no longer fit for purpose.
In 2019, Cornwall Air Ambulance was awarded grant funding of £897,700 from the Department of Health and Social Care towards a proportion of the building costs for a new crew facility. While the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the start of the project, work is now well underway to extend the
existing hangar with a view to providing better training facilities, a significantly improved operations room, and more rest areas for the aircrew.
Head of Operations Alf Evans said: “The new three-storey building will provide the crew with immersive training rooms, study areas, sleeping pods and quiet areas for some much-needed downtime after emergency missions. It will ensure the air crew has the best resources to continue providing the best possible service to the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
“Importantly, it will also future-proof the charity’s operations, allowing for further growth where needed.” The work is being carried out by local firm Brady Construction Services and is due to finish in spring 2023.
In 2021, the AW169 helicopter and two rapid response vehicles (RRVs) were tasked to 1,092 missions - an average of three incidents a day. The team of critical care paramedics and doctors responded to 534 medical emergencies and 551 trauma-
related incidents, as well as flying seven inter-hospital transfers to ensure seriously sick patients could receive the specialist treatment they needed.
Last year was also the inaugural year of Cornwall Air Ambulance carrying blood products on board the aircraft and RRVs. The Blood On Board service launched as a collaboration with the blood transfusion service at Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and Cornwall Blood Bikes. In its first year, the service carried out 12 pre-hospital blood transfusions.
Each year it costs over £5million to provide this lifesaving service to the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and the charity relies on the generosity of supporters to fund emergency missions. l
You can find out how to support the charity by visiting its social media platforms and at cornwallairambulancetrust.org
The people of Cornwall paid tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II following her death on September 8 at the age of 96.
Cathedral hosted a Book of Condolence for members of the public to sign, and took floral tributes on Cathedral Green. A Commemorative Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Her Majesty took place on Sunday, September 18; the following day, the funeral was livestreamed on a large screen in the cathedral to a gathered crowd of around 400.
Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor said: "Our Queen, although small in stature, was a global colossus by reputation, a bright beacon among heads of state internationally, offering a lifetime of service to her grateful nation. Her reign as monarch of our United Kingdom was unprecedented in length and she provided the continuity and stability on which our nation rested and grew through the decades.”
Personnel from RNAS Culdrose in Helston and HMS Raleigh in Torpoint played a key role in the state funeral on Monday,
September 19. The Royal Navy has been responsible for pulling the ceremonial gun carriage through the streets of London since the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
Colonel Edward Bolitho, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, is also one of the Gentlemen at Arms who provide a bodyguard to the monarch at ceremonial occasions. In that capacity, he stood guard over the catafalque at the lying-in-state in Westminster Hall, and marched next to the Queen’s coffin in the three-mile procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch at a rate of 75 paces to the minute.
“It was incredibly moving, and a privilege to take part,” he said. “To see all those people, of all ages and from all over the place, who queued for hours to have five minutes in Westminster Hall, maybe a few seconds with their monarch, was extraordinary and shows what affection Her Majesty was held in by so many people.”
The formal proclamation to the people
of Cornwall to mark the beginning of the reign of King Charles III took place on Sunday, September 11 on the steps of Truro Cathedral. High Sheriff Andrew Williams delivered the official statement, followed by Grand Bard Pol Hodge making the same speech in the Cornish language of Kernewek, and prayers from the Bishop of Truro. St Dennis Band accompanied the assembled crowd in the National Anthem, while Vice-Lieutenant James Williams led three cheers to the new monarch. The news was subsequently announced at locations throughout Cornwall, from Launceston to Penzance.
The Duke of Cambridge was named Prince of Wales and the 25th Duke of Cornwall. An official statement from the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery said: “The estate is in safe hands. It is right, at this time, to recognise the huge changes made by our 24th Duke of Cornwall over 70 years. His Majesty passes the estate on much improved.” l
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II pictured at the G7 summit at the Eden Project in June, 2021
Following a hugely successful July tour including a gig at the Minack Theatre, the Gigspanner Big Band and best-selling author Raynor Winn kick off an autumn tour with a date at the Hall For Cornwall on October 19. Saltlines is described as “a portrait of the South West Coast Path in old songs and new words”. A sensational sextet is led by Peter Knight, famed fiddler with Steeleye Span. Winn is a South West Coast Path ambassador, and the author of The Salt Path and The Wild Silence; her third book, Landlines, is fresh on the shelf and tells how she and husband Moth hiked back to Cornwall from the north-west corner of Scotland.
See a rare medieval whale bone –measuring more than half a metre across - at Launceston Castle. Over 700 years old, the mysterious object features in a new exhibition exploring the castle’s changing roles, from royal residence and gateway to Cornwall to prison and place
of execution. How did a huge sea creature come to be in land-locked Launceston? Perhaps it reflects the exotic diet of the castle’s medieval occupants: it dates back to the castle’s 13th century heyday, when whale meat was so highly prized that a portion of any whale caught or found had to be forfeited to the king. The Earl of Cornwall was King Henry III’s brother and one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Europe, fond of hosting great feasts for high-ranking officials. Open daily until October 30.
The first Festival of Nature, a new collaboration between the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, Creative Scilly, The Islands Partnership and the council, takes place over 10 days from October 15 to 23, showcasing the diverse environment and celebrating sustainability across the archipelago. Events will include guided walks across each island, including rock-pooling, pond-dipping and wild swimming; opportunities to talk to local
4experts, sample their produce and learn more about their nature-positive attitudes; creative workshops with artists and craftspeople including beach painting, sketching and quilting; talks from natural historians, sharing knowledge on local wildlife and sustainability; and natureinspired evening events including music, pub quizzes and a clothes swap. Tickets go on sale on October 1, and many events are free. www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk
The character from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved book turns 10 years old this year. To celebrate, head to Cardinham Woods where under 6s can take part in a colouring competition to win Superworm goodies and membership at your favourite forest! Visitors can also enjoy a Superworm activity trail with brightly illustrated panels and amazing activities. Special Superworm trail packs are available to buy from the Ranger’s Hut for £3.50 with additional activities, including stickers, a
superhero mask, creature fact cards, athome activity sheet, pencil and crayons. www.forestryengland.uk/superworm
The Fal oyster-dredging season runs from October to March, and Falmouth Oyster Festival celebrates with four days of feasting and festivities from October 13 to 16. Having outgrown Events Square, the festival has moved to Church Street car park, against the beautiful backdrop of Falmouth harbour. Expect cookery demos, live music, Cornish food produce, arts and crafts, seafood bars, working boat racing, a grand oyster parade and a most fiercely contested oyster shucking competition. Generous support from sponsors Seasalt Cornwall and St Michaels Resort enables free entry for much of the festival, while Thursday and Saturday night tickets can be purchased online. Facebook @Falmouth Oyster Festival; Twitter @FalOysterFest; www.falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk
A Cornish music and dance festival based in Redruth, with things to entertain the whole family. Venues include Redruth School, St Rumons Social Club, Redruth Drapery, St Andrew’s Church, Kresen Kernow and the High Street. The lineup features Angeline Morrison and Dalla from Cornwall, as well as Le Net / Lorho-
Pasco from Brittany, Pen Y Fai from Wales, Alison Sinclair from Scotland and expert Irish sets caller Maggie Daniel. Thursday is Breton night, while Friday is Irish night. Saturday is “Hal an Gwav”, the Cornish Winter’s Eve (Halloween). October 26 to 30. www.lowenderperan.co.uk
October 15 to February 19. Eden brings back its popular ice-skating rink in good time for October half-term. Enjoy skating sessions for families, parent and toddler or general use; nervous skaters might consider a course of lessons on Wednesday evenings or Saturday mornings. www.edenproject.com
Surfers Against Sewage is challenging you to Dip A Day during October: that's one dip in any form of cold water, every day for a month. Why? To boost your wellbeing with a tribe of like-minded ocean lovers, while raising vital funds and awareness to save the ocean. Join the Facebook group to sign up and create a fundraising page with a target of £150. All fundraisers receive a free SAS swim cap. www.sas.org.uk
A sun pendant which is over 3,000 years old is currently on loan to the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro as part of
the British Museum Spotlight Loan tour. Gathering light: A Bronze golden sun is travelling the length of the UK but remains in Cornwall until November 5. Britain’s Bronze Age period lasted from around 2,150BC until 800BC, with solar symbolism a key element of mythology and belief: the sun charted the day and provided life. The Spotlight Loan also features a stunning gold lunula (meaning ‘little moon’) which was discovered in an Irish bog and is at least 4,000 years old; and the Towednack hoard, a series of gold objects discovered in Cornwall in 1931. www.royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk
The South West’s largest regional film festival celebrates its 21st anniversary year from November 14 to 20 with a full programme of films, Q&As, masterclasses and events centred around The Poly Falmouth. Expect UK premieres, Oscar-tipped features, uncompromising documentary work, regional and international short films and a new category: Screen Stars of Tomorrow featuring work from 16-18-year-olds from Cornwall. Feature titles include sci-fi-punk musical Neptune Frost and Hitchcockian noir thriller Decision to Leave from director Park Chan-wook. See the full programme from October 3 at www.mormediacharity.org
The nights are drawing in and the days are getting darker. Here in Cornwall, the lanes can be tricky to navigate as the light fades. Statistics show that the winter months see an 18% rise in the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured in road accidents. Here are a few simple tips to help you and your dog stay safe.
Tip 1: Think carefully about your route and the time you walk It’s worth reviewing the places that you walk as the seasons change. We all know cars can drive very fast down some Cornish roads, and the volume of traffic can change as sat-navs direct cars and even commercial vehicles along lanes that were once quieter. If you’re finding that your favourite routes are getting busier, consider altering your regular walks so you
and your dog are safer. Consider walks with pavements or well-lit off-road routes – or if you can, change your routine to walk when there’s a reasonable amount of daylight.
Tip 2: Wear orange high-visibility clothing or accessories Hi-vis for you and your dog is helpful on fast roads and lanes even in daylight. Green and yellow can be tricky to spot against Cornish hedges, particularly in the low setting sun; orange is easier for drivers to see.
Tip 3: Use lights at night Hi-vis vests or jackets might not be enough at night. Give drivers extra time and opportunity to see you by wearing a light such as a head torch (those with red light settings don’t blind people looking at you head on). An LED keyring or collar can
help your dog be seen more easily. Having a light behind you is also helpful if you can put one on a belt.
Tip 4: On single-track lanes, don’t follow the rule of walking towards oncoming traffic Despite received wisdom, this can be dangerous around tight bends, as it gives drivers virtually no time to see you and they have nowhere to go to avoid hitting you. Always walk on the outside of the bend in order to be seen as early as possible – if you need to cross the road and can do so safely, then do. l
For dog-friendly walks and places to explore, visit www.dogfriendlycornwall.co.uk
Words by Victoria Carpenter
It feels much longer than three years since Makers Cornwall hosted their last Christmas Fair in 2019, long before social distancing and face masks. But they’re back, and with a new team at the helm.
Makers Cornwall are excited to return to the Sports Centre on the university campus at Penryn from November 4 to 6, with more than 70 of their very best Cornish makers ready to kick off the Christmas fair 2022 season in style.
The fair will be full to the brim with jewellers, illustrators, potters, textiles, homewares, handmade chocolate and more. Visitors will be treated to a huge variety of high quality, original handmade products across 71 stalls, including modern ceramics, stylish homewares, hand-printed textiles, unusual jewellery, original art and prints, eco-beauty products and food gifts. Where else can you buy a fabric mackerel, artisan macarons and a sea plastic necklace under one roof?
And once shoppers are ready to drop, they can find something delicious at the food stalls, or perhaps a piece of cake and a hot drink in the café under the Christmas tree.
As is traditional with Makers Cornwall events, Friday night is opening night, and a very special experience with shopping, celebration and cocktails from 6pm to 9pm, as well as live jazz from Swingology.
Saturday is usually the busiest day, so arrive early and make a day of it! Sunday offers the final chance to complete your
Christmas shopping while enjoying a relaxed live set from The Rosevilles.
The team’s chosen charity for 2022 is the Trussell Trust’s Penryn Foodbank. Donations of food are invited from anyone attending who would like to contribute, and a tombola with specially donated gifts from the makers will raise extra funds.
The team are thrilled to be returning to the Penryn Campus Sports Centre. With free parking all weekend, easy access and direct connections to public transport, it remains a perfect venue for visitors and stallholders alike. Campus services FXPlus played a key part in looking after everyone and ensuring a seamless event in 2019, and will do so again this year.
Makers Cornwall is a non-profit community supporting local designers, makers and artists by sharing information and encouragement online, and organising workshops and social events that make the solo job of making things a little less lonely.
The Christmas fair started in St Ives Guildhall in 2017, with around 40 stands attracting 3,000 visitors. It moved to the Penryn campus in 2019 to huge success, with 70 stands pulling in an amazing 5,000 visitors.
Past events were led by local creative and small business advocate Alison Bick, and the new organising team of seven creative makers and designers from the Makers Cornwall community have big shoes to fill. But they bring plenty of experience, skills and enthusiasm and, armed with some excellent handover notes from Alison and her team, they are looking forward to
creating another wonderful event worthy of the Makers Cornwall name.
“For me, the Makers Cornwall Fair has been a part of the build-up to Christmas since the very first Etsy Makers Cornwall Fair in St Ives,” says paper artist Pam Booth, who is a member of the organising team. “It’s such a privilege to now be involved in planning this amazing event.”
“Makers Cornwall Christmas Fair is one of my favourite events to attend as a customer, let alone as a trader,” adds illustrator and team lead Sally Atkins. “Bringing to life an event that was so popular and well attended prior to the pandemic is a huge responsibility. I can’t express enough how amazed I am at the wonderful bunch of people I am working with.
“We received an incredibly high standard of applications for stalls, and now have everything we need to ensure Makers Cornwall Christmas Fair 2022 is the best we can possibly provide for both stallholders and customers.” l
Makers Cornwall Christmas Fair 2022, Sports Centre, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE. November 4 to 6. Friday, November 4: 6pm to 9pm; Saturday November 5: 10am to 4pm; Sunday, November 6: 10am to 3pm.
For more information about the event and exhibitors, follow Makers Cornwall on Facebook and Instagram @makerscornwall or visit
makerscornwall.co.uk/christmas-fair-2022
The Hall for Cornwall celebrates Christmas with a rip-roaring production of Treasure Island. Jim, his mum and their pet chough have fallen on hard times. All looks lost until a tattered treasure map lands in Jim’s lap - if only they can find a boat, a crew, and safe passage to a mysterious faraway island... Join them as they set sail for a magical island full of treasure, treachery and adventure.
Edward Rowe (aka Kernow King, and the lead actor in the Bafta-winning film Bait) stars as Long John Silver.
Hi Edward! It’s that time again –how many pantos have you done now?
I did a trilogy at the Hall For Cornwall, all based around my character of Kenwyn; for the third, in 2017, I was nominated for a Great British Pantomime Award for best leading male. I was surrounded by West End stars at the ceremony –it was unreal.
What makes Christmas at the Hall For Cornwall so special?
Having also played a Buttons-type character in a massive big-budget affair in Cardiff, what I love about the Cornish productions that they have so much heart and soul, and are so deeply connected to Cornwall. Plus, for a lad from Roche, it’s home ground.
What do you especially like about panto?
I love making the kids laugh. It’s just magic. You see them with their families in the foyer afterwards, and they are starstruck to meet you. It means so much to them – there's a real sense of joy.
Is it hard work?
It’s like going to the gym for a blast workout! You’re singing, dancing, moving all the time – I always lose loads of weight. You have to really look after yourself, eat well and take vitamins. It’s relentless, but so much fun. I missed doing Christmas shows like this during the pandemic and couldn’t wait to get back to it.
Which moments stand out for you?
I have fond memories of all three Kenwyn shows. There was a giant inflatable beanstalk for Dick Whittington and his Mousehole Cat, and in Sleeping Beauty, it was a dream come true to fly across the Hall For Cornwall stage with an electric guitar and a ginger wig – not to mention fireworks. Panto is a great training ground, and I grew a lot as an actor in those shows. It’s a competitive field, so I was very lucky to play a lead part.
What’s your take on Long John Silver?
I reckon he’ll be a Cornish Johnny Depp. I might not have his hair, but I’ve got his cheekbones! Seriously though, I won’t know for sure until rehearsals start on November 7. I’ve seen the script, and I will probably chip in with gags as I’m going along. One thing is for sure: this Long John Silver will be an authentic Cornish pirate.
You opened the new Hall For Cornwall as part of the cast of Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical Yes, and I think it’s stunning. I’ve since been as an audience member and it’s an incredible experience from both sides, from the architecture to the facilities. I
love it when they open both entrances and you can see right through from Boscawen Street to Lemon Quay. It’s a real jewel in Cornwall’s crown.
What else have you been up to?
I’ve filmed several TV roles: in House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel, as Paddy Considine’s right-hand man; as Tom Burke’s best friend in Strike, to be shown around Christmas time; and Beyond Paradise, a spin-off from Death in Paradise, which will be on BBC1 in 2023. I’m also in Enys Men, Mark Jenkin’s follow-up to Bait, which is due out in January.
You’ve also released your own film, Hub Madel, in Cornish Yes, it’s a short film, 11 minutes long, about a young farmer/rugby player who is struggling with his sexuality. I wanted to hear everyday people – farmers, rugby players – speaking Cornish on screen. I started learning Cornish in 2016, and would urge anyone to do the same – it's a wonderful thing. l
Treasure Island runs from December 3 to 31 at the Hall for Cornwall, Truro. Tickets from £15. Group rates available. For further details and to book, call 01872 262466 or visit hallforcornwall.co.uk
Hub Madel shows at Pydar Pop-Up on October 21, with future dates to be confirmed. paloresproductions.co.uk
Treasure Island at the Hall For Cornwall
Known in Kernewek as Kalan Gwav, meaning “first day of winter”, Allantide is thought to be the feast day of St Allan, sixth century Bishop of Quimper in Brittany, and is closely related to Celtic festivals: Welsh Hollantide, Irish Samhain and Breton Kala-Goañv, all marking the end of the harvest and beginning of the "darker-half" of the year.
Highly polished red apples were at the centre of Cornish celebrations. Known as Allan apples, they would have been sold at Allan markets and gifted to family members to bring good luck.
As apples are a symbol of love and fertility in many cultures, so Allantide night was considered a time to ask questions of love. Children placed apples under their pillows in the hope of dreaming of their future spouse, while married couples tossed walnuts into the fire to ensure fidelity for the year. Singletons would throw molten metal into cold water; the shape it formed as it cooled was a clue to the occupation of a future lover.
The Allantide version of apple bobbing was to join two planks of wood together in a cross shape, fix a candle to each point, then suspend it from the ceiling hung with apples. The trick is to catch the apples in your mouth without getting covered in hot wax!
With the coming of winter and darker days, death was another preoccupation. Church
bells were tolled at Allantide to aid the passage of the spirits, while a "family table" was laid with mementoes of lost loved ones.
You can celebrate Allantide in your own home – remember to carve a locally-grown turnip rather than an American-style pumpkin. Alternatively, attend a public event.
The Cornish Culture Association hosts an annual get-together at the Admiral Benbow in Penzance; find further details on Facebook.
At Lowender Peran in Redruth, Saturday, October 30 is “Hal an Gwav”, or Cornish Winter’s Eve, where Satan from the Cornish Miracle Plays meets the Beast of Bodmin and Penglas, the horse skull Obby Oss from Penzance.
Alternatively, enjoy harvest activities such as apple printing, and corn dolly making at Wheal Martyn near St Austell, from October 31 to 3 November 3.
Further Halloween events:
• Shipwreck Museum, Charlestown: Lights Off Lantern Trail, October 22 to 30. Are you brave enough to wander the dark corridors, listening to spooky stories? Creepy crafts, ghoulish games and a special prize for the best Halloween costume. www. shipwreckcharlestown.co.uk
• Lanhydrock Penny Dreadful. October 15 to 31. Haunted treasure trail, creepy characters, activities and spooky
treats in the tearoom and shop. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lanhydrock
• Flambards, October 22 to 30: Pumpkin trail through the Victorian Village. Halloween Tricks & Treats Firework Spectacular on Wednesday, October 26 at 7:30pm.
• Newquay, October 22 to 30: Halloween window dress-up competition and ghoulish Town Trail, plus a blood-curdling crescendo on Saturday, October 29 in the family-friendly Zombie Crawl.
• Pendennis Castle, October 22 to 30.
A ghoulishly good day out with Dennis, Gnasher and friends, plus tall tales of the strange, the supernatural and the downright silly from costumed performers.
• Bodmin Jail. Take a Go Darker tour, from the gallows to the grave – a Junior Jailers version is available for brave 7+; or experience an intimate, authentic Victorian séance in the original women’s wing on October 31. www.bodminjail.org l
While many of our Hallowe’en traditions have been imported from the USA, you could always celebrate the traditional Cornish festival of Allantide on October 31.
The six weeks leading up to Christmas are when everything clicks into place in Cornwall. From festive light switch-ons to craft markets, home-grown panto to Santa fun runs, here’s a selection of events to get you jingling those bells.
December 8 to 11, Guildhall, St Ives; December 15 to 31, Princess Pavilion, Falmouth. The well-known fairy tale is given the Miracle treatment! At the Cornwall Riviera Holiday Camp in 1959, the Yellowjackets are bursting to entertain the campers with their mangled version of this classic story, following the adventures of a resourceful princess with insomnia when a resentful fairy’s wicked spell goes horribly wrong. Age 7+. www.miracletheatre.co.uk
FromNovember18.An enchanting lantern experience amid the atmospheric Lost Gardens. Journey through the magical garden trail, exploring woodlands and gardens lit by beautiful installations by The Lantern Company, from badgers to fungi, bees to butterflies and a joyful family of cheeky Tamworth pigs. Children are invited to make their own lanterns on selected dates; £5, pre-booking essential. www.heligan.com
Truro’s celebrations launch on Festive Friday (November 18) with a Christmas lights switch-on and a Father Christmas parade, plus The Big Festive Shop Small Market on Lemon Quay until 9pm and continuing the following day. November 23 signals the start of Wednesday LateNight Shopping, with traffic-free shopping
streets from 2pm to 9pm; and Christmas illuminations in Victoria Gardens, to be switched on daily at selected times. Truro Farmers Market BIG Christmas Market takes place on selected dates from Friday, December 2, and daily from December 14 to Christmas Eve; and the Finding Father Christmas Grotto with Coppice Theatre returns to Truro Cathedral from December 7. www.visittruro.org.uk
Near St Austell, November 19. Browse handmade goods and pick up some unique gifts, from ceramics to local gins, jewellery to handmade bird boxes. Combine your visit with a stroll through the museum and its beautiful grounds.
Royal Cornwall Events Centre, November 19 and 20, 10am to 5pm. Free entry. Celebrate all that's great about Cornish farming and food. The Winter Market runs across both days, the 140-year-old Wadebridge Prime Stock Show on the Saturday, with a packed prize schedule including classes for cattle and sheep, produce, craft and cookery. Meet farm animals and learn more about local agriculture and food production, and kick off your Christmas shopping with an array of Cornish food and drink and locally crafted gifts. www.royalcornwallshow.org/ cornish-winter-fair/
Cotehele Great Hall (National Trust entry fee applies), November 19 to January 6, 2023, 10.30am to 4pm (closed Christmas/ Boxing Day). The festive garland is the culmination of a year’s work. Preparations begin in February when seeds are sown in the Cut Flower Garden; garden staff and volunteers pick the blooms from late April, to be dried until the garland is put together over two weeks in November. Each year’s garland is different, and depending on the growing season features up to 35,000 flowers.
November 19 and 20. The house will be decorated for Christmas and full of craft stalls plus a food marquee. The Peacock café will be open for scrumptious treats.
Eden Project, November 23 and 24. An enticing mix of Christmas gifts, home accessories, clothes, jewellery and mouthwatering produce between the biomes. All funds raised will support the work of Cornwall Community Foundation. Preview evening on Wednesday, November 23, 5pm to 9pm; tickets £30 including supper and two glasses of wine. Day Fair, Thursday, November 24, 10am to 4pm; tickets £18 including lunch, wine and free admission to the Eden Project.
©National Trust Images James Dobson. www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Tremayne Hall, Mylor Bridge, Saturday, November 26, 10am to 4pm. A traditional festive fair showcasing work by local artisans: silver jewellery, ceramics, woodwork, organic cosmetics, children's clothes and toys, textile art, preserves, cakes, plants and more. Details from Jan Robson 01326 375252.
Penzance’s festive celebrations begin with the lights switch-on on November 26, followed by a programme of events including street entertainment, live bands, a silent disco, a Christmas market and the Humphry Davy Lantern Workshops and Parade on December 17.
Wednesday November 30. Experience sumptuous seasonal harmonies in an idyllic, festive setting. Expect to hear timeless classics such as When A Child is Born, Silent Night and All I Want For Christmas, as well as delightful medleys to evoke the Christmas spirit.
December 1 to 4. Four days of Christmas shopping with a foodie flavour, and cookery demos by some of the UK’s finest chefs, led by Paul Ainsworth, Nathan Outlaw and Rick Stein. See page 67 for more details.
December 2 to 4. The quaint harbour town comes alive with Christmas shopping, seasonal music and a smorgasbord of locally produced food and drink. The action is spread across the stunning Fowey Town Quay, Albert Quay, Webb Street and Town Hall venues.
December2to4,10amto4pm.Buy unique Christmas gifts direct from jewellers, painters, printmakers, sculptors, potters, textile artists and more.
December 3, Old Starter Pavilion, Mylor Village, 10am to 4pm. Local artists and makers sell their wares.
Shipwreck Treasure Museum, Charlestown, December 3 to January 8 2023. Journey through every imaginable Christmas setting, from the snowy winter wonderland of Narnia’s frozen forests to a room filled with giant baubles of every colour possible, through an entire world of beautifully wrapped presents to a mini-German Christmas Market - and don’t miss the UK’s longest tunnel of indoor festive lights, and take a selfie in the Giant Snow Globe (additional cost applies). www.shipwreckcharlestown.co.uk
Eden Project, December 4. Gather family,
friends or work colleagues and dress up for the 2km route in aid Children’s Hospice South West. Have festive fun in the knowledge you’re drumming up cash for a good cause. www.chsw.org.uk
Carbis Bay Estate, December 3 and 4, 10 and 11, noon to 6pm, FREE. The beach promenade will host Christmas craft stalls, artisan stands, mulled wine and festive food, free festive activities for children, live music and Santa's grotto.
Crooklets Beach, December 10 and 11. The Beach Huts will be full to the brim with hand-crafted Christmas presents suitable for all ages, plus carol singers, a brass Band, and Santa’s grotto.
December 10 and 11. With ice rink, curling lane, snow machines, festive land train, live music and more.
What could be more festive than a nostalgic steam train journey through the winter countryside, and a private audience with Father Christmas? Bodmin & Wenford and Lappa Valley steam railways both offer Santa services throughout December. www.bodminrailway.co.uk www.lappavalley.co.uk
A plaque and a pamphlet to celebrate one of St Ives’ most revered authors
Virginia Woolf has long been associated with St Ives. Throughout her childhood, she spent lengthy summers at Talland House in Albert Road, and was entranced by the surrounding coast and in particular Godrevy lighthouse.
Finally, after a lengthy campaign, a commemorative plaque has been mounted on the wall of Talland House (which is now divided into private apartments). Unlike many heritage plaques, which are blue, this one is black and white to reflect the tones of the St Piran Flag.
It was unveiled during the St Ives September Festival, in the presence of Emeritus Professor Maggie Humm, vicechair of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain. Maggie spent four years working tirelessly to persuade St Ives Town Council to allow the plaque and to raise almost £4,000 among Woolf fans around the world.
“Talland House was hugely important to Woolf,” she says. “She once said: ‘I always feel that I am the original owner of Cornwall, and everyone else is a newcomer.’”
In addition, Woolf devotes pages of her memoir, A Sketch Of The Past, to her
memories of 13 glorious summers in Talland House between 1882 and 1894. Her father, Leslie Stephen, had found the house on a walking tour the year before Woolf’s birth, and was especially taken with the view overlooking Porthminster Bay towards Godrevy Lighthouse, which could be seen from the upper windows.
The young Virginia adored Talland House and St Ives. She first mentions it, aged 10, in the Stephen children's home-made newspaper Hyde Park Gate News: “The Stephens were going to St Ives very much earlier than usual. This is a heavenly prospect to the minds of the juveniles who adore St Ives.” Later in life, she would write: “I could fill pages remembering one thing after another. All together made the summer at St Ives the best beginning to a life conceivable.”
Upon arrival from Paddington, the children would run straight down to Porthminster Beach, where Virginia learned to swim. “In her memories, the summers were always hot, and she ate Cornish cream with blackberries,” says Maggie. Sadly, the family visits ended with the untimely death of Woolf’s mother, Julia, of rheumatic fever in 1895.
The influence of the St Ives landscape features prominently in three major novels: Jacob’s Room (1922), The Waves (1931) and most notably To The Lighthouse (1927) - while set in the Hebrides, it is widely acknowledged to be based on Godrevy. The lighthouse is a recurring theme in Woolf’s work, as are waves breaking on the shore, silver fish dangling and sails in the wind – all stemming from her time in Talland House.
Having already campaigned successfully to prevent building on land opposite Talland House that would have obscured the treasured view of Godrevy, Maggie was undaunted in her quest to secure a heritage plaque for Woolf’s former holiday residence. She drummed up support via the local press and Woolf appreciation societies in France, Italy and the USA, lobbied the town council and enlisted the help of Derek Thomas MP – as well as appealing to celebrity Woolf fans such as Dame Eileen Atkins, who is president of the British society and has strong links to Cornwall thanks to her role in Doc Martin.
“Despite its history, St Ives does not have many plaques, which makes this a
momentous occasion in many ways,” says Maggie, whose own debut novel, Talland House, is a murder-mystery that aims to fill in some of the back story in To The Lighthouse. “It was originally called Who Killed Mrs Ramsay? But so much of the action takes place in the house, it became a character in itself.
The unveiling of the plaque at Talland House coincides with the publication of an illustrated pamphlet detailing Woolf’s passion for the town. The Sea Blazed Gold (which takes its title from a passage in The Waves) is the work of artist Louisa Albani, and the third of her pamphlets to feature Woolf; the first, A Moment In The Life Of Virginia Woolf, explored how the author created her vivid seascapes from landlocked Tavistock Square in London, while the second, The Journey to my Sister's House, focused on her time in the South Downs.
Using excerpts from Woolf's diaries, letters and novels, interwoven with her own artworks, Louisa celebrates Woolf’s time in St Ives and the impact it had on her life, as well as the mysterious power Cornwall has over those who fall under its spell.
Louisa works in mixed media, including collage, metallic stitching and pen and ink. The 36-page publication is printed on her own press, harking back to the days when illustrated pamphlets were the most popular means of communication. Woolf and her husband, Leonard, launched their own publishing company, Hogarth Press, in 1917 and hand-printed books as a hobby. “I feel it’s not just the stories that are reflected in my pamphlet, but also the way they would have been told,” she says. “Print is so sensual – it's tactile and visceral, even the smell of it. It’s the experience of flicking – you enter something.”
Text contributors include Maggie Humm and Astra Bloom, whose work was included in Kit De Waal’s Common People anthology of working-class writing, and who has a particular interest in Woolf’s work.
Louisa came to St Ives eight years ago to research What We Heard From The Sea, an anthology of stories about those working on the water. “I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know Virginia Woolf lived there, or that a large part of her inspiration had come from there – and I don’t think I’m alone in that,” she admits.
“St Ives is incredibly rich in history and provenance, especially when it comes to 20th century modern art. A Virginia Woolf plaque in St Ives celebrates not only her legacy, but makes visible the inspiring power of Cornwall to important writers as well. In my eyes, she was an artist – she just happened to be a writer.” l
The Sea Blazed Gold: Virginia Woolf in St Ives costs £13 and is stocked by St Ives Bookseller.
AA stellar cast of speakers including authors, actors, celebrity chefs, explorers and critics will take to the stage at Falmouth Book Festival from October 17 to 23. Sheila Hancock, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and George Monbiot are among the headline acts, with talks taking place at venues including the Princess Pavilion, The Poly, Falmouth Library and the Cornish Bank.
The festival made its debut in 2021, and was a collaboration between Colin Midson and Helen Waters, who had previously programmed the book tent at Port Eliot Festival.
Having worked in publishing in London, Colin moved to Cornwall in 2013 and almost immediately joined the Port Eliot Festival team. When the festival was suspended indefinitely in 2019, “it was devastating for me both professionally and personally. I was living on the edge of a cliff on the Lizard, and didn’t know what I was going to do in the book world from there.”
As it turned out, Falmouth had a lot going for it. Ron Johns, who ran the book tent at Port Eliot, is the owner of the independent Bookseller chain, which has a branch in Falmouth; and of course, it’s the location of Cornwall’s only university, which has a creative writing course and counts eminent authors among its staff.
“Helen lives in Falmouth, and we had often talked about whether a festival would work
here,” says Colin. The idea was delayed by Covid, but with the university on board as principal sponsor and students volunteering in a number of areas, it was all systems go for 2021.
The first festival started out as a long weekend, and grew when Dawn French – actor, author and Falmouth University chancellor – confirmed at a late stage. “While Port Eliot was an established festival, we were building this one from scratch,” Colin continues. “You hope there’s an audience, but you’re not really sure who it is or whether anyone will turn up. Then you’ve got to get the writers down to Cornwall.”
Fortunately, Cornwall has plenty of literary names to call upon: Patrick Gale, Philip Marsden, Nina Stibbe, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Raynor Winn, Wyl Menmuir... Events sold well and quickly, with many selling out. “This gave us confidence that it was something we could do again.”
This year, Colin is casting the net wider but still calling upon his extensive contacts; having worked with Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall as his publicist for many years at Bloomsbury, he has persuaded the celebrity chef to come to falmouth and discuss his latest book, River Cottage: Good Comfort.
There are three actors on the roster: Sheila Hancock with her memoir, Old Rage; Rebecca Humphries, star of Ten Per Cent
and The Crown and author of Why Did You Stay? a memoir about self-worth inspired by her Strictly-curse split with comedian Seann Walsh; and Paterson Joseph, whose debut novel The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho was described by Stephen Fry as “an absolutely thrilling throatcatching wonder of a historical novel”.
Topical talks include Ukrainian-born chef and food writer Olia Hercules in conversation with local author and Russian specialist Charlotte Hobson, who volunteered on the Poland/Ukrainian border earlier this year; and environmental campaigner George Monbiot, discussing his new book Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet.
In non-fiction, Raynor Winn will discuss Landlines, her account of a thousand-mile trek from Scotland to Cornwall; Mensun Bound, leader of the expedition to find the Endurance in the Antarctic earlier in the year, has since written The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton's Endurance; and Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for The Times and author of In Perfect Harmony, will appear in conversation with fellow journalist Laura Snapes.
“It’s a really exciting line-up,” Colin enthuses, “and this year, we can guarantee that there are some very switched-on people who want to experience books on an entertaining and intellectual level.”
The vertiginous world of aerial dance
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to fly? The Off The Wall aerial dancers are keen to show you. Becky Miles, Charlotte Luke and Grace Sellwood are experts in vertical dance – otherwise known as wall running - and believe everyone can harness their inner sense of strength and take flight, to great emotional benefit.
Having previously brushed shoulders as freelancers, the three have worked together since 2019, when they danced on the side of Lower Sharpnose Point, a vertiginous 45m cliff near Bude, for the crowdfunded short film Clifftops. Watch it on their Facebook page – the precision of their synchronised movements is just aweinspiring. “It was fabulous to experience dancing on that length of rope - the closest thing to the feeling is flying or perhaps being in space!” says Grace.
All trained teachers, they are now taking their skills to more conventional theatres and halls in the hope that the artistry that wows audiences can also empower others of all genders, ages and abilities, from individuals in need of a confidence boost to community groups seeking a teambuilding activity.
“We want people not only to feel a sense of achievement in this art form, but also to use it as a tool to encourage them to feel stronger in the face of the limiting thoughts we all experience at some point or another in our lives,” says Charlotte. “We also want to widen the spectrum of people doing aerial and vertical dance. Sometimes it’s hard to access these workshops due to financial barriers, or thinking it’s not for you. We wanted to challenge some of these boundaries.”
Making Noise workshops blend vertical and contemporary dance at a level you’ll feel comfortable with, building a sense of body reliance and trust while working against gravity. Beginners might never have been in a harness, or wish to gain more confidence in one; intermediate participants are confident with ascending/descending and controlled jumps out from the wall.
Taking Flight workshops aim to test, challenge and build teamwork with feet on and off the ground, using games and activities to push comfort zones in a safe, welcoming and supportive environment. These have been popular with community groups.
“It's entirely natural to be nervous about something that asks you to move your
body in a way you may have never done before - especially with your feet off the ground!” says Becky. “We start off slow and always give options within any of our offerings. The most important thing is to build an atmosphere where people feel like they can give something a go to whatever level they feel comfortable with.”
Vertical dance employs a range of transferrable skills. “If someone was supernervous about taking their feet off the floor, and they achieved this and perhaps more, then we hope they could apply this knowledge to other aspects of their life – say, meeting other people,” explains Grace. “We believe our classes have a huge benefit to not just physical health, through movement and breathing, but also mental health in terms of self-belief.”
A show, She Who Dares, was devised just before the pandemic with the aim of inspiring the audiences through the examples of get-up-and-go women from history: Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean; Robyn Davidson, who walked across the Australian desert in the 1970s with three camels and a dog; and popular poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. Excerpts were performed in Liskeard earlier this year with the help of Arts Council England, and the girls hope to bring the full spectacle to audiences in 2024.
My 12-year-old daughter and I went to Amata (Falmouth University’s performance space at the Tremough campus) to join the girls for a rehearsal, writes Kirstie Newton She was incredibly excited; I was slightly more trepidatious, being afraid of heights and aware of her capacity to break limbs in less dangerous circumstances. Neither of us had any idea of what to expect, except for my vague recollection of the 2008 BBC idents featuring girls tumbling from the ceiling in silks, which seemed ambitious for a pair of beginners.
What we found on arrival was harnesses and ropes not unlike those at clip ‘n’ climb. “The ceiling here is quite low,” said Grace - it seemed pretty cavernous to me, but when you’ve hung from ropes down a vertical cliff face, I suppose you have a different perspective.
Once clipped into the harness, we were encouraged to sit into it and walk our feet off the floor. The girls then took it in turns to show us different moves: first, getting used to pushing off the wall, then walking from side to side like a crab, then combining the two by jumping from left to right – Daughter and I even managed to high-five each other (without catastrophic collision).
Then came a considerably harder move: the rotation, turned to the side with one hand on the floor, and one of the girls assisting us in turning round. Daughter was in raptures over this, and did it several times; I felt sick after one go, and went back to wall jumps.
An hour later, we were simply buzzing with the achievement of having done something really different and exciting. Daughter thinks I have a very cool job (albeit not as cool as her three new friends), and is keen to sign up for a workshop.
“One of the most rewarding feelings for us as teachers is to see someone leave a workshop with a greater sense of self-belief or a feeling of personal achievement,” says Becky. Job done.
• October 9, Dracaena Centre, Falmouth: Making Noise Vertical Dance for Intermediate/Improvers
• October 23, AMATA, Penryn: Making Noise Vertical Dance for Beginners/ Explorers and Intermediate/Improvers
• October 24, Plymouth: Taking Flight Workshop with Exim Dance
• October 30, Aerial Allsorts, Wadebridge: Making Noise Vertical Dance
• November 27, AMATA, Penryn: Making Noise Vertical Dance and Fixed Line
• December 18, Aerial Allsorts, Wadebridge: Making Noise Vertical Dance and Fixed Line Workshop (Festive Edition!).
All workshops are funded by Arts Council England and FEAST, and supported by Falmouth University, Cultivator and Vector Rope Access. l
www.offthewallaerial.com
A collection of folk songs written in Cornwall to mark Black History Month
An unknown African boy drowned off the shores of Scilly and a former slave who found a free life in Cornwall are two of the stories to feature on a new album released in October to commemorate Black History Month.
The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience is the work of Angeline Morrison, a singer-songwriter of mixed heritage who lives near Truro. Having found few songs from the Black perspective in the English folk canon, she wrote her own based on Black characters found around the UK. The resulting collection has been described by BBC Introducing as “dark, unsettling folk that verges on the hymnal”.
Angeline was moved to begin her studies during the first lockdown, following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. This led to widespread protests across the USA and sparked rebellion in the UK, including the toppling of the statue commemorating Bristol slave trader Edward Colston.
The seminal work of African-American sociologist WEB du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), convinced Angeline of the importance of music to enslaved people and their descendants. “They had been robbed of their names, their homelands, their mother tongue, their voice, their dignity - but in music and song, their experiences could be voiced and validated,” she explains. “All the ups and downs and intricacies of life can be found in Black song.”
However, while this tradition is well established in the USA, Angeline struggled to find examples on home turf. The few songs she uncovered during a research stint at Cecil Sharp House depicted Black subjects as the butt of jokes or negative stereotypes: “These weren’t songs I wanted to sing, or hear other people sing. They wouldn’t have been written by Black people, unless it was to order.”
Faced with a dearth of existing material, Angeline flipped the project on its head, researching Black history in the UK –with the help of museums, archives and historians - and writing original material around it. “The idea of significant numbers of Black people in the UK before the 1940s comes as a surprise to a lot of people,” she says, “but there was a minority presence of people from Africa and Asia, both trafficked as part of the transatlantic slave
trade and living free lives. There are so very many different stories to tell.”
Unknown African Boy recounts the sad tale of a young lad who died in a shipwreck off the Isles of Scilly while being transported to London in 1830. The Hope was sailing from Cape Coast Castle in what is now Ghana; when the captain mistook the white daymark for St Agnes’ lighthouse, the ship hit the rocks with the loss of all life, including a Dutch officer and the boy.
Was he a servant, or a slave to be sold with the rest of the cargo – palm oil, elephant tusks, silver dollards and gold dust? No-one knows. He is buried in St Martin’s churchyard, and his epitaph reads simple: “In the memory of a young West African boy”.
Of all the stories Angeline researched, this one lingered. “It had a powerful emotional resonance,” she says. “One of the most harrowing things about the slave trade was the horrific abuse of children, and I was struck by the contrast of the costly luxuries that washed up from the wreck alongside his body. I couldn’t get that out of my head.” The resulting song is a moving lullaby in the voice of the boy’s grieving mother.
Slave No More remembers Evaristo Muchovela. Originally from Mozambique, he is thought to have been sold as a slave boy in Rio de Janeiro to Porkellis miner Thomas Johns in 1838. When Johns returned to Cornwall in 1860, Evaristo came with him, and as a free man moved into cabinet making and French polishing.
Evaristo died of TB in 1868, aged 38, and was buried in his former master’s grave in Wendron. The words on his headstone read: “Here lie the master and the slave, side by side within one grave; distinction’s lost and caste is o’er, the slave is now a slave no more.” These are spoken by folk music titan Martin Carthy on Angeline’s recording; her music was composed to recall the Sankey and Moody hymns popular during that era, giving the song a flavour of traditional Cornish Methodism.
Carthy’s appearance is just one happy result of Angeline’s collaboration with his daughter, Eliza Carthy, herself a folk musician of enormous repute. She was so taken with the Sorrow Songs that she offered to produce the album and used her influence to sign it to Topic Records - “an enormous honour”. It was recorded at Cube Studios
in Silverwell: “We had lots of fun, which we needed given some of the deeply upsetting subject matter,” says Angeline.
Asked how she feels about her own African ancestry, fractured and erased by the slave trade, she becomes emotional. “The sense of injustice is very deep. The idea of heritage and sense of family, belonging and origin is not available to me and people like me – that feels very harsh.”
She moved to Cornwall from Birmingham in the early 2000s, and describes her experience here as “overwhelmingly but not exclusively positive”, adding: “Being somewhere where you really stand out can cause problems.” The 2011 government census shows that 98.2% of the population in Cornwall is white, and Angeline is active with Black Voices Cornwall, which grew out of the George Floyd movement.
Her own musical influences include English folk singers such as Vashti Bunyan and Anne Briggs. “I was inspired to make the kind of songs they sang, about individuals and people – real historical characters, and imaginary figures from myth and legend. The idea of singing stories, out of love for people so they can be remembered, is common to all human cultures. I wanted to honour our Black ancestors in that way.
“I also wanted to make songs people would want to sing, because hearing people sing together on the UK folk scene is glorious, so I added refrains and choruses for people to join in in the hope of them becoming folk club regulars.”
Who knows, maybe these songs will be sung in 100 years' time. “Wouldn’t that be great?” l
The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience by Angeline Morrison is released on Topic Records on October 7.
In November, our thoughts turn more than ever to loved ones we have lost. While there is a great deal of religious music dedicated to commemorating death, the Secular Requiem by Truro composer Russell Pascoe is a moving alternative and is due for release on CD on November 11 - Remembrance Day – in a recording by Truro Cathedral Choir, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and soloists Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Julien Van Mellaerts.
Originally commissioned for the Three Spires Singers, Russell's score accompanies texts compiled by Prof Anthony Pinching, who drew from the works of Dylan Thomas, Wilfred Owen, Walt Whitman, Dylan Thomas, Thomas Hardy and Rabindranath Tagore. It was first performed at the cathedral in 2019, to a standing ovation, after which choir members travelled to London at their own expense to sing at the Cadogan Hall.
As Truro Cathedral Choir has a prestigious recording contract – recent output includes collection of work by Philip Stopford - plans were hatched to record the work alongside an 18-minute Remembrance piece written by Russell to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War (which were performed on Armistice Day 2018 to a packed cathedral ahead of a mass poppy drop from the ceiling). Recording was delayed by the pandemic hit, but choir and orchestra finally gathered in May this year.
Russell points to the fact that while Cornwall once boasted 700 Methodist chapels and 627 churches, many have been deconsecrated and converted into homes and businesses. Recent surveys have shown that more than half of UK participants identify as 'non-religious'.
“We seem to be moving into more secular times, and yet most music about death involves religion,” says Russell. “I thought there was a place for something that reflected the new belief system. My work is aimed at being inclusive, appealing to those with faith or without.”
The great masterpieces that form the cornerstone of the classical repertoire – Faure, Verdi, Mozart – come from a certain time and place, when composers were paid by the church and tended to set religious texts, often in Latin - ‘requies’ is simply Latin for ‘rest’.
In contrast, the Secular Requiem is in English. “I wanted to connect to people today, and I think classical music needs to move into this area if it’s going to keep its appeal,” Russell continues.
“Several people have already had parts of my Requiem played at their funerals, and others plan to. That’s a great honour, as is having my work recorded by a significant orchestra and world-class soloists for the first time. It’s absolutely thrilling, and I hope this will be a breakthrough for my music getting over the Tamar.”
Christopher Gray is musical director of both the Three Spires and the cathedral choir, and a great friend of the composer. While he and Russell approach faith from opposite ends of the spectrum, he is perhaps the work’s greatest advocate. "Russell is writing in response to his life experience in Cornwall, and I have lived this piece with him,” he says.
The big masses are sure to remain popular with choral societies and their audiences.
“While these still speak to us today, sensibilities have changed,” says Chris.
“We can’t sing this piece in a service, but it isn’t anti-religion. If anything, it appeals to the idea of community – that's very Russell.”
I attended the recording in May, and watched Russell follow the music with an enormous score. Young choristers worked into the evening, having risen early for a full school day with wraparound choral practice. During breaks, they would yawn or check their smartphones, like normal kids.
In the crypt, Gary Cole of Regent Records and his engineers are choosing the best takes to be stitched into a full movement for the best results – technical wizardry, and not without its challenges. “Every time you do a take, it needs the same energy and drive as if it were the first time, which is especially hard for the younger ones,” he says.
The magnificent edifice rang to beautiful words, many familiar and all instantly identifiable. The work runs the gamut of emotions, from grief and loss to acceptance and celebration of life; in place of the Dies Irae, Thomas exhorts us to “rage against the dying of the light”, while Robert Louis Stevenson accepts his fate with the words: “Glad did I live and gladly die."
But the journey also pivots into humour, and ends with a feeling of optimism and acceptance, unashamedly in the bright key of A major. “Russell’s view is that you have four score years and 10, so you may as well live for the moment. The ending couldn’t be more joyous,” says Chris. l
Russell Pascoe’s Secular Requiem, recorded by Truro Cathedral Choir and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, is due for CD release in November.
• Truro Cathedral Choir. St-Justin-Roseland church, October 14. Great choral music including Zadok the Priest. Part of Roseland Music Society’s autumn programme.
www.roselandmusicsociety.org.uk
• Music at Tresanton. St Mawes, November 4 to 6. Four cellists perform a programme devised around Beethoven’s cello sonatas.
www.fienta.com/music-at-tresanton
• Celloman. St Austell Arts Theatre, November 4; The Acorn, Penzance, November 5. A fusion of world music, jazz and classical.
• A tribute to Hans Zimmer and John Williams. Truro Cathedral, November 5. London Film Music Orchestra plays music from the scores of ET, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Tickets via Eventbrite.
• Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: On Your Doorstep. St Austell Arts Theatre, November 5, 2.30pm. A celebration of the sea, from Handel’s Water Music to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. www.staustellartstheatre.org.uk
• English Touring Opera: Handelfest. St John the Evangelist's Church, Truro, November 10. An exciting new production of Tamerlano, a gripping psychological contest between a tyrant and a captive king.
www.englishtouringopera.org.uk
• Juan Martin. St Endellion church, November 12. Top flamenco guitarist and composer. www.endelienta.org.uk
Larger commissions grace the walls and ceilings of prestigious hotels, cruise ships and private homes, while handmade giftware, wall panels and art frames can be found in five glass emporiums across Cornwall (as well as in Sunningdale in Berkshire). Each offers a unique experience shaped by design, architecture and location, from the very first one opened in Padstow in 2005 to the two-storey headquarters and gallery space in Launceston.
“Each gallery has a different vibe,” says Jo. “For example, Padstow has collections influenced by the stunning Camel Estuary and the nearby beaches of Hawker's Cove and Daymer Bay.” The tea light candles designed for use in Paul Ainsworth's restaurants are also available to purchase here – they are perfect for gifting or as a takehome reminder of halcyon holiday days.
St Ives is the quirkiest gallery. “It’s split into two, one on either side of the historic Market House in the heart of the town,” says Jo. “The multiple windows allow us to create a different look in each, from rainbow colourways through to opulent ocean blues and greens.” They also act like the facets of a gemstone, reflecting St
Ives’ unique light and its surrounding bays and beaches, as well as echoing the town’s eclectic and bohemian buzz.
The Fowey gallery is housed in what was once a much-loved fish and chip shop. “We still sell fish, but of the more decorative variety!” laughs Jo. “Our fish installations and shoaling fish art frames are a favourite here.”
Tintagel in comparison, is compact and bijou, but still has all the favourite Jo Downs’ giftware along with exclusive designs based on the glorious Gull Rock and Tintagel Castle.
Expect to be wowed from the minute you enter the Launceston gallery. “The space allows us to really showcase inspirational designs, from one-off experimental creations to fabulous wall installations,” says Jo. “As it's also our commissions hub, experienced staff are on hand to discuss anything from splashbacks through to chandeliers.”
Each location offers inspiration for Jo’s Artisan Collections of limited-edition pieces, from St Ives’ white sandy beaches and the mystical, moody atmosphere of Tintagel Castle to the pink hues of a Cornish
sunrise, or the turquoise luminescence on the crest of a wave.
“Ideas can come from anywhere and anyone,” says Jo. “Sometimes a customer might ask, ‘Have you ever thought of doing...?’ It might equally be an amazing cloud formation we’ve experienced, or the mist hanging over Bodmin Moor, creating an ethereal quality.
“Every member of the team brings their own ideas to the creative process. We're lucky as we all live and work in this amazing county, so you're never far away from beauty. The only limit to the creativity in each gallery is its size.”
Jo and the team keep the look and feel of the Cornish galleries fresh and exciting, with new Artisan collections launched every three to four months, influenced by the changing seasons. Why not travel one from one to the other, on a Cornish glass art trail like no other? l
Jo Downs Handmade Glass is based in Launceston, with galleries in St Ives, Fowey, Tintagel and Padstow. jodowns.com
Drawing inspiration from the coastal landscape, the advanced fusion techniques of Jo Downs Handmade Glass allow for the creation of abstract designs in iridescent colours that create a kaleidoscope of form and colour.
gifts, cards, kitchen and homeware, alongside a selection of Cornish makers and designers.
20 High Street, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 2AB Open: 10am-4pm Daily • Tel: 01326 618240
Wosa hav a gewer fest pooth ha studhyow sygh yn lies rannow, mayni chi a Gernow a vydh skattys pella gans gwav a kostow geunys ughel dres eghen. Hin vorek a Gernow, kerghynnys dell yw gans an keynvor Atlantek, ha y dhorles a-dhia an soth a omwith rag tempredhow an yeynna. Mes y’n kettermyn, yma drehevyansow pals growan po kyllas dhe Gernow, gwann aga enysegans, hwath gans olesow ygor neb a styr i dhe wodhav draghtys or. Mars usir gass, menoyl po tredan rag tommheans, yma edhom a keunys kostek pals dhe witha anedhow sygh, tomm ha rydh dyworth gluth po kosk.
After a summer of extremely hot weather and dry conditions in many parts, Cornish households are now going to be further hit by a winter of exceptionally high fuel costs. Cornwall’s maritime climate, surrounded as it is by the Atlantic, and its southerly latitude protects us from the coldest of temperatures. But at the same time, Cornwall has a lot of poorly insulated granite or slate buildings that still have open fireplaces meaning that they suffer from cold draughts. If using gas, oil or electricity for heating, a lot of expensive fuel is required to keep houses warm, dry and free from condensation or mould.
hav summer gwav winter pooth hot studh form, condition mayni chi households kost cost keunys fuel hin climate morek maritime kerghynna to surround dorles latitude growan granite kyllas slate stone enysegans insulation oles fireplace draghtys draughts
Ost dhe’n kynsa bargen-tir gwyns o Kernow hag yma hi ow tisplegya gwyns a’n tir der us a’n ‘Voth Donn’ kraw yn-dann dhowr orth arvow a Heyl. Yma nebes a’n ughella nivelyow a dhewolowans howlek y’n Ruvaneth Unys dhe’n Dhuketh, keffrys ha bos tre hwithrans nerth dordesel – y’gan beus an fenten downna yn Breten Veur lemmyn. Mes, nerth anusys yw nerth an lyha kostek. Saw 100mm a enysegans a wra gwellhe performyans tesel an fos ven tew der moy ages hweghweyth! Enysegans a’gan drehevyansow yn ewn a allsa lehe gorholeth nerth erbyn 75 kansran po moy – res bos kilwrians agan devedhek!
For general enquiries: maureen.pierce@kesva.org
For enquiries about publications: roger.courtenay@kesva.org
For enquiries about examinations: tony.hak@kesva.org
For enquiries about the language correspondence course: kernewekdrelyther@hotmail.co.uk
For more Cornish Language visit: www.kesva.org
Cornwall was host to the first wind farm and is developing offshore wind using the ‘Wave Hub’ underwater socket off the coast of Hayle. The Duchy has some of the highest solar energy potential in the UK, as well as being the home of geothermal energy research - we now have the deepest well in Britain. But the cheapest energy is the energy that is not used! Just 100mm of insulation will improve the thermal standards of a thick stone wall by more than six times! Insulating our buildings properly could reduce energy demand by up to 75 per cent – our future must be retrofit!
bargen-tir farm gwyns wind a’n tir offshore Both Donn Wave Hub kraw socket dewolowans irradiation howlek solar keffrys ha as well as dordesel geothermal fenten source, spring, well nerth energy anusys unused tesel thermal gorholeth demand kilwrians retrofit devedhek future
NEBES LAVARENNOW NERTH | SOME ENERGY PHRASES
“Yeyn, a nyns yw …” “Cold innit …”
“Wel, ple’ma dha wlanek?” “Well, where’s your jumper?”
“Skwych an wolowysi yn farow ha ty a as an stevell!” “Turn off the lights when you leave the room!”
“An kappa pris nerth ma, ny yll e bos oberi yn ta mars y bes dhe dhrehevel?!”
“This energy price cap can’t be working very well if it carries on rising?!”
“Res yw dhyn ni kemeres kowasow yeyn a-lemmyn, drog yw genev” “We will have to take cold showers from now on, sorry”
Y karav ow enysegans fos ha’m kwarel tryflek. I love my wall insulation and triple glazing.
The recollections of John Bray, a 19th century shipwreck expert from North Cornwall
to exaggeration and elaboration, his writings on the subject are still considered an invaluable resource.
In 1865, Hawker wrote: “So stern and pitiless is this iron-bound coast that within the memory of one man upwards of eighty wrecks have been counted within reach of fifteen miles...”
That man may well have been John Bray, a fascinating character who lived all his life in the Bude area and can, perhaps far better than Hawker, bring us closer to these dramatic episodes of our Cornish seafaring history. At Hawker’s request,
Bray authored an account of 37 shipwrecks that occurred between 1756 and 1830, all of which he witnessed personally - the first when he was just 12 years old – often acting as salvager and sometimes rescuer.
Now held by the British Library, An Account Of Shipwrecks On The North Coast of Cornwall was written in about 1832 when Bray was 88. Although little is known about the man himself, his manuscript is unique and utterly fascinating. In it he describes the circumstances surrounding wrecks that happened between Millook and Morwenstow.
There was the Alert, a slave ship on its way to Africa from Bristol with a cargo of iron, wrecked at Maer cliffs below Poughill in 1790 with the loss of all hands; a sloop Bray said was carrying “many monkeys”, and another supposed pirate ship that cast a mountain of muskets, bayonets, boarding pikes, swords and three bedraggled survivors onto the rocks.
In 1824 he recounts how 600 boxes of
oranges were saved from a ship called Vrow Geetina which came ashore at Millook. The Othello, a ‘Yankee’ ship, hit the rocks near Morwenstow and delighted locals with its bales of cotton strewn along the shore. Some cargo was seen as less of a prize: just a few days later, salted fish was left to rot on the sand following the wreck of a Newfoundland ship called John.
Bray knew the coast, and the people, like the back of his hand. Baptised in Launcells in 1748, he spent all of his life in the village of Poughill (pronounced Poffle). At one time or other he was a farmer, merchant, ship owner, constable and salvage agent. Said to have been shrewd, hardy, loyal and trustworthy, he was also “a man capable of giving hard knocks and receiving them”.
In a time when theft from shipwrecks was considered a normal part of coastal living, even a right, Bray worked hard with the authorities to legally salvage cargo, for a reward, and to retrieve goods that had made their way into local homes.
The fourth wreck that he writes about was a brig from Drogheda in Ireland which in about 1759 was on its way to France, laden with barrels of butter. Bray vividly describes the brutal, distressing scene as he stands on the shore watching the disaster unfold, unable to help the desperate crew. In the coming days he managed to raise enough money to give the sailors a proper burial and also salvaged “a thousand casks” of butter for the owners of the ship.
Bray, along with some constables from Stratton, were standing guard over this cargo when eight men attacked them, saying they have come to take the butter. Unfortunately for them, Bray knew most of them by sight. A battle ensued in which Bray gave a man called Cory, a blacksmith from Jacobstow, “a blow in the peeping holes” (eyes) and tore off his wig. The butter was saved and fines were handed out to the culprits.
Bray only had a very basic education and consequently, his manuscript is full of
eccentric spelling and grammar ("the folt in my parrents”). Sadly, he often fails to record the names of the ships or the dates of events, probably due to it being written towards the end of his life. However, none of this detracts from the vivid clarity and passion of his writing.
In about 1770, Bray claimed he dreamt of a shipwreck. He awoke with in fright and, jumping on his horse, rode for Widemouth Bay. On arriving at the beach, he was astonished to see a French brig breaking up in the waves, “her sails split all in rags”. She was “laden with hides of a foreign kind, limmons and orranges”.
As he watched the sailors trying to tie themselves to anything that would float, Bray decided he must do something to help. In an act of reckless bravery, he repeatedly rode out into the waves on his horse. After several attempts, the horse swimming against the terrific undertow, both of them being pulled beneath the waves and nearly drowned, Bray managed to rescue all of the stricken crew.
The next morning he rode out to see the sailors, who were being cared for in local homes, and received a hero’s welcome. He wrote: “They was all much recovered and if I could have swalled gould (swallowed gold) I might have had it. Instead they gave me as many limmons and oranges as I could bring home.”
In what may have been his last letter to Hawker dated July 31, 1832, Bray informs the parson that he has completed “the work”, a feat of memory which it seems he found particularly taxing. He closes the letter by saying: “This books contains all the wraks I can recollect, I have done this troublesome Task at last... this makes my labour on this bisness to be at an ende. I thank God for his Goodness in permeeting me to such rememberance in my advanced age of nigh eighty eight years.”
John Bray died in 1836 at the age of 92, and was buried at Poughill. l
South Yorkshire, and Mac is originally from North Carolina, USA. We’ve been married for eight years, singing together for 10 and releasing music officially for five.
How did you and Mac meet?
In 2008, after high school, I went out to the USA for a gap year at a church in Asheboro, North Carolina. I had the time of my life and stayed for five years, travelling around the States and getting involved in lots of community projects: supporting homeless shelters, running youth groups, working in prisons alongside the chaplain. I met Mac four years in and had an immediate musical connection - we wrote songs together for hours on end, and the rest is history.
How did you wind up in Cornwall?
My family and I visited Cornwall for our summer holiday every year from 1995 onwards. I’ve loved Cornwall for as long as I can remember, and it’s been a dream to call home. I brought Mac to visit as soon as he arrived in the UK, and he obviously saw the appeal! In 2017, we played Creation Fest in Wadebridge and made lots of good connections; six months later, we’d both been offered jobs in local charities, and moved here.
How has your music been received? We’ve played at hundreds of events and released music which has reached over two million streams worldwide. Not bad for independent musicians – we are essentially
we must be doing something right.
How does Cornwall inspire you? Being in a place that reminds us we’re part of a bigger picture and story gets us thinking about deep thoughts, questions and ideas that are captured best in song. Our favourite place to go walking is from Crantock over to Polly Joke and Kelsey Head to Holywell Bay. The dramatic coastal scenery, calming farmland and rich history always inspire us creatively.
How does Cornwall compare with North Carolina?
North Carolina is huge and has a diverse mix of places, but Mac’s home - near to the Outer Banks - has a similar pace of life to Cornwall: laid-back and slower than some states and metropolitan areas in the US. It’s very agricultural and about an hour from the coast. The beaches are very different aesthetically, with no giant cliffs and few hidden caves and coves; they are very long, sometimes stretching for miles, and the whole area is often flat, so no need to climb down steep staircases to get your toes in the sand. The beach houses are all brightly coloured and on stilts in preparation for flooding during hurricane season.
Mac became a British citizen in 2020 Yes, he had a citizenship ceremony in Truro and was basically accepted as an honorary Cornishman! He even received a special tin pin and the Cornish national anthem was played as he received his certificate.
laid upon the foundation of the acoustic or electric guitar - we’re huge fans of stringed instruments in general. Cinematic and orchestral music never fails to reach into our soul! Our repertoire is a mixture of our own material, music written by friends and lesser-known indie/folk covers. We love folk music because of the poetic lyrics and meaningful, everyday stories that are passed down through the generations, and we enjoy sharing these with the audience.
You’re releasing your third EP this autumn - what can we expect? There are four acoustic tracks, exploring themes such as time, friendship, mindfulness and being present - enjoying the simple, beautiful moments in life. We brought the tracks to life with lots of layers of instrumentation: mandolin, banjo, electric guitar, synth pads, piano, saxophone, viola and all kinds of other instruments.
You tour a lot - what gigs are coming up? You can catch us at The Chainlocker, Falmouth (October 15), Una St Ives (October 30), St Mawes Hotel (November 10), Redruth Drapery (November 19) and Polurrian On The Lizard (November 20). We’re constantly adding more dates –check our social media pages by searching @ouratlanticroots. l
Hold Every Moment, Our Atlantic Roots’ new EP, can be streamed and downloaded via all major music platforms from October 21.
The Customs House Gallery in Porthleven presents an exhibition by landscape painter Andrew Barrowman reflecting the two harbours of Porthleven and St Ives, featuring paintings of both from different viewpoints. “The light is very different in St Ives with the harbour being wide open and sandy, reflecting the light through the water,” says the artist, whose studio is at Krowji in Redruth. “Porthleven is more compact with its impressive granite walls, which will make the paintings quite different.” October 22 to 31, preview on Thursday, October 20th via email. l
Take advantage of the Newlyn Art Gallery’s new admission passes and enjoy a year’s unlimited entry to both Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange in Penzance. The Penwith Pass allows residents of Penwith to visit as many times as they like for a whole year for just £4, while the Art Lover Pass at £15 adds a complimentary hot drink each month and a discount in the shops and cafés. The Penwith pass can be purchased from the desk at either gallery; take proof of residency in postcode areas TR17-TR20 and TR26 & TR27. The Art Lover Pass can be bought online or on the day at the gallery. The autumn exhibition Lumen by Sutapa Biswas, showing across both The Exchange and Newlyn Art Gallery from October 8 to January 7, features displays of drawing, photography, neon and the moving image. l
Both galleries are open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. www.newlynartgallery.co.uk
Pictured: Cloud Over Smeaton's Pier, St Ives (above) and Morning Tide, Porthleven Harbour (right) by Andrew Barrowman
These sessions are a great way to further explore the world of pottery.
I have three types of weekly workshops; on the wheel, for those who want nothing more than to learn to throw and are focused solely on that; general, for those who want to try
everything and those who just want a few fun hours making a mug, plate or bowl.
My studio has a relaxed and happy atmosphere, 10am12noon and 1pm-3pm throughout the week, also some weekends 10am-12noon
Always
Improve your skills and meet like-minded people with pottery classes and workshops in Redruth, Cornwall.
Light in the West (Golow y’n West), at Falmouth Art Gallery until November 19, is an exhibition of works by members of the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts. A registered charity dedicated to advancing the creation and appreciation of the visual arts in the South West, the academy has a core membership of 80 outstanding practitioners of fine and applied arts. Each year the Academy holds several largescale exhibitions to showcase the work of its members and an Open Exhibition which invites entries from regional, national, international and young artists to be exhibited alongside the academicians’ work. They are
Working from her studio in historic Poundstock, near Bude, Gloria Bardell is strongly influenced by nature, resulting in an eclectic mix of paintings in acrylic, oils, watercolours and charcoal. “I was raised in London, and having access to galleries and museums instilled in me a love of art from a very young age,” she recalls. “My abiding memory is of being enthralled by Turner's paintings in the National Gallery; from that moment on, I was determined to make my dream of becoming an artist a reality.” Her first exhibition in 2023, Blooms and Branches, will run at Bude Castle from February 11 to 28. l
Visitors are welcome at the studio by appointment. For further information, call 07795 108577 or visit www.gloriabardellart.com
and tributaries to reveal and celebrate stunning beauty and incredible biodiversity in his latest collection, which draws together paintings, sculpture, etchings and ceramics. The show runs alongside Seven Decades by photographer Ander Gunn. A keen student of Ansel Adams’ and Fred Archer’s black and white photography techniques, Gunn taught himself through library books and experience. Alongside kinetic captures of waves crashing into Cornish cliffs, and portraits of internationally acclaimed artists and intellectuals, are more intimate moments such as glimpses of Gunn’s life as a husband and father. Helford River and Seven Decades run until February at the Jackson Foundation, St Just-in-Penwith, TR19 7LB. l
I am a professional artist living in Poundstock Bude where I have my studio. Living in London, rural villages, and quaint market towns with lots of character has provided me with many sources of inspiration for my art.
After being enthralled the first time I saw Turner’s paintings in the National Gallery I quickly realised that my dream was to become an artist.
Over the years I have crafted an eclectic portfolio by painting in acrylic, oils, and charcoal.
At the beginning of every painting, I draw Reiki symbols on the canvas before applying the underpainting. It gives another dimension and positive energy to the painting that will remain within wherever is its forever home.
I have several exhibitions and events coming up in 2023 so please visit my website for details.
For more information or if you would like to visit my studio please telephone or text 07795 108577.
Saturday 1st to Monday 10th October
exhibition of original paintings featuring locations on the Lizard Peninsular
Artists in Cornwall have come together to create work exclusively for Rooted, a ceramics-focused exhibition at Wheal Martyn inspired by the history and atmosphere of the china clay works. Pieces will include a mixture of sculptures and vessels (both hand-built and thrown), collaborations between ceramicists and jewellers, sound and film installations, and painting and photography inspired by the industrial site. Some pieces will be available to purchase. The exhibition is on display in the Roger Preston Gallery and around the grounds, from October 22 to December 20. Entry is included within normal museum admission price. For more information, call 01726 850362 or visit www.wheal-martyn.com l
Ceramicist Susy Ward runs regular workshops at her studio in Redruth art collective Krowji. The handsome jug pictured is the work of regular student Tom. “I have worked with Tom over time perfecting a thrown cylinder” says Susy. “It’s an essential part of learning to throw - some would say a tedious and frustrating part. However, the sheer joy that comes with knowing you can sit down at the wheel and consistently produce and reproduce work like this is worth the effort.” The stunning platter was hand built by Julia, another regular student. “Her eye for detail along with her ability to marry colour and form is inspirational,” says Susy. Sign yourself up by calling 07855 102598 or visit www.susywardceramics.com. l
Yew Tree Gallery in Cornwall’s far west has gathered small collections by well-loved artists for a pre-Christmas exhibition: Favourite Things, opening on October 16. A haven of warmth and colour on the windswept Atlantic coast, the gallery displays work by Andrew Waddington, Sue Lewington and Sally Holman; ceramics by Nigel Lambert, Judith Rowe and Sutton Taylor; sea-glass jewels by Gina Cowen; bronze sculpture, woodcuts and jewellery by Guy Royle; ceramic sculpture by Helen Martino, and linocuts by Melvyn Evans. Earlier work by John Maltby, Breon O’Casey, Rose Hilton has also come to light, and the book John Maltby - A Life of Creativity is still on sale. Visit the gallery at Keigwin, near Morvah & Pendeen, West Penwith, TR19 7TS. Tel 01736 786425, www.yewtreegallery.com l
Throughout November, Suki Wapshott will exhibit her latest collection of work at Whitewater Contemporary, the beachfront gallery she owns and runs with her photographer husband Nick. Comprised of more than 20 works, including seascapes and abstract paintings, the show represents the most recent progression of Suki’s work, which is known for its deep, emotive colour and highly prized by those with a love of Polzeath and the dramatic north coast.
As a small child, Suki’s passion for colour was evident in the embroidery silks she would request at Christmas, and the array of multi-coloured, velvety brow bands she used to adorn her pony’s bridle. “I still love colour: pure paint from the tube, worked into the canvas, is a glorious thing,” she says. “Sometimes the thrill of it stops me working for a moment.”
To create depth, or what she calls “a sort of illusory third dimension to a work”, Suki works the surface of her paintings with a brush, cloth or palette knife in order to let layers of colour filter back through to the final layer of paint, resulting in the shimmering surface hues that are so distinctive to her work. “I am a bit of an obsessive about palette knives” she says, expressing the typical zeal that artists feel
for the tools and materials that facilitate their creativity in the studio. “My favourite is the diamond blade Blue Acorn 11.”
Her preferred surface is primed linen canvas, sometimes medium texture, sometimes fine, each of which in their way support the creation of those shimmering speckles of colour as Suki skims her palette knife across the surface. “I have canvasses stretched for me in St Just,” says Suki, “and I use a mixture of Michael Harding oil and Old Holland.
“Because my work is so influenced by the landscape, my favourite colours change with the seasons. If I had to pick the most expressive and beautiful colours though, it would be Michael Harding’s King’s Blue Light, Titanium Buff, Old Holland Warm Grey and Blue Grey. I use them all the time in my work.”
After walking each morning for inspiration, in the company of her two devoted deerhounds, Suki lets her instincts and the simple process of painting lead the way back at the easel. “When I’m painting seascapes,” she explains, “I decide on my base colours then cover the canvas using thinned oil paint, working and blending colour into the surface with cloths, almost always with the line of the horizon in mind, and I let the image emerge.
“With my abstract work, the palette will be much less restricted and I will choose colours as I blend, often with paint straight from the tube, and let the marks and colours suggest shape and form.”
When asked for her favourite view of the north coast, she replies simply: “Polzeath, and its beautiful surroundings. What I love more than anything, though, is the wet sand left by a receding tide, the way it captures and reflects light and colour in a million ways.”
Is it hard to let a work go, once she has poured all her passion into it and declared it finished? “I take huge pleasure from people liking and buying my work,” says Suki, “but I admit there has been the odd painting that was really hard to let go of. They were generally my more ‘idiosyncratic’ pieces, and what good is an artwork if the artist doesn’t love and believe in it? That’s where the authenticity comes from in all forms of art.” l
See Suki’s work from November 1 to 29 as part of the gallery’s year-round Featured Artist series of exhibitions, at Whitewater Contemporary, The Parade, Polzeath, PL27 6SR. www.whitewatercontemporary.co.uk
Artist Suki Wapshott has devoted her career to making works inspired by Cornwall’s beautiful north coast, where she lives and works.
Harbour Walls (partial image) by Suki Wapshott
A new exhibition of culturally significant Cornish art opens to the public on St Michael’s Mount this month. The iconic tidal island’s newly renovated Steward’s House will act as the home of the Sheila Hichens Collection, comprising fascinating artwork painted by well-known Newlyn School artists.
The Newlyn School was a colony of artists based in and around Newlyn from the 1880s to the early 20th century. Inspired by the earlier Barbizon School in France, artists were attracted to West Cornwall where they could paint their subject en plein air, in a purer, more natural and inspiring setting.
Some of the British artists who settled in the Cornish fishing village had already travelled to France and found the Newlyn area offered a comparable environment. They were attracted by the beauty of the scenery, dramatic coastline, quality of light and simplicity of life.
The low cost of living at the time was also a key factor in the area’s growing popularity among artists, and the extension of the Great Western Railway into West Cornwall in the late 1870s made it more accessible.
Artist Walter Langley is generally recognised as the pioneer of the Newlyn Art colony, with Stanhope Forbes another key figure in the movement. The artists
who joined them were fascinated by the fishermen and their working lives at sea, the bustle of daily life in the harbour and surrounding fields and villages.
The content of the artwork of this period was something that Penzance-born Sheila Hichens appreciated. Born in 1924, she was awarded a scholarship to Exeter University and subsequently became principal of Eastbourne Teacher Training College. Sheila developed strong links with teacher training in Tanzania and later worked for an Australian TV company on historical projects. For recreation, she loved travel and treasured her pilot’s licence.
In retirement, Sheila purchased her grandfather’s house in Newlyn. Upon her death in 2012, the Sheila Hichens Trust was formed by virtue of her will to create a specific art collection to show how life was lived in West Cornwall before the middle of the 20th century.
Trustees William Rogers and Lord St Levan have spent recent years in the fulfilment of their benefactor’s wish by acquiring more than 40 paintings to create the Sheila Hichens Collection, which now includes works by Langley and Forbes as well as other acclaimed Newlyn School artists such as Laura Knight and Harold Harvey.
“Sheila Hichens’ vision was to illuminate how life was once lived in West Cornwall
through the medium of paintings done at the time by Newlyn School artists,” said Lord St Levan. “It is exciting to be able to fulfil her wishes by sharing this collection with the public.”
The Steward’s House on St Michael’s Mount has its own interesting history. Built around 1815, it acted both as a residence and an office for the Mount Steward. At the time, the population of the village was about 300 people and included three pubs, a school and various activities connected to a thriving harbour.
It is the grandest building in the harbour area and one of the few that survived the Victorian restoration that started in the 1870s. It is one of the properties on the Mount that still belong to the St Aubyn family, with an intimate garden at the rear for visitors to enjoy.
The Steward’s House and Sheila Hichens Collection will be free for all to visit at St Michael’s Mount during opening hours from October 2 to April 30, 2023. During this period, visitors can access the island’s harbour village, café and shops free of charge. l
To find out more about the Sheila Hichens Collection and opening days/times for St Michael’s Mount, visit www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk
Limited-edition reduction prints of the Cornish coast.
Tell us about your background
I have a degree in fashion and textiles from St Martins School of Art in London. I think my love of pattern shows in my prints. I got into printing quite unexpectedly, as a friend had a gallery which specialised in printmaking, and he told me I should learn so he could sell my work. I love it - I think it suits how I look at things. I try to bring your attention to the little details you might not have noticed, and hope you look a little deeper into my pictures.
You moved recently to Cornwall, from Shropshire. Why?
Because it’s so beautiful, and after visiting several times, I realised you don’t just have to be here on holiday - you can actually live here! I’m based above Penzance, and I love that I can get to the sea in all directions. There are so many different landscapes around me here: the moors, woodland, long flat beaches, wild rocky cliffs and the ever-changing sea.
Where do you find inspiration?
I have three little dogs and I love walking the coastal paths, looking for compositions and taking photographs to work from. Colour and composition are important to me, and I try to find an image that will draw the eye in to the tiniest detail. I’m never going to run out of inspiration down
here. I especially love the challenge of trying to capture water on paper - the sea foam running up the sand, or the flat, wet reflections on a beach.
What exactly is a reduction print?
It’s when you keep cutting away from the same piece of lino to make the print. This means the image can’t be reprinted, as there’s hardly anything left on the lino by the last colour. That makes it a limitededition print, as does the fact that I don’t have a press and print by hand using a spoon. It’s time-consuming and can be hard work physically, especially with large prints; these can take me up to four weeks, including at least 50 hours of cutting time.
Can you explain the process for us, from start to finish?
The first thing I do is flip the photograph I’m working from, as it prints onto the paper in the mirror image. I don’t do a lot of drawing on the lino - just a few guide lines to make a plan. I begin by cutting away everything I want to stay white (the colour of the paper) then work my way through the colours, cutting away layers as I go. I love colour, and my prints usually have lots of layers, so precision is vital: each time the paper goes down onto the lino to print the next colour, it must go down in exactly the same place.
What tools and materials do you use?
I use lots of different sizes of Pfeil cutting tools, and I prefer water-soluble printing inks, mainly because they dry so much quicker and are easier to clean up than the oil-based alternatives. I like a thick paper because I print so many layers.
You recently joined Cornwall Crafts Association. What benefits does it give you? The gallery at Trelissick is a fantastic place to show my work and introduce it to a wider audience. It means more sales, and more opportunities. It’s given me the confidence to take my work seriously and feel like a real artist. I’ve also just joined the Art Space Gallery on the harbour in St Ives. Established in 2000, it’s run by seven local artists who take turns in the gallery. It’s enables me to get out and meet people, which makes a nice change from cutting away in my studio. I’m there every Tuesday - come and say hi and find out more about my work. l
Cornish Crafts Association, Trelissick Gallery, Trelissick, Feock, near Truro, TR3 6QL. Tel 01872 864514
www.cornwallcrafts.co.uk
www.hazelmcnab.com
It’s not every day you’re given the opportunity to sit for a portrait; in fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking such an experience is reserved exclusively for the elite, with the results destined to be displayed in stately homes or exhibited in national galleries and museums.
So when Chris Insoll - a respected artist and gallery owner based on the Roseland peninsula - extended the invitation to sit for a portrait, I was thrilled but on another level a little apprehensive.
Positioned on the corner of The Square in the seaside village of Portscatho, the New Gallery is home to the Portscatho Society of Artists, formed by Chris in 1984. Here you’ll find an artist-run showroom and studio used by 13 resident and guest artists, including Chris and his wife Andrea, as well as Eric Ward, Andrew Tozer, Nina Packer and more.
I was warmly welcomed by Chris upon arrival for my sitting. As we made our way through the showroom filled with an eclectic array of artwork, sketches and prints by society members, I was taken with the abundance of colour and genres. Chris then led me through an inner corridor of portraits including sketches and oils: of women in the main, in various poses, some clothed, others nude - a journey of enlightenment, so to speak.
We climb a steep staircase to the second floor. There’s a kitchen, bathroom and a room for artists staying overnight;
but the main attraction is the large studio. The overall feel is akin to a bohemian Parisian salon: shelves filled to the brim with art books and writings, various artifacts and artwork, a chaise longue positioned by the west window and, of course, an easel with pencils and charcoals placed close by. It’s a beautiful day, and natural light pours through three picture windows, with views over the picturepostcard fishing village and out to sea.
Before I positioned myself on the chaise longue for my portrait, I asked Chris why, in the 21st century - the digital age - would someone want a professional portrait done by an artist? “It’s empowering, in a way a photograph can’t capture,” he replies. "It’s like a diary. Normally, it’s not just one sitting but a series of engagements to build a picture of that person.”
Chris shows me examples: sheets of mini-sketch portraits of his models, on different days and at different times, hair up, hair down, drinking tea, chatting, silent… "Each sitting is different," Chris says. He has a keen eye for detail, spotting the nuances of your face and physique, resulting in an intimacy that you wouldn’t gain from a single photograph.
There is something very relaxing and freeing during this whole experience. We chat endlessly during the sitting, taking a break for a cup of tea before the next sketch. Any lull in conversation, if Chris is concentrating, feels almost meditative.
I’m not brave enough to go nude, although this feels like a safe space in which to do so - Chris has strict rules about this, such as never touching a sitter (clothed or not), instead asking them to move or suggesting a position. Instead, I wear layers – a flowing shirt with a vest top underneath. Chris asks me to remove my shirt so he can see my shoulders, but is happy for me to put it back on when I feel cold.
While Chris takes commissions for portraits (prices start from around £75), much of his portraiture is done for his own use. A couple of regular models come to the studio to sit for him and other artists (often at the same time).
Chris has an appreciation of the female form, of any age or shape, sketching women in real time as he sees them and never from photographs. The portrait evolves and is often incorporated into a larger, more intricate oil painting, like the abstract OrangeStillLifewithfigure (pictured below).
As we finish up, I reflect on just how much I enjoyed the whole experience – it felt like quality me-time, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. “Everyone surely should have their own artist,” quipped Chris, and I have to say I agree with him. l
To find out more about commissioning or sitting for a portrait, contact Chris Insoll at the New Gallery, 5 The Square, Portscatho, Truro TR2 5HW. Tel 01872 580445, www.thenewgalleryportscatho.co.uk
Born in Letchworth, Hertfordshire in 1938, Katharine Mair studied psychology at Reading University followed by a diploma in clinical psychology at the Maudsley Hospital London. She worked in that
profession for some years, and only began to paint in a serious way during her first marriage, bringing up three children in the Scottish Borders.
Katharine's painting career advanced upon moving to Cornwall in 1998 with her second husband, John. They settled in Penzance, where she joined a small group of artists in the coastal village of Perranuthnoe. Katharine became an active member of the Cowhouse Gallery; her much-loved paintings a notable feature adorning its walls.
Katharine loved Cornwall and immersed herself in her art, painting everything from figurative to landscapes, coastal views to townscapes. Her method was to start her oil paintings 'en plein-air', taking the work back to her studio to complete in her bold style.
Throughout her time at the Cowhouse Gallery, Katharine was instrumental in
the development of the gallery as a collective. She became chair more than once, and took on a variety of significant roles right up until her death in February 2022. During her membership, the Cowhouse went from strength to strength and now showcases the work of 15 members and 10 guest artists, in multiple disciplines.
Katharine was a prolific painter and had successful exhibitions in Penzance, St Ives and Redruth but will be remembered with admiration and gratitude for her involvement and commitment to the Cowhouse Gallery, Perranuthnoe. A retrospective exhibition of her work is planned for early 2023 at the Daisy Laing Gallery in Penzance.
The Cowhouse Gallery, Lynfield Craft Centre, Perranuthnoe, TR20 9NE
T: 01736 710538
www.cowhousegallery.co.uk
The gallery is run by a group of local artists and craftspeople and offers a wide range of original arts and crafts at very affordable prices. A stroll away is Perranuthnoe Cove with breathtaking coastal walks looking towards St Michael’s Mount in one direction and to Prussia Cove the other.
Left: Handmade ceramic pot by Sara Taylor
Right: Across the Bay, acrylic on board by Linda Craig
Open daily, Summer hours 10 - 5, Winter hours 11 - 4 Lynfield Craft Centre, Perranuthnoe TR20 9NE T: 01736 710538 • www.cowhousegallery.co.uk
KURT JACKSON: HELFORD RIVER
UntilFebruary2023. In this new collection Kurt Jackson revisits the Helford River, its creeks and tributaries reveal stunning beauty and incredible biodiversity.
ANDER GUNN: SEVEN DECADES UntilFebruary2023.
Photographer Ander Gunn has spent a lifetime turning his lens to the world, from working class Londoners to the brightest lights of the St Ives School. This exhibition of black and white images reflects his output over the last 70 years to offer a small sample of his portrait, landscape and street photography.
787638
Discover Circa 21, a wonderfully creative shop in the heart of Penzance & established in 2014 by Esme & Alan Burton. Spread over two floors, you’ll find work from some of the region’s top potters like John Webb & Lincoln Kirby-Bell. West Penwith is bursting with originality and Esme has captured some of this talent for you to admire and fall in love with. In amongst the Fair Trade homeware are around 30 Cornwall based makers, including owner Esme’s pretty floral silver & copper jewellery that she makes in house. Feel inspired by a colourful and creative shopping experience this autumn.
SALE ON SELECTED ITEMS throughout October in store and online. Why not subscribe on line to be the first to hear news and offers.
CIRCA 21, 21 Market Jew Street, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 2HR • Open 10am-4pm (closed Sundays & Bank Holiday Mondays) Instagram: circa21pz • www.circa21.co.uk
Located towards the top of Falmouth High Street, Inspire Makers is a creative space showcasing the talent of over 50 Cornish artists and craftspeople. There is a wide range of contemporary work from both wellknown and emerging makers, across jewellery, ceramics, textiles, painting & prints, stationery, and homewares. There is also a pop-up gallery which hosts a year round programme of short exhibitions by Cornish artists, and a dedicated workshop space which offers classes to inspire people to become creative themselves. Check our website for details on what’s coming up.
Opening Times: Tues to Sat 10am-5pm
Inspire Makers, 5 High Street, Falmouth, TR11 2AB • T: 01326 531176
E: create@inspiremakers.com • W: www.inspiremakers.com
A @inspire_makers • G inspiremakers
Martin John Fowler is a professional working artist based in South Yorkshire with strong connections to Cornwall. Displaying in several local galleries, Martin’s work looks to capture Cornwall’s rugged and wild coastal areas, often en plein air when possible, and as a result has had his work exhibition both nationally and internationally in solo and mixed exhibitions.
www.martinjohnfowler.com
McSwiney,
01736 448293
COWHOUSE
CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
TASTE OF
THE CHEF: RUPERT COOPER
OF THE MONTH: CORNISH CRAB RAVIOLI
TO EAT: HISTORIC
DAY TRIP TO
CORNISH SEAL SANCTUARY
Great British Menu contestant Charlotte Vincent has taken on the role of head chef at Hotel Meudon near Falmouth. Devonian by birth, Charlotte learnt to cook with the British Army, before spending 10 years working with Michael Caines at the Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter and the two Michelin Star Gidleigh Park. Next, she took the helm at the award-winning Five Bells in Cullompton, steering the inn into the UK's Top 50 Gastropubs. She describes her food as 'Modern British' influenced by Scandinavian and French cuisines. This will be reflected in her selection of autumn menus, which promises to include delightful dishes inspired by the rugged beauty of the coast and Bream Cove. l
www.meudon.co.uk
Rio Nuevo chocolate, based in Penryn, has relaunched its single-origin hot chocolate range in all-natural packaging which biodegrades in up to six weeks, and with minimal branding to symbolise a need for less consumption. The paper is 30% seaweed – a product which grows up to 1m a day, doesn’t compete with food crops, doesn’t need fresh water and actively contributes to de-acidifying our oceans. The rest is made from as much recycled fibre as possible. The chocolate is produced by Andres and Sara, who grew up in Ecuador and Colombia, and now live in Penryn.
www.rionuevochocolate.com
St Austell Brewery has acquired The Wellington Hotel, a 16th-century coaching inn in the pretty harbour village of Boscastle. The acquisition is the first in over two years for the brewery, which now owns
The Driftwood Spars in St Agnes collaborates with Lynher Dairies (makers of Cornish Yarg), Old Chapel Cellars of Truro and Castle Brewery of Lostwithiel for the ultimate cheese pairing evening (£25pp) on October 14. The Drifty has also teamed up with local social prescribing service Community Connect to host a Menopause Support Group on the second Thursday of
175 pubs, inns and hotels across the West Country including 39 managed sites, and a portfolio of tenanted and leased properties. Chief executive Kevin Georgel said: “The Wellington is a family-friendly destination with great views, a pub, a restaurant and overnight accommodation, making it popular with both locals and visitors. It fits perfectly with our current managed estate and the variety of guest experiences we always look to offer. It also supports our plans to strengthen and grow our pub estate, across Cornwall and the wider South West, in the months and years ahead.” l
every month at 7pm. And good luck to head chef Tom Bennetts, who is a finalist in the professional chef category of the South West Chef of the Year competition, to be held on October 25. l
www.driftwoodspars.co.uk
Cornwall’s biggest specialist seafood festival will take place from October 13 to 16. Now in its 24th year, Falmouth Oyster Festival celebrates the start of the dredging season, which runs from October to March. It focuses on the native Fal oyster, with its salty liquor and sweet flesh, and highlights traditional methods of harvesting, using only sail and oar.
The festival attracted 40,000 visitors in 2019 and has outgrown Events Square, so Church Street car park will be transformed
A training restaurant at Penwith College in Penzance has been crowned Best College Restaurant in the UK at the AA Hospitality Awards.
AA judges scored Senara students 100% for their final presentation - a top score unmatched in previous years. Inspectors praised Senara for its “incredible food and service”, and for adapting during the pandemic to incorporate a takeaway service for the local community.
The Senara team travelled to London’s Grosvenor Hotel on September 27 to hear they had beaten off competitors from Milton Keynes and Cardiff. Professional cookery students Emily Earley and Shay Uren were chosen to attend the event – which was hosted by television sport personality Gabby Logan - as a reward for their dedication and professionalism.
into an exciting new harbourside hub for flavoursome fun. Expect seafood bars, Working Boat racing, a grand oyster parade and a fiercely contested oystershucking competition - plus live music, comedy, arts and crafts, real ale and a Laurent Perrier champagne bar.
Chef Nick Hemming of The Heron in Malpas will open the festival on Thursday, October 13, joined by children from Falmouth’s five primary schools, with two from each selected to sit at the Chefs’
“When they announced our names, we were stunned,” said Shay. “Our little restaurant in the far west of Cornwall has beaten much larger college restaurants.”
Catering lecturer Dave Izzard added: “We know how good Senara is, and reviews from our customers back this up. However, being named the best in the UK by such a prestigious awarding body is fantastic.”
Senara students will now enjoy an allexpenses-paid week of work experience in the capital's Michelin-starred restaurants, including Murano courtesy of Angela Hartnett, and a day with Tom Booton, executive chef at The Grill at The Dorchester.
The award for Hotel Group of the Year went to The Pig Group, which has an outpost at Harlyn Bay near Padstow; and the New Yard Restaurant at Trelowarren, near Helston, received three AA Rosettes for its culinary excellence and was praised
Table and critique Nick’s culinary skills. Nick Hodges of The Greenbank Hotel, Hylton Espey of Culture Restaurant, Alfie Hazlitt of INDIdog and Annie Seabourne of My Fish Kitchen in Mawnan Smith will also give cookery demonstrations.
Hotel sponsor St Michaels Resort will host the flagship Seafood Bar, showcasing brasserie and street food style dishes including Tregida smoked ling chowder, spiced crispy squid or oysters, and delicious Nam Jim dressed crab. l
Like the Facebook page @Falmouth Oyster Festival, follow on Twitter @FalOysterFest or visit www.falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk
by AA inspectors for its use of estategrown produce. l
Reservations at Senara can be made for Wednesday, Thursday or Friday throughout the college year. Email
Padstow Christmas Festival returns for its first appearance since the pandemic, from December 1 to 4
Padstow Christmas Festival, one of the largest Christmas food events in the country, returns from Thursday, December 1 to Sunday, December 4. North Cornwall’s celebrity chef trio Rick Stein, Nathan Outlaw and Paul Ainsworth will host the four-day event, cooking alongside an array of A-list chefs in the Sharp’s Chefs’ Theatre.
This year’s stellar line-up includes: Clare Smyth, chef-patron of three Michelinstarred Core by Clare in Kensington; Angela Hartnett, former protégée of Gordon Ramsay and Michelin-starred chef-patron of Murano in Mayfair; Irish chef, cookbook author and TV presenter Clodagh McKenna; Matt Tebbutt, chef-presenter of the BBC's Saturday Kitchen; Glynn Purnell, aka the Yummy Brummie; Emily Scott, who cooked up a storm for G7 delegates at the Eden Project in 2021; and food and drink critic Matthew Fort.
Stallholders, street food traders and performers will be in and amongst the marquees throughout the weekend. Festive family-friendly activities will include a lantern parade, Santa’s grotto, live music on the bandstand, carol singing and a firework display over the harbour.
Festival organiser Tina Evans and Paul Ainsworth - Michelin-starred chef-patron of Paul Ainsworth at No.6, Caffè Rojano, Padstow Townhouse and The Mariners public house in Rock – reflect on the past, present and future of Padstow and its blockbuster festive event. www.padstowchristmasfestival.co.uk
When and why was the festival launched?
Tina: The first one took place in 2008. Its raison d’etre was to boost the coffers as we move into winter. At a time when things are traditionally quiet, it brings such a huge amount of revenue – the last one raised £5 million for local businesses. I think this year will be more important than ever, as winter is likely to be tough in the present circumstances. People are pulling their horns in because of the hike in energy bills – we have noticed that already in Padstow this year.
Paul: I’ve lived and worked in Padstow for 17 years. For the five years prior to the Christmas festival launching, things were very quiet between October halfterm and Christmas. The festival gained traction and earned a reputation as a festive foodie destination, bringing in up to 50,000 people over four days. It was a
great opportunity to put money in the till and build up cash reserves, and we came to rely upon it. Guests in the Townhouse would book for the following year as they left, and people would take the ferry over to The Mariners in Rock.
What was the impact of not having it?
Tina: I talk to businesses all the time, and they lost thousands. For accommodation, it’s the busiest weekend of the year, even ahead of August.
Paul: When the festival didn’t happen last year, we saw that reflected in our budgets. Cornwall’s a fantastic place to live and raise your kids, but it’s not plain sailing running a business here. Anyone will tell you that long before Brexit or Covid came along, it’s always been a bloody long winter. Our core team of 163 people is employed 365 days a year, so you have to be on it and run your business correctly. It’s a lot of responsibility.
Is it good to be back after the pandemic?
Tina: Oh yes! The last festival took place in 2019 and was incredibly successful. It was disappointing not to run in 2020, due to the November lockdown; then in 2021, we didn’t want to risk getting shut down if there was a further spike. It costs a huge
Tina Evans Rick Steinamount to put on an event like this, and we would have gone bankrupt if we’d had to pull the plug. This year, we made an early decision to run – there was a real demand from businesses.
This year, there’s an entry charge for the first time; why?
Paul: It was either that or no festival. Having done the Travelling Feast last year, I know the cost of putting these things on is phenomenal – and it’s gone through the roof.
Tina: Exactly that. Costs have gone up 30%: generators, contractors, marquee hire. Fuel for the last event cost £3,500; this year, the estimate is nearer £12,000. In addition, sponsorship has dropped off because businesses are struggling in the current climate. So we’re making a small charge: £7 per day, £20 for all four, for a wristband that allows access across the festival site. We didn't make the decision lightly. We’re a not-for-profit company, so once we’ve covered our costs, any excess will go to local charities. But for the Friday night lantern parade, every participating child will be given two free tickets for accompanying adults, to be distributed through schools, and local organisations such as
cadets and Brownies will be invited to the chefs’ marquee.
How much work goes into organising the festival?
Tina: It’s a full-time job. I’m thinking about the next one before this one has even finished – I spend Sunday talking to stallholders for feedback. Come January, there’s a wash-up meeting, then you’re looking at sponsorship negotiation, finalising stalls, health and safety... It takes a week to set up the marquees, and everything has to be down again by midnight on the Monday, swept clean with not a screw in sight. Then I sit down and say: “I never want to do that again.” It’s a love-hate relationship! Fortunately, I have a good right-hand man in Andrew Stephens from the Old Ship Hotel, and a base of volunteers to deal with things like the ticketing system and sourcing ingredients for recipes.
Which chefs stick in your mind?
Tina: The most professional demo I’ve ever seen was James Martin. It was a proper performance, and he cooked something I’d actually want to eat. Believe it or not, I’m not a foodie or a celebrity chef fan. It actually works well,
as it means you have to really sell it to me, much like you do to Joe Public.
Paul: James is a real crowd-pleaser, as is Tom Kerridge. Clare Smyth is coming this year, which is really exciting. She’s a good friend - we worked together at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay many years ago, and she’s at the top of her game.
How has the cost-of-living crisis affected you?
Paul: Personally, we had a strong summer – even busier than last year, which was really busy. But you could actually see the beaches this year, and some places still had vacancies where they would normally be full in August. Normally in Padstow, September still feels like summer, but this year definitely felt more autumnal, and not just because it went from heatwave to endless rain! I think it will see us going back to what we know in Cornwall: all or nothing. We need to make hay while the sun shines, which is why the return of the Christmas festival is great. l
Padstow Christmas Festival runs from December 1 to Sunday, December 4. For full programme details, visit www.padstowchristmasfestival.co.uk
Clodagh McKenna Paul Ainsworth Ed Hughes Nathan Outlaw
Nicola Smith tries Bobby’s Taste of Cornwall, a six-course tasting menu at the Greenbank Hotel
in Falmouth
It feels quite magical to sit sipping a delectable Cornish Negroni in the Water’s Edge Bar as we watch the sinking sun tease the horizon over Falmouth Bay. The Greenbank Hotel is one of Falmouth’s – indeed Cornwall’s –treasures. Dating back beyond 1640, this beautiful labyrinthine building on the shores of the Penryn River has views to behold, and it is a fitting venue in which to tuck into a true Cornish feast.
Head chef at the Greenbank’s Water’s Edge restaurant, Bobby Southworth is a local lad and self-taught chef who has worked his way up. It is not hard to see why. Last year he launched Bobby’s Taste of Cornwall, a series of events to showcase, not just the bounty of ingredients Cornwall has in its larder, but the skill and innovation of Bobby himself.
It is why we find ourselves draining our cocktails before moving through to the sumptuous restaurant to enjoy our expertly crafted six-course tasting menu. We begin with Porthilly oysters teamed with pickled cucumber pearls, washed down with a glass of Cornwall’s lively Knightor Sparkling Brut.
Bobby comes out to welcome us – just at home being showman as chef – making our convivial table of 16 feel like an intimate dinner party. We then nibble on smoked beetroot and Cornish brie bruschetta, a clever fusion of earthy and creamy flavours which works wonderfully.
The amuse-bouche is perhaps the star of the show for me: a rich, punchy crab Cornish bisque. Testament to Bobby’s desire to minimise waste, it is made using a cast of crab shells, boiled down for three days to extract maximum flavour.
Crowning the bisque is a beautiful, iridescent mackerel, lightly cured in Loveday gin, which hails from a small distillery in neighbouring Penryn (the brainchild of two chefs and a scientist, no less). The mackerel is then torched before elegantly adorning the bisque. It is almost too beautiful to disturb. But not quite.
It is accompanied by a small savoury scone (“this is Cornwall, after all,” says Bobby), with a very indulgent lobster butter. What a treat.
Greenbank sommelier Holly Bennetts has created a wine flight to send Bobby’s menu into orbit. We are presented with a glass of Quinson Côtes De Provence Rosé to match the scallops which appear soon afterwards, pan roasted with roasted cauliflower, naughty crispy chicken skin, pistachio praline and grapefruit. The grapefruit is an unusual addition that proves divisive among diners, but the rest of the dish is a triumph.
As we watch the village of Flushing transformed into an array of pink sunset hues across the water, we are presented with a smooth glass of Growers Gate Cabernet Sauvignon. It accompanies the Cornish spring lamb rack, adorned with a
tasty pea risotto and shallot rings. Another dish to savour.
But just as we are wondering if the menu has shifted from slightly maverick to more traditional, a palate cleanser in the form of a beer shot and a beer sorbet arrives. Derived from Penryn’s own Verdant brewery, it is a lively, yeasty bullet of something otherworldly which, if unsure at first, soon wins over diners as the two marry together in a perfect punchy ale.
As if we needed more, our feast is crowned with a delicate portion of Cornish cream tea that leaves the tongue singing with a sweet lightness. It is a perfect end to a memorable evening full of laughter and merriment, at the centre of which is an incredible banquet that exalts Cornish produce – and heralds another of the county’s culinary stars.
Some diners, reluctant to tear themselves away from the delights of the Greenbank, make a night of it and retire to their rooms with a view. Others, like us, drift happily away into the Cornish night, contented, sated and vowing to return. l
Bobby’s Taste of Cornwall (six-course tasting menu) is £79pp plus £15pp for the wine flight. The Taste of Cornwall Escape, including bed and breakfast, is from £349.
The next tasting events will be held on October 20 and November 17.
I’m originally from Cambridge, and have moved around the country as a professional rugby player, at clubs including Plymouth and lastly the Cornish Pirates.
Then you took over a cookery school on the Roselanda radical change of direction!
Food has always been the epicentre of my life, whether eating, cooking or reading about it. I began private catering in Nottingham, and it took off; I then set about learning as much as I could, and that hasn’t really stopped. I’ve had no training, so I’m conscious I need to keep learning and seeking out new skill sets to keep up with other chefs. I have an enormous passion for the industry and what it provides.
How long have you been at Philleigh Way now?
It will be four years in December. It's been a bizarre few years – quite the whirlwind!
Year one is tough in any business, then throw in Covid and it’s certainly been a challenge. But as they say, anything worth doing isn’t easy. I just strive to stay current, and ahead.
Food has always been the epicentre of my life, whether eating, cooking or reading about it.
I’m asked that question a lot, and while I don’t want to sit on the fence... everything!
There is no one niche or food I stick to. I eat and cook how I feel, although there are styles I lean towards naturally: Middle Eastern, European... But I try and mix it up where possible so I don’t get stale.
How would you describe your food style and how has it developed?
Very rustic, big flavours, bold and simplea bit like me! It has developed immensely, mostly from my personality but more so from the fierce competition in the county - it’s vital to keep improving. You certainly learn what works and what doesn’t, and I have had a few shockers, but it’s all about
refining your offering. Ultimately, though, it’s about sticking with what we are good at: bread, fish and fire!
What rules do you live by in your kitchen?
No rules per se – but I can't stand mess. Being tidy and efficient is key!
There are a few things: “Eat well for less” is coming into its own right now, and edible Christmas gifts is always popular at this time of year. We’re also running pop-ups at some super venues around the county, such as Philleigh Way on the Quay, in conjuction with the Hall for Cornwall in Truro. We set up our horsebox outside the theatre, serving pre- and post-show street food with drinks from the Green Room Café. Of course, the public are welcome to come and try as well.
What ingredient couldn’t you live without?
Onion – it's the ultimate ingredient.
What is your guilty food pleasure?
Pizza. If I had to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be that. Breakfast. lunch, dinner. No guilt! l
Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream has collaborated with Italian food experts Pasta Evangelists to celebrate World Pasta Day (Tuesday, October 25) with two new pasta recipes: Cornish crab, lemon and Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream ravioli, topped with herb butter; and a vegetarian option using zucca (pumpkin) and parmesan.
“The silky clotted cream complements the beautiful texture of the crab meat within the ravioli recipe, creating a rich flavour combination,” says Rodda’s managing director Nicholas Rodda.
Pasta Evangelists head chef Roberta d’Elia adds: “The rich and creamy quality of Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream makes it the perfect British alternative to mascarpone, my go-to ingredient when I want to add a little extra indulgence to my pasta filling while still retaining a fresh flavour.”
• Serves 3
• Prep time: 60 mins
• Cook time: 10 mins
For the ravioli
• 300g 00 pasta flour
• 3 eggs
For the pasta filling
• 125g Cornish white crab meat
• 125g Cornish brown crab meat
• 40g Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream
• 1 lemon (half for juice and half for zest)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
For a vegetarian alternative, replace the crab filling with 300g cubed pumpkin and 40g breadcrumbs, add 40g grated Parmesan and use just 35g cream
For the butter sauce and garnish
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• Handful of fresh herbs (we suggest fresh sage, parsley or thyme)
• Pasta machine/rolling pin
• Pasta cutter/kitchen knife
• Ravioli stamp/standard wine glass
On a clean work surface, pile the flour into a mound. Make a well in the centre, and crack the eggs into it. Beat the mixture with the fork until all the egg has been absorbed. As the mixture thickens, start using your hands and a scraper to continue incorporating the flour. If needed, drizzle a small amount of warm water and continue mixing until you have a ball of dough.
Clean and lightly flour the work surface. Knead the dough by pressing the heel of one hand into the ball, keeping your fingers high. Press down on the dough while pushing it firmly away from you; it should stretch and roll under your hand to create a shell-like shape.
Turn the dough over, then press into it with your knuckles, one hand at a time. Bring the dough back into a ball and repeat the process (using more flour if needed to prevent any stickiness) for about 10-20 minutes - around 10 times - until the dough is smooth and silky. Roll into a smooth ball, cover with a wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or for up to 1 day in the refrigerator.
Add the crab and the Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream in a bowl and season. Squeeze in the lemon juice and the grated zest. Mix by hand until roughly combined. Cover and refrigerate for an hour, allowing the mixture to firm up (thereby easing the filling process).
For the vegetarian alternative, start by preheating your oven. Scatter your cubed pumpkin on a baking tray, season and cover with baking paper. Bake at 200°C for 25-30 minutes until tender and slightly browned. Remove and allow to cool. Add the Parmesan and clotted cream and mix by hand until roughly combined. If too runny, add extra Parmesan or breadcrumbs.
Once the pasta has rested, lightly flour your surface and, using your fingers, slightly flatten your pasta dough into a rough circle. If using a pasta machine, set the dial to its widest setting and feed the flattened sheet of pasta through the machine at least three times before moving onto the next setting. Continue to feed your dough through the machine once per setting, from the thickest to the thinnest.
Alternatively, begin rolling the dough as you would with a pastry crust, starting in the centre and rolling away from you to the outer edge. Turn the dough a few inches clockwise, and repeat. Keep working your way around, scattering a small amount of flour on the dough whenever it starts to stick to the surface or the rolling pin. You’ll know you’ve created the perfect ‘sfoglia’ for ravioli when you can clearly see your hands through the sheet.
Once you have your long pasta sheet, use a knife or a pasta cutter to cut it evenly in half lengthways, and wet the edges of your strip of pasta with a pastry brush or by hand. Using a teaspoon or piping bag, dot the filling in a line down the centre of one of the strips, about 5cm apart. Place the other strip directly on top of the filling. Before sealing, gently press on the dough around the filling to eliminate any excess air.
Next, very lightly moisten the dough with your hands and press it firmly closed. Now take a square ravioli cutter (a wine glass works well for circular ravioli) and press firmly on the dough around the filling. Finish with a final dusting of flour to keep your ravioli from sticking together and allow to rest on a wooden board for about 30 minutes to help dry out and seal the dough further before boiling.
Bring a large pot of water to boil, adding a generous sprinkling of salt once it has come to the boil. Place the ravioli in the water and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Prepare the butter sauce and garnish Meanwhile, melt the butter on a low heat in the frying pan along with the fresh herbs and a pinch of salt until the butter is golden brown. Once the pasta is cooked, transfer the ravioli from the water with a slotted spoon straight into the frying pan with the herb butter. Add 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water and toss gently to coat the ravioli with the buttery sauce. Be careful as the pasta will be delicate once cooked. Serve immediately and enjoy! l
Pasta Evangelists will run their workshops in partnership with Rodda’s around these recipes on October 12 and 26 at The Pasta Academy, London. For tickets visit wwwpastaevangelists.com
For more information on the recipes visit roddas.co.uk
Whether you plump for a humble caff, a posh restaurant or a pasty shop, sometimes the location is just as important as the food on offer. Here are 10 eateries in historic surroundings, from Victorian public buildings to castle defences and fish factories.
Built in 1893, this is one of four institutes in Cornwall donated by Victorian philanthropist John Passmore Edwards to provide working people with libraries and rooms for meetings and lectures. Today it’s a community hub run by a small team of staff and volunteers and used by local residents of all ages for a wide range of social activities including yoga, Pilates, dance, art and writing groups, music, photographic club and community film nights. The Nourish café has a new top team, and serves breakfast, hot drinks, delicious cakes and cream teas from 9.30am to 1pm on weekdays and the first Saturday of the month. The MMI Supper Club returns on October 13, with a night of food masterfully prepared by
says on the tin: when fishermen shouted “Hevva!”, it meant shoals of pilchards had been sighted and the boats would be bringing in the catch for processing and canning. In 2018, chefpatron Benjamin Palmer bought the building and transformed it into an 80-cover restaurant overlooking the harbour, awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2020. Benjamin’s specialism is sustainable fish dishes, and he is suitably obsessed with sardines - his Stargazey Pie is something to behold. Sample
A gem of a café on Boscastle Harbour, the Good Stuff at Harbour Light can be found in a 16th-century building that was destroyed in the floods of August 2004, and faithfully rebuilt two years later. By day, order speciality coffee, local seasonal dishes and a selection of sweet goodies to lift the spirits of tired coast path walkers; on Friday nights, the venue is transformed into a cocktail and small plates bar. Everything is thoughtfully sourced, from Cornish ingredients to compostable takeaway packaging and ethically produced coffee. Owners Alice and Will are Living Wage employers. Open Wednesday to Sunday, March to November. Sample dish: Enjoy bread and pastries from Electric Bakery, up the road in Bude. www.thegoodstuffcafe.co.uk
railway hotel appealing to distinguished guests. Guglielmo Marconi stayed here in 1901 while sending the first ever transatlantic radio messages from nearby Poldhu Cove. Sadly, a fire devastated the original hotel in 1909, destroying everything but the terraces and steps near the tennis courts; what you see today was built soon after. During the Second World War, the hotel was an officers’ mess for nearby RAF Predannack, and in 1953, Hollywood stars Clark Gable and Gene Tierney stayed while filming the romance adventure Never Let Me Go. Sample dish: Choose a mouth-watering pizza baked in the wood-fired Gozney oven. www.polurrianhotel.com
The Alverton was built in the 1830s as a family home for fatherof-13 William Tweedy, whose family was well-known in town society as senior partners in the Cornish Bank and steadfast Tory supporters. In 1883, the house was acquired by The Order of Epiphany, whose nuns travelled around the Duchy to help local clerics with work including crucial aid with tuberculosis treatment. By 1984, the house had become too big for the remaining sisters and was converted into a grand country house hotel, which now has 51 bedrooms, four silver stars and a two AA-rosette award-winning restaurant. Sample dish: Afternoon tea. Cosy up by the roaring fire for a festive twist on this wonderfully British pastime. www.thealverton.co.uk
Star Castle was built in 1593 during the reign of Good Queen Bess, for the defence of the Isles of Scilly. It stands on the fortified Garrison Hill to the west of Hugh Town on St Mary’s, and commands magnificent sea views in all directions. The dining room was the original officer’s messroom, and belongs to the age of Drake and the sea-dogs, while the dungeon that once incarcerated some of the most notorious prisoners in the country is now an intriguing hostelry serving Scillonian real ale! Dinner available from February 14 to October 31. Sample dish: Seared Salakee duck, raised on St Mary’s. Four courses, £55. www.star-castle.co.uk
In 1884, Henry Martin Harvey Esq. of Launceston made a gift of £1,000 for the building of a complete new lifeboat station. A year later, a boathouse made of Cornish granite opened in Penzance, complete with bell turret and bell; the new 10-oared lifeboat, named Dora at Mr Harvey’s request, would save 57 lives from 10 vessels. Today, this small but quirky bistro enjoys unobstructed views of Penzance Harbour and St Michael’s Mount, serving predominantly seafood but also tea, coffee and cakes until 4.30pm each day. Sample dish: Newlyn dressed crab salad, served with new potatoes and baguette, £19.95. www.oldlifeboathousebistro.com
a hunting and feasting lodge – making its current guise particularly appropriate. This is a small but delightfully intimate space in which to enjoy cuisine with a Middle Eastern flavour. Sample dish: Sayadeyeh
Part of Cornwall’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hayle’s Foundry Square was once the hub of the esteemed engineering firm Harvey & Co (1779), producing Cornish beam engines for mines around the world. The foundry closed in 1903 but evidence remains of its former glory: the counting house, with its distinctive clock tower (which once displayed both “local time” and “London time”, around 20 minutes ahead), now houses Hayle’s heritage centre. White’s Warehouse dates from 1828 and has been a mill and bakery and a furniture store; it’s now home to several businesses, including artisan jeweller Emily Nixon. Salt Kitchen Bar on the ground floor serves a menu inspired by land and sea: burgers, seafood, grill and cocktails. Sample dish: Popcorn prawns – Cajun-spiced battered prawns with garlic mayo, slaw and fries, £16. www.salt-hayle.co.uk
From the outside, it’s a humble pasty shop in Bodmin’s Fore Street, but don’t be fooled. Eat in, and you will discover splendid decorwood panelling, stained-glass windows, coats of arms - indicative of this building’s illustrious role in Bodmin’s municipal history. The Grade II listed Guildhall was built on the site of the meeting place of St Petroc’s Guild of Skinners and Glovers and is recorded in Queen Elizabeth’s Charter of 1536 as the location of town council meetings and other important functions (John Wesley is thought to have preached here in the 18th century). The last council meeting took place here in 1983; the premises was sold to pasty purveyor Malcolm Barnecutt. Sample dish: Medium steak.
Sparkling white sands and cerulean waters, palm trees and subtropical temperatures, meals al fresco on sun-dappled terraces. We’re not talking about the Med here, but the Isles of Scilly, the UK’s most southwesterly outpost.
The archipelago sits 28 miles from Land's End, and a helicopter flight makes short work of that distance – it takes just 15 minutes, and you can fly in and out of different islands (St Mary’s and Tresco) making it the perfect location for a day trip.
My partner and I took advantage of a rare child-free week during the holidays to get up bright and early and drive down to Penzance Helicopters ahead of the rush-
hour traffic. The heliport is just off the A30, with on-site parking or an electric shuttle bus connection to the railway station. We checked in; for a day trip, there’s a 5kg luggage allowance, perfect for a backpack (those staying on the islands a little longer can take 20kg).
We boarded, and as the helicopter rose from the ground, I couldn’t help feeling excited. We flew during the summer heatwave, in azure blue skies. The view from the window was truly magnificent, with Mount's Bay and St Michael’s Mount to one side, the West Cornwall coast to the other: Mousehole, Newlyn and Land’s End. Not only was Longships Lighthouse clearly visible, but also Wolf
Rock - and the Isles of Scilly approaching on the horizon.
Our destination was Tresco, which has been under the stewardship of the Dorrien-Smith family for nearly two centuries. The current generation strives to maintain its feel as an escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Rural yet coastal, wild yet generously luxurious, remote yet seamlessly easy to reach; here, families come together, couples retreat and there is, quite simply, time to be.
One of the best ways to see Tresco (and indeed the Scillies in general) is by bicycle. The island is about two and a half miles long by a mile wide at its broadest
point, meaning you can nip from one end to the other in no time. You can hire bikes from Smith Square – the island’s administrative hub.
While there, we popped into the Flying Boat Club for coffee. Try the traditional Scillonian Tattie Cake, a sugary fruit-filled confection. “I presume it doesn’t actually have potato in it?” I asked. I presumed wrong. You’d never know, so don’t let it put you off.
We needed to work the cake off before lunch, so we jumped on our steeds and headed off in the vague direction of Old Grimsby (as I hail from Great Grimsby, it always gives me a thrill to visit its remote namesake). Our coastal route was studded by blue and white agapanthus, aka African lily; we stopped off for a paddle on the fine white sands of an unspoilt beach, with hardly anyone else in sight. Such bliss. (If the sun isn’t shining, the spa is a worthy alternative, with pool, sauna and steam room).
Eventually, we reached one of Tresco’s many historic sites: the Old Blockhouse, a 16th-century fortification built by the government of Edward VI to protect the islands against French attack. Close by is the Ruin Beach Café, where we ordered sumptuous meat and seafood platters to share (and a glass of chilled rosé for me), and lunched over the most stunning beachfront view.
However, we skipped dessert with the intention of enjoying Troy Town ice cream at our final stop of the afternoon: Tresco’s famous Abbey Garden. Dubbed “a perennial Kew without the glass”, it’s home to 20,000 plants from more than 80 countries, from Brazil to New Zealand and Burma to South Africa.
We couldn’t have picked a better day to wander through this exotic landscape, dotted with beautiful ruins and scupltures. The garden is also home to the Valhalla Museum, with its evocative
collection of shipwrecked figureheads collected across the islands and now part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
This left us at the right end of the island to check into the tiny heliport, just a twominute walk away. Our time was up all too soon, and off we flew, past the Minack Theatre, where a performance was in full swing. It was just one more sign of how Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are full of life: the place to be. l
Find out more about Tresco by following its feeds on Facebook/Instagram @trescoisland, or visit www.tresco.co.uk
Penzance Helicopters offer flights to the Scillies from £139 return. Penzance Heliport, Jelbert Way, Penzance TR18 3FL
Facebook/Instagram @penzancehelicopters www.penzancehelicopters.co.uk
When you visit the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, not only will you have a fun and informative day out, but you will also help to fund its vital work. It costs an average of £2,000 to rescue and rehabilitate a seal for release, all covered by donations and money spent at the charity’s site in Gweek, near Helston.
But rising bills and inflation saw many visitors reduce spending across the county over the summer, with visitor attractions hit hardest as people opted for free activities. “It has been a tough year for many families, charities and businesses, as we’ve seen budgets tightened to accommodate the cost of living,” says general manager Jana Sirova.
“As a charity, we need all the support we can get to ensure we can continue to care for the beautiful marine mammals around our coastline for years to come. Whether it’s donating to this year’s pup season appeal, visiting our site or even sharing our social media posts, every little helps.”
More than 50 pups were rescued during the 2021/22 season through autumn and spring, from various spots around the Cornish coastline. Each pup is monitored and treated in hospital before being moved into the rehabilitation pools for ongoing support, with the aim of heading back into the sea.
The arrival of seal pup Parsley at the Sanctuary in August marked an early start
Keep dogs on leads and children away
Do not to approach or chase the seal back into the sea
For signs that a pup is in distress or needs medical attention, and what to do next, visit sealsanctuary.sealifetrust.org/en/
to the 2022/23 pupping season. Parsley was discovered alone on a small beach near Portherras Cove, between Pendeen and Morvah in West Penwith. Volunteer medics from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) monitored her over 24 hours in case her mother was nearby, but noted signs of starving behaviour, such as roaming the beach and calling out.
Parsley was transferred to Head & Head veterinary surgery in Helston, where vets judged her to be just a few days old, with her umbilicus still attached, an ulcer in her left eye and weighing in at just 10.3kg – less than the standard 14kg for a newborn pup. Sadly, despite expert care and continuous monitoring, Parsley passed away on September 5.
Six pups have been rescued so far, with two remaining in care: Chilli and Curry, following this year’s naming theme of herbs
and spices. Both are gaining in strength. “The best thing for a pup is to spend as much time with its mother as possible, so bringing pups into the sanctuary is never an easy decision and always a last resort,” says sanctuary curator Tamara Cooper.
The sanctuary opened in 1975, and is now part of the SEA LIFE Trust, a global charity that also manages the Beluga Whale and Puffin Sanctuary in Iceland. A £1.3million Fund Our Future campaign was launched on September 1 to futureproof the Gweek site for years to come.
This project will see the replacement and construction of four new pools, doubling the water volume across the site; the installation of a state-of-the-art filtration system for better water quality; and a new undercover viewing area with seating and education spaces.
As part of the fundraising process, colourful paintings by resident Humboldt penguin Squidge were sold at auction, raising £5,230. “The paintings resulted from Squidge’s enrichment activities, which are a vital part of keeping animals happy and healthy while living in captivity,” said fundraising manager Leanne Webb. “But it was a wonderful way to share such an important fundraising campaign and help us towards reaching our goal.” l
For further information, visit https:// sealsanctuary.sealifetrust.org/en/
