The Wreck of the Rose of Devon

The treacherous cliffs at Porthtowan where the Rose of Devon foundered in 1897 Clive Benney, St Agnes Old Cornwall Society Recorder, brings us the story of the demise of the Rose of Devon. The involvement of police constable Benney is particularly interesting as he was Clive’s great-grandfather.   One of the most tragic and disastrous…Continue Reading “The Wreck of the Rose of Devon”

The Redruth Revival Murder

Michael Tangye (Whythrer Meyn) of Redruth brings us a story of excessive religious fervour that was all too common among many Methodist congregations in our villages and towns.   1824: King George the Fourth  reigned. The mining town of Redruth had not yet reached the height of its prosperity. Its shallow, immensely rich copper loads…Continue Reading “The Redruth Revival Murder”

Growing Up Near Looe

Looe Bridge This is largely an article of personal memories and is in no way an attempt to provide a history of the area. It includes my first memories but is muddled with later visits and holidays with relations at Lanreath and Looe.   Alright, I’ll come clean, I didn’t do a lot of growing…Continue Reading “Growing Up Near Looe”

Tater-Du Lighthouse

  Mike McGinnes brings us the story of a unique Cornish edifice and of his involvement in its construction – the Tater-Du Lighthouse.   (Photo: Tom Corser www.tomcorser.com. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode).   The most recently erected lighthouse in Cornwall was built during 1965, on the site of a rocky…Continue Reading “Tater-Du Lighthouse”

My First Real Job – and I was just a girl!

Knees Department Store, King Street, Truro   Susan Coney brings us her experience of being a young Cornish Maid in a man’s world.   I took my ‘O’ Level GCE’s in the summer term of 1964. During the summer holidays, I worked in Knees toy department. Whilst I was there, the girl who was the…Continue Reading “My First Real Job – and I was just a girl!”

Padstow Volunteer Artillery

Padstow Volunteer Band 1908 Back row: Percy Courtenay, Albert Hill, Tommy Tresidder, Jim Parsons. Second row: Albert Courtenay, Tom Williams, Tom Trenouth. Front row: Edgar Tonkin, Ewart Worsley (sitting) Alfred Buckingham, William Courtenay (sitting) S Veal.   The Volunteer forces of the mid to late 1800s were an important part of the defence of this…Continue Reading “Padstow Volunteer Artillery”