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!”
Portscatho on New Year’s Day 2023 Bert Biscoe brings us another of his poems, this one in reflective mood – of things past, of people past, of Cornwall past. Goodnight, my land. Goodnight! Dedicated to Hilary Thomson of Portscatha I remember in the not-so-dim And still fresh past When pilgrims and…Continue Reading “Goodnight, my land. Goodnight!”
(Sketch: Mike Ricks) Mike Ricks brings us his evocative story of the time when he was a Cornish miner. Reading this leaves you in no doubt about the harsh conditions underground and perhaps goes some way to helping us understand the extraordinary camaraderie developed by those who laboured there. The contrast couldn’t…Continue Reading “Working Underground at South Crofty Mine”
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”
Dr Charlotte MacKenzie, regular Cornish Story contributor, is a prolific writer and speaker on Cornish History and here she turns her attention to that most absorbing of subjects, Cornish Legends. To what extent was Cornish folklore recorded before the collection and publication of folk tales by Victorian folklorists? Some customary practices were mentioned from the…Continue Reading “Cornish legends”
A trainline was proposed through St Agnes to the cliff above the harbour. What was its purpose and route? St Agnes historian, Clive Benney, shares his thoughts on the imaginative project. Many will have heard of the Chacewater to Newquay Railway that passed through St Agnes Parish between 1903 and 1963 but how many…Continue Reading “The St Agnes Railway That Never Arrived”