Mr Pezzak of Mousehole makes small talk in a chance meeting of Bards up t’Trurra! ‘Ah! ‘Tis a legal crime! Brazen theft!’ Old Pezzak grips my arm. ‘Council houses In a village silenced by profiteers Changing hands for half a million!’ ‘Places built by Granfer & Son To get more kids past the age…Continue Reading “‘Twill all come round, Boy! Never Fear!’ – a poem by Bert Biscoe”
Trencrom Hillfort After several years of using part of our yearly holiday time looking for somewhere to live in Cornwall, how could my wife and I resist a very nice house within walking distance of a hill crowned with an Iron Age hillfort, which we went to visit after looking the house over? As…Continue Reading “Cornish Ghosts”
Memorial plaque on the Plume of Feathers pub, Pool. Now part of a popular walking tour[1] It’s around 7am on August 15, 1883. On 190 Fathom at Wheal Agar, off Agar Road, Pool, the night core is waiting to come to grass[2]. Unlike the nearby Dolcoath Mine, there’s no Man Engine here. Ingress to…Continue Reading “The Wheal Agar Disaster of 1883”
It often seems that in our modern days there is no magic, no mystery, no more contact with the forces of the earth. It is still there, though, for those who can tap into its power. These are the days These are the days when magic dies, Its mysteries no secrets hold No…Continue Reading “These are the days – A Poem by David Oates”
Tradition tells us, that a ball of apple-wood with a thick coating of silver is the object contended for. Two goals are each one mile distant from the place where the ball is thrown up, being thus two miles apart from each other. One is designated the ‘town goal’ and the other the ‘country…Continue Reading “Cornish Hurling”
This is a Cornish Story, a story of the old wooden ships and the iron men who sailed them. It is also a story of a small fleet of Cornish ships from Fowey and of my own family’s maritime heritage. We have all seen those captivating old Victorian images of Cornwall featuring harbour scenes with…Continue Reading “Wooden Ships and Iron Men”