Aunt Eliza by Dulcie Wing

Dulcie Wing now sadly deceased used to live in an old people’s home in Falmouth. She was wonderfull lady who had a great memory and way with words. I knew a little old lady in a seaside village, years ago. Everyone called her Aunt Eliza. This woman lived in a semi-detached cottage which had a […]

What May Means to me by Jill Biddle Obby Oss 1996

A poem written by Jill Biddle with scans of the original photos by Terry Harry of Padstow’s Obby Oss. Hopefully it will remind everyone of one of the great days in Cornwall. It will not happen in 2020 because of the dreadful Covid19 virus. Stay well everyone and aim for next year.

A Little Bit More Chat With Maid Lowenna by Joy Stevenson

Donkey shays were a means of transport for many Cornish years ago; miners, especially, used them to get to their work each day. It was a simple contraption little more than a piece of board fixed to an axle and a pair of wheels; it was just big enough to fit one man. Not exactly […]

The Feast of St Day & The Customs of a Community by Paul Annear in 1995

Many Cornish towns and villages continue to celebrate their annual feast, but few match the enthusiasm and goodwill enjoyed at St. Day. Each year hundreds upon hundreds flock to the ancient town to witness events which have since matured to tradition. Flags line the wide streets and stubbly cottage fronts throw the spectacular sun from […]

John Wesley’s Cornish Amphitheatre by Joan Hellyar Shaw in 1996

Did you know that tucked away between St. Day and Carharrack and just one-and-a- half miles from Redruth is a place visited by over 20,000 people each year? This long disused mine working was first used by John Wesley to get out of a strong high wind in 1762 and described by him as an […]

Mining Can Be Fun By Allen Buckley in 1995

A problem “up-country” settlers have with the Cornish is knowing when to take them seriously. No race on earth is as dedicated to the “wind-up” as is the Cornish Celt, and more Englishmen and other “furriners” have gone back across the Tamar convinced of the truth of some amazing or unlikely story, than it takes […]

Tin Streaming: An Ancient Industry by Allen Buckley in 1995

It is hard to appreciate in 1995 just how wide-spread and important to the Cornish economy tin streaming used to be. Hardly a valley in the stanniferous districts of west, central and east Cornwall, has been completely untouched by the activities of generations of Cornish tinners. These tinners used the stream and river water to […]

The Stormbringers by Craig Weatherhill in 1996

We are sorry to say that Craig has died during July 2020, after a long illness. He was a ferocious protector of Cornwall and a thoroughly decent man also a very fine scholar and publisher of Cornish History. R.I.P Craig.The headland of Tol Pedn Penwith (a wonderful name sadly discarded in recent years for the […]

Cornish Mining – The Arsenic Industry In Cornwall by Allen Buckley

To most people the Cornish mining industry is about tin and copper, with perhaps a certain amount of lead, silver and zinc   thrown in. Although this may represent a large part of the truth, other material ores have also been of great importance to the industry, and one of them, arsenic, can truly be said […]

Killifreth Mine by Allen Buckley

The mining region of West Cornwall is noted for its impressive engine houses, although none of these great buildings is more famous for its elegance than that at Hawkes Shaft, Killifreth. Hawkes engine house was erected in 1893 to house an 80-inch pumping engine, and when the mine re-opened, in 1912, the building had to […]

The Name Of Our Capital by The Late, Richard Gendall

Truro…? How do you say it, and what does it mean? Old memories are dying out: does anyone from the west still tell of the froze labber? That’s the sound of the current off the western shore of Penwith, and simply means “the labouring of the current”, Cornish froxe and lavure. The word we want […]

Playing at Work The Cornish Way by David Moyse in 1995

David Moyse was a very well known and respected man in Hayle and had a wonderful outfitters in the main street. It was the first place I bought a Barbour waxed jacket. I enjoyed my work and liked the people, but there was something missing. I yearned to get back to my roots Cornwall. I […]