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The good thing and the bad thing about blogs is the freedom they give you to trill on about your own little obsessions and gripes, blissfully undeterred by the eye of an objective editor.
I try and hold back from blogging repeatedly about places and venues in west Cornwall I have a crush on but… sometimes it’s just not possible. So today, newly enthused after their Spanish wine tasting last night, I’d like to reiterate how much I still love bar-resto-deli Scarlet Wines‘ wine nights in Lelant!
They really are getting everything right on the night – and how often can you say that about somewhere? Owner Jon Keast is an enthusiastic and charming host, managing to deliver high-level wine chat without a hint of pretension or dryness. There’s a well-stoked wood-burner; an amazing selection of beers; cool decor; creative tapas (standouts: baked figs with sherry and goat’s cheese, and chestnuts dipped in brandy sauce and oven-crisped serrano ham).
AND better yet, the bus from Penzance stops right outside – last one at 12.29, which I think you’ll all agree is pretty wild. The bus took such an indirect route on the way home that at one point it took a worrying turn towards Helston, and it cost £9.50 return for two (!?), but you know, you can’t have it all…
The wine tasting nights happen once a month, except in January it’s… whisky-tasting night instead for Burn’s Night. Could be messy.
Click here for my last enthusiastic blog post about Scarlet wine tastings.
Scarlet Wines – The Old Forge, Lelant, Hayle, TR27 6JG. www.scarlet-wines.co.uk. Wine tasting nights usually £25 including six wines (non-stingy servings) and tapas.
Oh and here’s 8 seconds of uselessly dark video footage for your viewing pleasure!
Last week I was airing my concerns over Cornwall Council’s plans for Penzance harbour on pasties & cream. Well, on Friday I went to the public meeting in St John’s Hall called by the Friends of Penzance Harbour. My attendance of said meeting in a dusty town hall bang in the middle of Friday night is testament to my love of PZ’s waterfront!!
Turns out I was not alone – it was packed. It got quite heated in there – well, you know, as heated as things ever get in this mellow corner of the country, ie clapping, a few ‘hear, hears’ and a spot of hissing. There was an overwhelming sense of frustration and anger in the crowd about how the episode has been handled – one speaker even questioned whether the lack of public consultation flouted the Aarhus convention (the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters)… to much vigorous nodding.
I took a few short vids.
Here is one deceptively gently spoken speaker:
And the lone representative of Option A speaking:
I had the good fortune of hearing about the Gilad Atzmon and Orient House Ensemble gig at the St Ives Club last Friday care of the St Ives Jazz Club. I saw that the Guardian had given it four stars at Ronnie Scott’s the previous week; they said: “A shrewd pacer of live shows, Atzmon steered tonight’s performance from ambiguous, unsettling microtonal and geographical drifts between the west and the Middle East, toward an optimistic, conventionally tempered finale on Wonderful World, pulled off without a hint of cheesiness.”
I wouldn’t say we are spoiled for ‘microtonal and geographical drifts’ in these parts so it’s fair to say I jumped on it. Held at the old-fashioned Western Hotel in St Ives, the St Ives Jazz Club does an impressive job of making it feel like a bona fide jazz club with near darkness, tealights and even some men in black-rimmed glasses. And the music was superb – tight, irreverent and diverse.
Here are a few clips I took on the sly (trying to hide the phone from the jazz purists). Check this amazing drum solo – watch this guy, he’s called Eddie Hick:
More tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/orienthouse
As a relatively new blogger, and not a political blogger at that, I have been tentative about wading into the shark-infested waters surrounding the proposed redevelopment of Penzance harbour on pasties & cream.
*braces self* As any Penwith resident will know, the so-called Option A, plans to redevelop large parts of the historic harbour wall and build a ferry terminal on Battery Rocks beach, has been the subject of very heated and embittered debate in Penzance over the past two years, creating the mother of all bad vibes.
At one point, shops were displaying their for or against poster in the window and in one drinking establishment, I even heard about an informal ‘don’t mention the harbour’ policy!
As you may have read, last week the Council waved through these controversial plans – despite the fact the only Penzance councillor on the committee voted against, despite the fact that English Heritage have upped the listed status of the harbour wall, despite the fact there are cheaper, less harmful alternatives on the table – and I feel I can contain my thoughts no longer.
In my humble opinion, there seem to be an array of Bloody Good Points to be made against Option A – all of which are expressed eloquently and reasonably on the Friends of Penzance Harbour website. But my instinctive objection is much simpler and less political.
For me, the aesthetic and historical value of Battery Rocks and the old harbour wall is priceless – and once it has disappeared under concrete and a noisy coach park, it will be lost forever.
Thinking about how best to go about this, my thorniest blog post yet, I decided that since so many words have already been written (even the national press and radio have got involved at various points), and since it is an exquisite blue-skied autumn day, I’d take my camera down to the area in question and photograph what is at stake. Here are the results:
I don’t know about you but I find the idea of losing these things really sad. I swim there in summer. I walk there most days. It’s got the best view in town of St Michael’s Mount.
If you also have an opinion about this either way (or even if you’re on the fence – there’s an ‘I don’t know’ option!), please vote in the online poll being run by the Cornishman this week – you don’t need to register and it takes a millisecond to click your vote.
And if you happen to feel the same way as me about it, you can also sign up for the Friends of Penzance Harbour email updates on ways to help – usually in the form of easy-to-send emails.
I was walking through a run-of-the-mill shopping centre in Oxford this week and spotted – or, rather, was accosted by – this weirdly worded, 10ft tall advert for the next-door pasty stall, picturing a giant pasty semi-submerged in the turquoise sea off the Cornish coast.
Not all pasties are created equal, it tells us. Indeed: the pasty shop in question was selling FETA AND SPINACH pasties with HERBS ON TOP, can you believe? You wouldn’t get away with that sort of unorthodox behaviour round here. I’m not against some modification of the pasty within reason – a beef and stilton pasty from the Chough bakery in Padstow last Obby Oss can be credited for my newly liberal views – but herbs on top?! That’s the pasty economy for you.
I keep reading about the spectacular worth of the Cornish pasty industry but you know for sure that something’s hit the big time when the Economist dedicates an article to it, as it did yesterday. It’s titled ‘The gentrification of the Cornish pasty’ and explores the pasty’s ‘unlikely conquest’.
Course, the very last thing I want when I pass through Waterloo station is a pasty, much as I love them – when I cross the Tamar, my mind is fixated on sushi, noodles, curry…
You can read the full article here and may I remind you while I’m at it of the worth of this droll Redruth-based pasty blog: http://theonlinepastyguide.blogspot.com/ I was shocked to read his damning report on Lavenders’ pasties the other week but I defend to the death his right to… er, analyse pasties.
Playing the limping card (a little worn around the edges but it’s still good), I managed to get myself a bespoke tractor ride around the orchards at Healey’s Cornish Cyder Farm (look, it’s the Cornish spelling alright..) yesterday – here are a few autumnal pics.
They were right in the middle of a bumper harvest and they had apples coming out of their ears. Healey’s are of course the people behind Rattler, the cider beloved of Westcountry drinkers, which as of two weeks ago was rolled out in Wetherspoons across the country. Go forth and conquer!
I also got to try the Pear Rattler for the first time, which was surprisingly subtle and tropical. You can read my tasting sesh of its sister, Berry Rattler, the other day here (summary: girly, refreshing, two is probably enough).
God, I love the first line of the new Fishy Friends’ single: ‘Come all jolly fellows who delight in being mellow’! As the most mellow pop stars on the circuit, it’s a brilliant opener.
The new single, out last week on iTunes etc, is called Farmer’s Toast – an old English drinking song basically about good honest folk who work the land (ploughing and things) and, when they’re done for the day, like a quiet pint. As we have come to expect of the unlikely shanty-singing celebs from Port Isaac, the single combines clear, unaffected vocals with a rousing instrumental chorus and a gentle blast of Cornish village pub rowdiness.
Now I like this sort of thing – I’m into shanties, male voice choirs and dusty old Cornish folk music that draws a blank on Amazon and youtube – but the thing that keeps taking me by surprise with the Fishy Crew is how many other people seem to like them too. Sell-out shows, a film being made about them, label-mates with Amy Winehouse…
And with the local food movement in full force in Cornwall (watch out for Cornishfoodmarket.co.uk, a hopeful online competitor to the big four), looking like it actually might be more than just a passing trend, this song is old-fashioned yet also rather timely.
They have just announced a date at the Minack for next May – better be quick. Also, a Christmas single is on the way, so I heard.
www.fishermansfriendsportisaac.co.uk. Click on the links for my previous blog posts a) reviewing the Fisherman’s Friends album and b) harping on more about their mellowness when they first burst on the scene.
I was touched to receive an old, red Ward-Lock Guide to Penzance as a get-well present from my friend Sarah while recovering from surgery (I’ve started walking btw… like a duck, but you’ve got to start somewhere).
It’s hard to know exactly what date it was published as Ward-Locks apparently routinely omitted a date from all pages in order to look current but I’m guessing first half of 20th century… One can, should one not have a job, go on online forums where people endlessly discuss the possible publication dates of these old guides with impressive anality.
At the risk of romanticising my convalescence, which hasn’t been a walk in the park (literally no walks in the park!), I did indulge in several enjoyable afternoons of reading in the company of this book while watching the boats potter in and out of Newlyn harbour from my bedroom window and a) pondering how little Penzance had changed in the years that had passed since that book was written, and b) amusing myself with the things that had.
My top 10 highlights from the book:
1/ ‘Penzance is the metropolis of the toe of England – a town that has prospered amazingly considering its isolation for hundreds of years’.
–Come on, I don’t think the use of the M-word has ever been appropriate.
2/ ‘Penzance shops close at 1pm on Fridays. On other days between 5pm and 6pm. On market days, some shops remain open later.’ –Well, lucky old people of olden times. Can’t remember the last time I found a shop open a minute past 5.30pm.
3/ ‘To many the charm of the place, and the justification of a journey of some hundreds of miles, is simply that Penzance is–just Penzance.’
Lovely…
4/ ‘Mid-way along the seafront is the Pavilion Theatre, with a café and roof garden’
–ER, HELLO – PENZANCE HAD A SEAFRONT ROOF GARDEN? Who got rid of that and replaced with an amusement arcade?
5/ ‘Mousehole has no claim other than it is to-day as it was yesterday–an unsophisticated Cornish fishing village unreformed by artists and unspoiled by vandals.’
–Thankfully still unvandalised though I think a few artists might be ‘reforming’ it.
6/ ‘After reading the effusive descriptions of the beauty of Lamorna Cove, handed down from writers of the past, many visitors express disappointment when they reach this pretty but over-publicised spot–particularly when they have seen more beautiful coves. Nevertheless, Lamorna is… very fine in its own wild, untidy way but is unfortunate in possessing a beach consisting entirely of granite boulders’
–Ouch! Touch harsh on Lamorna.
7/ ‘What natural beauty Land’s End does possess is usually imperilled by the disgraceful amount of paper, cardboard and other debris of picnics cast aside by careless visitors’.
–Oh well, better that than the unmovable debris of a sizeable theme park, no?
8/ ‘One arrives at Porthmeor Beach, a fine sandy bay, splendid for surf-bathing’
–Surf-bathing?!
9/ ‘This peninsula combines the soft charms of a genial winter – and is, in fact, an invalid’s paradise, with a summer season of unvarying equability’.
–Looking forward to its soft charms again as winter draws in… is he talking about mizzle?
10/ ‘A century ago, the journey from London to West Cornwall occupied something like forty hours… The world-famous Cornish Riviera Limited now runs from London to Penzance in about 7 hours’
–Nice to see the coming of the 21st century has reduced the travel time by a whole hour. Maybe we’ll get it down to 4.5 hours by 2110.
When you review restaurants, as I have done on and off for ten years for Time Out in London and recently Cornwall, it is always slightly scary to sing high praises about a place or dish out a damning report on the basis of one trip.
So, even though a chef is only as good as his last meal and all that, I was pleased to see that Observer restaurant critic Jay Rayner had made it all the way to “a gnarly old building at the skinniest end of Cornwall” to write about Kota in Porthleven, as a year ago I stuck a red star on it in the Time Out Guide to Devon & Cornwall.
“I’d be happy to declare this the best Asian food in Cornwall but the distinct lack of competitors renders it a rather hollow statement; instead, I’ll just say that Kota is quietly superb,” is what I wrote. So what did Mr Rayner make of it?
Despite expecting “the fishing-village shtick: food that went from surf to plate with little interference” (fair), Rayner found that: “There is an awful lot happening on the plates here. Ingredients from a lot more than 810 miles away are chucked at the dishes, culinary traditions co-opted with enthusiasm. There is a kitchen here which has yet to meet an ingredient it doesn’t like, and for the most part it works.”
Now I want to go again, you know, just to double-check that review. Read Rayner’s full review of Kota here.
Kota restaurant, Harbour Head, Porthleven, Helston Cornwall TR13 9JA. 01326 562 407. www.kotarestaurant.co.uk
I was horrified to read this week that Penzance came tenth in a survey looking into Britain’s worst clone towns, and charting the devastating rampage of the chains on this country’s high streets.
I have to admit I was also a little surprised. One of the things that draws a lot of us to this *faraway town (*swap in ‘godforsaken’ on a bad day), and Cornwall in general, is its strong sense of identity – a feeling of foreignness, community and all-round arty eccentricity.
While I’m not declaring myself above supermarket shopping, I am rather partial to a trundle around town (yes I have a shopping trolly and no, I don’t care if I look like a granny), buying my meat and sausages at the butchers, fish from Newlyn, eggs and cold meats from the deli, and all manner of goods by the side of the road. [I am yet to succumb to one of those wooden ducks that are always lined up in lay-bys in Cornwall – do people finally give in once they’ve lived here long enough?]
But let’s face up to facts: the chains – and really the most dire of chains – are all here. So, to cheer myself up, I’ve made a list of my top ten independent shops in Penzance (I’ve permitted Cornish mini chains!):
1/ Lavenders: eggs, cold meats & pasties
2/ The Deli: best coffee in town
3/ Lenterns: superb sausages and meat
4/ Stevo’s – fish boutique (Wharfside)
5/ Archie Browns – health shop and community hub
6/ Seasalt – organic Cornish clothing, though you have to go easy or you look like everyone else in Cornwall
7/ Steckfensters – second-hand emporium (I blogged about this the other day)
8/ Weigh Your Own Absolutely Anything on Causewayhead – not sure what it’s really called but they are shit-hot weighers
9/ Super Volt – the sort of passion for cables you want from your local electrics shop
10/ Books Plus – books & stationery, plus Cornwall section
There, I feel better now. It’s going to be OK. I mean I even had to miss lots out! Let me know if you agree with the lineup.
The good news is that Newlyn scored very highly in the same study for identity and diversity.
It’s changed hands a few times in recent years, so it’s hard to know exactly when to get excited about Sandsifter. The fact the old 2009 website is still up doesn’t help. I liked what the last people were doing in terms of club nights (including the Trojan Sound System, which I was sorry to miss), gourmet burgers, serious spirits, cool design etc etc. I don’t know enough to gossip in any depth about what prompted their quick departure but the sands have shifted again and the white box in the towans at Godrevy is under newish management.
I finally got over there yesterday for a quick drink on the new sea-facing terrace at the back – and it seemed to be a triumph. People were mellowing about reading the Sunday papers, listening to the band, drinking Betty Stogs and gazing out over the dunes in the fading September sun.
So in my post-surgery survey of places in West Cornwall that I can get to with minimum walking and maximum outdoorsy effect, Sandsifter has gone straight in at number one (can’t comment on food yet, only had a hot chocolate).
Plus, the outdoor chairs have GREAT lumbar support (below)! As fellow haters of bench seating will know, this is a rare find indeed.
Couldn’t help but notice that a Penzance designer had landed a full-page shoot right at the front of glossy coast magazine this month with her chic ‘Falmouth lampshades’ – pictured bottom. It was the 01736 code that gave it away.
The designer in question, Falmouth graduate Charlotte Tangye, has also created this covetable range of bone china tableware in the same minimalist theme, featuring line drawings of classic Cornish vessels on a totally clean white background.
Must say, it’s nice to see Cornish ceramics break out of the rustic, organic style every now and again… Could this be Cornwall’s answer to people will always need plates‘ urban tableware (below)?!
people will always need plates: 1930s modern london homes
The question is, of course: when’s the PZ range coming out? Charlotte told pasties & cream, ‘I have recently taken photographs for a Penzance panorama – the view from the rotating bridge of Abbey Warehouse, St Marys Church, harbour and St Michael’s Mount…’ Excellent.
Falmouth lampshades £45; plates £25, mugs £10.95; see www.charlottetangye.co.uk for more details. You can check out Charlotte Tangye’s new work today and Saturday at University College Falmouth’s MA show. Open this evening until 9pm.
There may be a short pause in p&c’s thrice-weekly broadcasts, as I am having hip impingement surgery this week – an event that I find exciting and horrifying in equal measures. Actually, perhaps slightly skewed towards the horrifying – scalpels and dodgy anaesthetics have been the unwelcome features of my dreams lately.
I don’t tend to use this blog to pour out the trials of my daily life – much as it is often extremely tempting – but what’s the point in the self-publishing revolution if you can’t self-indulge with no one to edit it out, right?
So, my gripe with life is this: Read the rest of this entry »
Blimey, last night was wild. I went down to the promenade for some wave watching early evening and here’s what I saw.
(Overheard in Coop: the Scillonian came in “virtually on its side”. Doesn’t bear thinking about.)
Check out these daredevils:
A few pics from the jolly Sea Salts & Sail maritime festival in Mousehole harbour at the weekend – next one in 2012. www.seasalts.co.uk.
(Apologies for minimalist blog post today – large book to edit. But a picture speaks a thousand words, right, so really this is a 7000-word blog post). Read the rest of this entry »
I can but apologise in advance to male readers for the amount of pink in this post. I discovered Atlantic Blanket‘s Padstow shop recently and must have spent about half an hour in there stroking the cashmere throws and merino hand-knitted hot water bottles. The owners of this newish Cornish company (with an online shop) hand-pick their stock from knitters and weavers far and wide – and collection is clearly amassed with great care.
Having become strangely obsessed with llama wool in Argentina (only to get home and have the whole lot decimated in the washing machine EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ON A COLD WOOL CYCLE), I was a bit disappointed not to see any of it on the wool menu at Atlantic Blanket. But no matter – there is mohair, alpaca, cashmere, lambswool, merino, as well as more practical fleecy throws for picnics. Check this Celtic Fringe blanket from Scotland… £250…sigh.
And here comes the pink…
As any budding blogger will know, it’s an exciting day when someone picks up your blog from the net and says something nice about it. Particularly if it isn’t your mum, sister or best mate (thanks for your support though guys ;-)).
So, at the impressionable age of four months, pasties & cream is glowing after a review in Cornish World magazine’s Online section this month – and even more pleased to be described thus:
‘Quirky and sometimes nostalgic, this blog looks at Cornwall with an unusual twist. Amidst the many little gems waiting to be discovered are surfing sheep and an intriguing video of Penzance in the 60s. pasties & cream features kitsch venues, good food and fun facts alongside beautiful photography.’
‘Quirky’ is of course one of those words that is totally off-limits when describing yourself but is always well-received when coming from someone else.
So, thanks CW.
The 1930s deco lido in Penzance is a great source of inspiration to local photographers and artists – the cool curves, cubist steps, and triangular shapes pointing out into the sea are a pretty extraordinary sight.
To celebrate my first ever swim in the Jubilee Pool – so overdue, it was getting quite embarrassing – I thought I’d post my humble interpretation of this iconic monument. This was the view from my towel as I lay sunbathing at the weekend (before, that is, I was told to stop photographing the architecture due to ‘child protection’).
I lay there for at least an hour thinking that if I could just absorb enough rays, it would defend me against the famously cold temperature of the water. I noted with some concern that over half the people in the pool had some sort of expensive-looking swimming protection, including swimming caps made of wetsuit material.
But I have to say the water really was lovely – fresh but manageable, and considerably warmer than the sea proper (I know this because I swam off Battery Rocks on Friday evening sans suit and it was… challenging). The feeling of swimming in a pool of that size (100 metres long at its longest point!) was invigorating – and the unconventional triangular shape liberates you from boring old up-and-down lengths, and makes it feel more like a wild swim.
This year is the 75th anniversary of Jubilee Pool, and there are celebratory flags flying (below) and historic Read the rest of this entry »
image via Jaunted.com
I’ve always been a huge fan of those old railway posters advertising trips to Cornwall – they are beautifully designed and just bursting with the pride and aspiration that once surrounded rail travel. Many of the Cornish ones are famous to the point of cliché but thanks to Jaunted today I discovered a new one, dating back to 1907 and boldly comparing the Cornish riviera to Italy.
‘There is,’ it claims, ‘a great similarity between Cornwall and Italy in… climate.’ Even on a scorching summer’s day such as today with the sea shining on Mount’s Bay and the sky a deep blue, you can’t help but laugh at this barefaced advertising lie.
I’d love to own one of these vintage rail posters but every time I come close to buying one I think: isn’t that a bit like wearing an ‘I heart NYC’ t-shirt when you live there? Totally uncool. Similarly my Alfred Wallis harbour print came straight out of the frame as soon as I moved to Cornwall – I still love it, but it made me feel like a tourist.
Here’s another goodun:
At the weekend, under heavy grey skies, I set off with friends from Feock for Tolverne Cottage on the eastern side of the Fal, via the King Harry Ferry (free for pedestrians). It’s a serene part of Cornwall – and you can cut through on a footpath through the woodland attached precariously to the banks.
On arrival at Smugglers’ Cottage, we found what was once one of Cornwall’s most eccentric teahouses looking considerably more dapper, having been taken over by Tregothnan of tea fame.
‘Oh,’ said one of our party, ‘It’s been Farrow and Balled’.
That pretty much summed up my unedited response to the new understated colour scheme and smart garden furniture. Gone was the endearing eccentricity of the place (though all the nautical curios that once hung from all available spaces will appear in a soon-to-open museum) and in their place was a National Trust look, silver trays and lots of beige.
I think I am probably taking out my frustrations about wider issues on this one, ultimately very pleasant spot – it’s hardly like Starbucks has just pitched up in the woods on the River Fal. There is nothing wrong, and plenty right, with tasteful aesthetics and high-quality cream teas but, like all forms of gentrification, in large quantities it starts to feel like it’s endangering the very character of a place – ie the bit people liked in the first place.
I feel that on some level this is what is happening with Cornwall. Where it was once a novelty to have a pricey cappuccino in chic surroundings by the beach, it now seems to be an essential part of the business plan of every beach, cove or garden – and I can’t help thinking that if I’d really wanted to be drip-fed lattes after every muddy walk, surf and wild view, I wouldn’t have moved to England’s most remote county!
On a similar note, Read the rest of this entry »
I think Scarlet Wines & tapas bar in Lelant might just be my new favourite place in west Cornwall. I had suspected it might indeed be rather cool when I stopped by Beaten Green next door the other day, but after attending their South American wine & food tasting on Tuesday night, I am now officially Read the rest of this entry »
I LOVE this new cookery book called ‘Teaching Dad To Cook Flapjack‘. Drawing casually on her great-grandmother’s old Cornish recipes, Read the rest of this entry »
I took this vid of the Grand Prix of the Sea on Saturday in Penzance, a powerboat racing event. As you can see, the shameless seagulls couldn’t believe their luck. Er, sorry I don’t seem to have focused for very long on the actual sporting action there.
To be honest, I found it a bit of a tricky one to get into as a spectactor as the boats were really just dots in the Bay – albeit impressively fast dots. But it was SO nice to see the town make use of its fantastic promenade for once – it’s such an underused feature and, trivia alert, it’s also the only one in Cornwall.
Everyone seemed very happy sunning themselves and knocking back flutes of pink Polgoon bubbly and eating big slices of watermelon. More soon please… Read the rest of this entry »
As I am wont to where spotty mugs and wild flower arrangements are involved, I went a bit crazy with the zoom the other weekend at the Westcroft. It’s a gorgeous boutique b&b and gallery in the soothing village of Kingsand on the Rame Peninsula, aka ‘Cornwall’s Forgotten Corner’. As you can see, it’s a haven of all-round loveliness… what you can’t see here is that it’s right on the beach.
Westcroft Guesthouse & Gallery, seafront, Kingsand, Cornwall – www.westcroftguesthouse.co.uk. From £90 a night for a double. Btw, it’s a short drive from Antony House, of Alice in Wonderland fame.
Last night I watched The Wrecking Season on BBC4, a wonderful self-portrait of the late Cornish playwright Nick Darke, shot not long before his untimely death. I just found out that you can’t watch this back on the iPlayer, but I was so taken by it, I’m going to post about it anyway.
Bound together by Darke’s gently passionate character, and his inquisitiveness about the great theatre of the ocean, the docu-film explores the tradition of beachcombing (or wrecking) and his fascination with long-haul drift. Incredibly, Read the rest of this entry »
In the absence of an official music vid for ‘Into the fire’ by Thirteen Senses on YouTube, I was quite amused to find this Grey’s Anatomy sequence to the tune instead. Apologies for the gross & gory still that comes up before you start the video (and the even grosser snogging scenes)…
It’s catchy, isn’t it? Thirteen Senses formed in a bedroom in Penzance, though they have since flown the Cornish nest and released three albums – and it is oft quoted (in seemingly every article ever written about them, so I didn’t want to be an exception) that they are the only Cornish band to have had a top 20 single (with Thru the Glass).
Check their myspace here.
With the fight to save the Poly in Falmouth just a few months ago (now reopened as the Falmouth Cinema) and the ongoing battle over the harbour, it came as a blow to find out yesterday about yet another struggle: to save the Acorn Arts Centre in Penzance. It will be closing its doors after the summer if it cannot find more funding to become economically viable.
I feel passionately about the Acorn – not only is it an incredibly atmospheric old building, with an unusual and intimate auditorium, but it’s also got some of the best arts programming in Cornwall. It was just the other week that I was raving about seeing the Portico Quartet there (twice) – it was a privilege to see this sort of serious act from just a few metres away, with a nice cold bottle of Corona in hand and twinkling tea lights all around.
It is testament to the importance of such a venue in west Cornwall that within hours of the news breaking, people had started signing petitions, and joining Facebook pages. Let’s hope it works – here are the links to support them (but buying tickets for shows this summer will also help):
Facebook:
Petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/theAcorn/
Acorn Arts Centre, Parade Street, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 4BU, http://www.acornartscentre.co.uk
Unless you’ve been hiding under a large granite rock on Bodmin Moor for the past year (a small one wouldn’t do it), most Cornish dwellers will know that the new, Tim Burton-directed Alice in Wonderland was filmed in Cornwall. More specifically in Antony House and grounds, a vast 18th-century pile in east Cornwall on the beautiful Rame Peninsula, overlooking the River Lynher.
But even if you have managed to escape the news, you wouldn’t get far into a visit here before the penny dropped. There’s an Alice-themed shop, Queen of Hearts cupcakes (see above – obviously I fell for them hook, line and sinker) and an automated Mad Hatter in a clocktower on the lawn exclaiming repeatedly ‘I shall be late!’. (Not to mention a timed ticket system to even out the flocking crowds.)
And who could blame them for hamming it up a bit? It’s not every day in the life of an old Cornish country mansion manned by silver-haired volunteers that you get a Disney film crew in your midst.
I went to Antony House last Saturday and Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s some shaky footage from my phone of Flora Day children’s dance in Helston on Saturday – a scene of great purity, as always, before the Spingo takes its toll.
Can you spot newly reelected Lib Dem Andrew George in Hal-an-tow regalia in this vid?
ismay atkins
pasties & cream cornwall blog 
