freshly pressed words from west cornwall
'ramp towards newlyn' by artist jason walker
It’s not often that you get to see such prosaic sights as your local skate ramp rendered on canvas by a successful artist but that is exactly what I found when I opened a link to the subtly affecting paintings of Penzance-based artist Jason Walker. Read the rest of this entry »
sir humphry davy taking the cornish colours very seriously
mount's bay
OK, I know there are lows of 1º C forecast for Sunday night but it’s the deep blue sky and daffodils that count. Read the rest of this entry »
blas burgerworks, the st ives burger people
One of my favourite Penwith restaurants – tiny Blas Burgerworks in St Ives – has teamed up with one of my favourite Penwith singer-songwriters – Gulval’s Jenny Bishop – for a night of gourmet burgers and emotionally charged acoustic songs to celebrate its fourth birthday on Saturday 13th March.
Being an absolutely minute space – the average size of a Cornish cottage living room (which is what it probably once was) – Blas is really just a cosy cluster of tables and a scattering of stools made from recycled materials. All have already been nabbed for the 8.45-9.30pm sitting; book now for a perch at the earlier 7.30-8.15pm session.
Blas makes a good case for specialising – they only do one dish, but they’ve nailed it. Cornish-sourced, freerange burgers with chunky chips start at £8.
The scary prospect of Pizza Express setting up in the old Woolworths premises in St Ives is enough to make me want to add extra weight to my praise. Blas represents everything that ‘new’ St Ives does well: it’s small, creative, sensitive and a one-off.
singer-songwriter jenny bishop
dexter dalwood 'immersion' at the tate st ives
During the is-it-art-or-is-it-simply-a-red-splodge-type debates, I have been known to find myself marooned on the side of the red splodge – perhaps due to a fact-finding journalistic background.
This is why I found the Dexter Dalwood exhibition, currently showing at the Tate St Ives (until 3 May), so engaging. Working at the junction of history and art, Dalwood produces large-scale works that recreate key historical events, celebrity deaths (Sid and Nancy, Janis Joplin) and an array of imagined celebrity bedrooms (Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix). Read the rest of this entry »
hens at higher trenowin farm
As keen as I am to buy local produce – not just in a novelty, let’s-all-buy-Cornish-Sea-Salt-and-Tregothnan-tea-once-a-year kind of way, but as part of the weekly shop – I haven’t always felt it was especially viable, financially or practically.
Boutique farm shops have sprung up all over Cornwall as part of the foodie revolution sweeping the region, selling premium organic and super-freerange meat and veg, but I always leave them torn over how many 50p tomatoes I can realistically buy in one year.
Which is why I was so excited when I discovered the Higher Trenowin Farm shop the other week – located on the B3311 between Penzance and St Ives. Devoid of cool Cornwall trappings, it is a low-key, friendly farm shop Read the rest of this entry »
bbc world service at the university of falmouth
Readers are warned that this post may contain trace elements of editorial bias, as the presenter of the BBC World Service show in question just happens to be my brother Ros Atkins.
The World Service’s daily interactive news show ‘World Have Your Say’ will go out live at 6pm from the terrace of the Gylly Café with the help of University of Falmouth journalism students. Guest speaker on the show is Harvard philosopher and all round brain Professor Michael Sandel. Click here to listen to the show live at 6pm.
the jam, falmouth
Today I’m blogging from the Jam, a vintage-chic record/book shop-cum-coffee shop in Falmouth from the comfort of a bashed-up chesterfield armchair.
Good coffee. Tightly curated stock: Susan Sontag, Julian Barnes, New York style bibles (intrigued by ‘Rebel Style’; must remember to be more rebelliously stylish) and black and white postcards of Jubilee Pool share the book tables. Great for the sort of record-geek chat lacking in the Amazon age. Tiny wish: the Italianate cakes and biscuits were good but packaged – a fresh chocolate cake would have been nice.
(PS Can someone open somewhere like this in Penzance please?).
bordelais by vicky's bread
Is it just me or is there a micro trend going on in Cornwall for artisanal bread? There’s Baker Tom, Baker Steve, Baker Bob, Barbara…
OK I made the last two up. But the one I am obsessing about is Vicky’s Bread from the Lizard, to the extent that when I found out she had gone on holiday and production had temporarily ceased, I must have been visibly distressed – Lavenders suggested I reserve a loaf for the morning of her first day back to avoid disappointment!
Since chancing upon one of her round Bordelais loaves – crispy topped, chewy inside – in Archie Browns last year, I have been buying the stuff religiously. All the loaves are baked in traditional French style – slow-risen in willow baskets – but the Bordelais is still my favourite.
Vicky sells in Lavenders (6a Alverton Street) and Archie Brown’s in Penzance, as well as Fore Street Deli in St Ives, and other outlets throughout west Cornwall – all independents.
portico quartet - isla
I was mesmerised by the Portico Quartet when they played a sell-out date the Acorn last year – in fact, it was probably my gig of the year. I could try and describe their music – modern jazz-classical crossover? instrumental folk meets world music? four outrageously talented blokes? – but nothing really works, so I’ll just say: don’t miss it.
They are playing the Acorn again on Saturday 27th March on the final date of their Isla tour. Considering how close you get to the artists at the Acorn, £12 seems like a steal.
Here’s a taster – the upturned barbecue is the hang by the way, the instrument that gives the group their uniquely mellow sound.
brenda wootton - pasties and cream
Crucial though pasties and Rodda’s are, I don’t intend to blog solely about Cornish delicacies. The name of my blog in fact comes from the seminal 1971 west Cornish folk album by Brenda Wootton and John the Fish. (Penwith dwellers, check out the broadsheet-format Cornishman newspaper on the table.)
Among the salty classics on the album is the title song, a patriotic number bathed in old-time Cornish pride. ‘Pilchard and herring that sparkle and gleam’, Wootton trills, ‘Though we may roam, Cornwall’s our home’. And I suppose that seemed like a fitting start to my blog: I moved back to Cornwall 18 months ago and fancied blogging (and maybe even a bit of flogging and vlogging) about life in the far west.
The song in question seems to have slipped through the holes in the Net, so I’ll direct you instead to this crackly old footage of Brenda Wootton and her bird-like tones for now.
ismay atkins
pasties & cream cornwall blog 