The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies
St Ives Old Cornwall Society
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Founded 1920
Society colour purple
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Officers 2008 - 2009 E-mail
stivesocs@yahoo.com |
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News from the Society Wednesday 18th January
Hello chicks, Mother calling, |
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WHY NOT COME ALONG AND JOIN US? Our annual subscription is £5, and we charge £2 for visitors. The Society meets at 7.00 p.m. in St Ives Infant School, Trenwith Burrows on the third Monday in the month, except for December when we meet on the second Monday. There is plenty of free parking at the school. Please note change of time and venue
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Indoor Meetings |
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| 2012 | ||
| Monday January 16th | 92nd Anniversary meeting | members entertain |
| Monday February 20th | My island home | GILL JOYCE |
| Monday March 19th | Gathering up the fragments | BRIAN STEVENS |
| Monday April 16th | Behind the scenes at Penlee Gallery/House | CATHERINE ASHTON |
| Monday May 21st | A.G.M. and Captain Guppy of Hains | STEWART GUPPY and FREDDY STEVENS |
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To be Announced |
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Federation Events 2012 |
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Saturday 10th March |
Federation Spring Meeting | County Hall, Truro |
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Saturday 14th July |
Summer Festival | Truro |
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Saturday 6th October |
Annual General Meeting | County Hall, Truro 2.pm |
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November 2011 |
Winter Festival | T.B.A. |
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Federation Journal published twice a year |
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| September 2012 | Esethvos
Kernow.
Eisteddfod of Cornwall. |
Camelford |
| 1st September 2012 | Gorsedd |
Camelford |
| Other Dates | ||
| 5th March | St Piran's Day | |
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Monday May 16th 2011
Hi Chicks, mother calling. Monday April 18th 2011 Mother calling, hello chicks, In spite of several other events taking place, the Society’s April meeting was well attended in fine weather. President William Barber referred to the planned outings, and the forthcoming May Day parade, which he hoped would be well supported by members. William then introduced the guest speaker, David Chapman, renowned photographer of wild life, and author of several books; he has received many awards for his work, the most recently published book describes a walk on the coastal footpath near the Lizard. Born in
Blackpool, David removed to Cornwall as a teacher, but soon his life-long interest in wildlife meant that he devoted his time to it. After meeting his wife, the couple purchased a small holding near
Townshend, 5 acres of land ideal for various habitats that eventually contained a small number of animals and bird hides, perfect for photographing all aspects of British wildlife and its surroundings. Monday January 18th 2011 In spite of the tremendous downpour, a large audience of members and vistors helped to celebrate the Society’s 91st birthday, beginning with the singing of Trelawny. President William Barber welcomed everyone, with special thanks to those who had donated such an abundance of food. Our invited guest was Andrew Langdon, former vice president of the Federation, now its Archaeology Recorder. As was appropriate on members’ night , it was a chance for them to present their party pieces. First on the programme was Emileen Williams with the dialect poem, ‘Chressmass Curls’ that brought memories of the old carols from local composers and their colourful references to the Nativity, sung mainly by choirs in the streets. Next, Mary Quick and Brian Stevens held a speculative dialect conversation written by Mary concerning the activities of ‘That Man Agen ’ and his seven wives based on the old rhyme, ‘As I Was Going to St.Ives’ . The number of kitts and catswas found to be 2774 ! The usual quiz was devised by Janet Axten; the theme was ‘shops’ and teams were formed to watch slides of very old premises, to answer where they were situated and what replaced them. This was a difficult test as many local shops change hands so quickly, but with 36 points at stake, the results were better than might have been expected. The winning group was ‘Linda’s Lovelies’ with a score of 22, and it was suitably rewarded, while other groups were not too far behind. After the marking, Janet showed slides of the modern day premises, causing some surprise and discussion. Andrew Langdon, expert on Cornish Crosses, gave an interesting account of how over the years he has renovated, re-sited and discovered many of these. Instrumental in restoring the cross at Penbeagle a few years ago, he was recently responsible for the restoration, last December, of a hedge in Church Lane, Lelant where its cross was in danger of collapsing. All of his work demands much red tape, insisted upon by Societies that protect ancient monuments, and he was warmly thanked for such dedication. Dee and Dave Brotherton brought their instruments along to cheer us with music and song. Dee sang a song in Kernewek, { Cornish language } of which she is a student, then a lament for the decline of mining and fishing, which left many Cornishmen without work ---- ‘What can Cornish lads do ?’, a song which is becoming popular. An amusing reading by Sheila Griffiths revealed a teacher’s experiences of 5 school Nativity plays ; with small children being so unpredictable, much laughter was aroused at some of the unscripted remarks ! Margaret Bates followed with a humorous tale concerning a modern day Noah who decided to build an ark in his back garden, even though it stood in a desert ! He then set about acquiring the animals needed, so much so that his neighbours were convinced that they had been robbed. His predicted flood duly arrived, and later, having made sure that it had safely receded, released his collection; which was as well, for it seems the inclusion of wood-worms meant they had already made inroads into the hull ! The last item was a poem from Elaine Pearce concerning her Granda who left his native Wales in search of work. Finding it in West Cornwall, he married a local lass and they raised a daughter, who after her own marriage took a trip to his birthplace, where he had been a choir boy. On a particular occasion he had orders to guard the church entrance, forbidding anyone to leave. However, Mrs. Moorshead, heeding nature’s call, pleaded to be let out at once, but was refused, so an unfortunate accident took place. Having heard the story, his daughter and her husband were keen to meet the lady, and calling at her small shop in the village made themselves known to the embarrassed owner. Acknowledging that she had known the gentleman, she said she wanted to give him a present, and if the couple returned next day, it would be ready for them. This they did, wondering what was in the package, as did Granda, who, upon opening it, found an unfortunate reminder -- a tin of Epsom Salts! Andrew then drew the raffle, and William thanked all who had made this such a varied and memorable evening, which no doubt was much enjoyed by those attending, before inviting everyone to partake of the splendid amount of food on offer, which needed 2 large tables to accommodate it ! Mary Quick Tuesday 8th June 2010
On Tuesday
8th June, our Society had a very pleasant outing to the Lappa Valley
Railway theme park Leaving around noon, we were in good time to book
in and take stock of the surroundings before boarding the little
train. This took us on a ride to another part of the park, which is
quite extensive and beautifully landscaped. Journey’s end was a wide
open space that once was the Wheal Rose mine, a very rich one in its
day producing silver, arsenic
and lead, its chimney, unusually, a few yards from the mine house.
Both have been kept in good order, the chimney being one of the
tallest in the county, but a tragedy here in the 1800s was one of the
worst suffered in Cornwall. A sudden torrential storm of rain,
something like that at Boscastle, overwhelmed the mine, trapping many
underground, and although 39 miners
died, more were saved. A marquee was provided for a talk about the
mine and its history and it was as well that we were inside this, as
the Heavens opened and it rained very hard for a long time. Keith
Lloyd, an expert on railways, and who was not so long ago a volunteer
at the St.Ives Archive centre, coped well in extending his talk
throughout the downpour. Some sights had to be curtailed because of
that, but we rode back in the train to where there was a very
interesting gift shop, and then to a conservatory for a cream tea.
This was well provided, and although with scones ! they were fluffy,
tasty, and abundant. We were back home at around 6pm and all were
agreed that it was a very enjoyable outing, and I would recommend it
to other societies. For more on the East Wheal Rose mining disaster visit this Web Site The January 2010, 90th anniversary meeting of the Society was a resounding success. William Barber introduced Terry Knight, the newly installed President of the Federation, who remarked how delighted he was to be invited. A splendid anniversary cake bearing the St.Piran’s flag and the relative dates was symbolically cut by Terry. William drew attention to the more than ample donated food, before reading a letter from the Old Cornwall records by R. Morton Nance to the people of St.Ives, advising that their heritage should be preserved. The result was that St.Ives Old Cornwall Society came into being in 1920, the first of what today amounts to 46 Societies. Terry proceeded to read a humorous dialect story concerning a man so fed up with his situation that he decided upon the turn of a coin, to go to America. Although kept secret from neighbours, word soon filtered out, and on reaching the bus stop, he was inundated with requests to carry the most inappropriate large items to other exiles. In this situation, another toss of the coin reversed his decision, much to his family’s relief. Terry was followed by Mary Quick, who read one of her dialect stories, then Dee Brotherton read her own poem concerning St.Ives, its environment and people, and the changes that have affected our town. Bob Sadler gave us his own story of how difficulties can arise when trying to rescue a large person, especially when trapped at the bottom of steep cliffs, and the attitude of those not directly involved; nothing’s changed there then ! Elaine Woolcock read a delightful poem by a Carbis Bay author. The subject was a person who found it impossible to sleep at night, so performed all kinds of tasks , but when daylight finally came, she was fast asleep ! Brian Stevens told us two of his amusing tales, one especially concerning local gossiping women , who hearing about a large lady having paid a visit to the local tattoo parlour, speculated about which part of her anatomy had been adorned, while adding two and two to make five ! The woman herself resolved the quandary by insisting that her body would never suffer such abominations, and revealing that it was an innocent visit to collect a kitten who needed a new home. In such ways are rumours begun ! A rare treat was the short talk by Jim Hodge who stood without notice or notes to tell of the occasion when he and a miner from Geevor performed the almost impossible repair of a broken main in an adit under Trenwith Place, which was causing water difficulties in Downlong. After much detective work, estimates of thousands of pounds from professional companies, and with little headroom from the depth of water, the task was accomplished and hailed nationally. In spite of being assured that they would be ‘looked after’ , the reward was a measley £25 ! Then to the popular quiz, arranged and presented by Janet Axten on screen: this year’s subject was ’ St.Ives Events’ , where the questions asked were, ‘who, where, date ?’ Around 10 teams took part, those with local knowledge faring best as might be thought, but overall the standard was surprisingly high. Out of 30 possible answers, the highest score was twenty-five and a half, while the lowest was only twenty, so a good effort by all concerned. After Terry drew the raffle, Trelawney was sung and all invited to partake of the delicious Faith Supper arranged on a long table. Janet announced the quiz results and prizes were presented to the winning teams.
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St Ives Museum Wheal Dream, St Ives, Cornwall TR26 1PR - England, UK Phone: +44 (0)1736 796005 St Ives Museum is run by enthusiastic local volunteers who are on hand to tell you everything you could want to know about the history of this West Cornwall town. The museum has a wonderful collection of art, mining, fishing, railway and farming artefacts, and old toys. There is also a replica of a traditional Cornish kitchen, a display of Victorian clothing and a fascinating insight into the history of the Hain Steamship company. It is a must for anyone interested in Cornish history.
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