Copper ingot
This copper ingot was found at Battery Rocks Penzance a few days ago. One of our swimmers found it on the seabed and dived for it thinking it was foam. Nowadays Battery Rocks is a meeting place for wild swimmers. It is quite safe to swim except for rough seas at high tide and you should always respect the sea. We had some near misses and a few people have paid with their lives. Always respect the sea
This lovely copper ingot weights nearly 3lbs and is 18 cm long and 3 cm diameter. It is marked exactly halfway and quarter. Does it stem from the time Battery Rocks was an area with heavy industry and did it spend 200 or more years in the sea to be suddenly exposed by a storm? What do you think? I haven’t a clue , but if you know please let me know. There were smelting works on the zawn. Every day mules arrived from Penwith Moors carrying copper ore to the smelting works. Had it been traded or was it lost by a careless person?
The changing view of Battery Rocks over the last 200 years
G7 versus Carbis Bay
G7 Summit will be hosted in Cornwall on 11-13 June. #G7Cornwall
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the UK’s G7 Presidency to unite leading democracies to help the world fight, and then build back better from coronavirus and create a greener, more prosperous future.
Seems the Carbis Bay Hotel owner did not get the memo!
No planning permission. Destruction of wildlife area. Including badgerset and clearing established scrubland during nesting season. All to accomodate G7 leaders.
From a beautiful amazing hotel built in 1894 by the renowned Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail, the Carbis Bay Hotel quickly gained popularity as a result of the boom in British seaside holidays, which had been made possible by expansion of the railways.
To this eco disaster to accomodate G7. There is not many words needed when you look at the photos. Understandable people living in the area, but also worldwide are horrified of what the owners are doing. Total destruction during nestbuilding season of shrubs and trees. A well established badger set and reptiles, many just coming out of hibernation. But also infringements on to the SWCP. Planning was denied for building in this area in 2018 for exactly those reason.
Not just the Carbis Bay Hotel now known as the Carbis Bay Estate, but Cornwall is being developed and it won’t be long that you don’t know if you are in Cornwall or anywhere else at a famous holiday resort.
Photos@carbisbaybeachdevelopment
Guiding Guidance
First up, we have received the following guidance on guiding from DCMS that will help operators when restrictions ease on Monday and mean that guided activities can be undertaken over the Easter holidays.
Q. Can outdoor guided tours take place from 29 March and if so can these be for multiple groups of 6?
From the 29th March, outdoor, socially-distanced, organised activities including workshops such as photography, gardening, and crafts at heritage sites and other outside spaces will be permitted.
Other outdoor activities such as themed walking trails will also be permitted, including guided walks consisting of either a single permitted group or multiple permitted groups that are kept separate throughout the tour. These types of activities are subject to the gathering limits set out in the Roadmap – i.e. outside in groups up to a maximum of 6 people (the Rule of 6) or with one other household, though people from different households will still need to socially distance from each other. Support bubbles will continue to be counted as part of the same household.
The tour guide does not count towards the Rule of 6 or 2 households limits.
Bear Hunt
We went on a bear hunt we weren’t scared. Creating a new story with an old theme
Even deep ravines. No luck. So onwards we marched to prove we were brave and not scared
Let us have a rest
Then we gave up and caught the bus home.
Just a way of teaching the youngsters about Cornwall’s historic past. Enjoy
St.Just to Kenidjack and Tregeseal Circle and back to St.Just
Yesterday, a very windy day – offshore wind – on the south coast of Penwith 4 of us set of for a hike to Kenidjack Castle and on to Tregeseal Stone Circle.
Easy route and easy to follow. We only met a few other walkers doing their permitted daily exercise.
Feedback
Going that small step further
I love receiving feedback from the visitors who attend my tours and I go this small step further by inviting them to email me if they have any questions later on.
At the end of each tour I give out my businesscard and tell them that if they have any questions or something comes up later: Don’t hesitate to contact me and I will try and answer your query. This lovely gentleman did
Dear Anna
Thank you so much for your splendid guiding on Sunday morning. I did enjoy it. I admire the way you present all the information you gave me and for being so informed and informative. Once you find out about the gas works your information on Penzance will be complete!
Everything is splendid here on Tresco and the weather perfect.
Danke schön noch einmal.
Mit freundlichen grüssen
Gerald
Throwing Down the Gauntlet
Newlyn threw down the gauntlet
to Plymouth on
Friday 11th September 2020
A small group of people gathered on the old quay of Newlyn to commemorate that this was the last port of call for the Mayflower in 1620. This is hotly disputed by Plymouth. But the facts are: It was discovered that the Speedwell was unsuitable for the crossing and they had to find a harbour where they could transfer goods and passengers. Because of expensive harbour dues they did not do this in Plymouth but in Newlyn. They also took on water, not because of cholera in Plymouth. Just restocking as much as they could affort for the crossing to America and some of the passengers returned to The Netherlands.
Newlyn’s event was covered by Spotlight our local evening news and a reporter from our local radio station CoastFM attended and wrote a review for Words Are All We Have (FB)
It was promptly shouted down by Plymouth even so their story is build on many inaccuracies and they can’t disprove the Mayflower landing in Newlyn. Bill Best Harris , a historian of Plymouth, discovered this and made it public. All his research was destroyed in a housefire and Plymouth uses the lack of evidence to rubbish this man.
Lots of people attended the event and observed from a safe distance.
Speeches were held and the Deputy Mayor attended in all her regalia. Dressing up was optional. A lovely American chap attended who could trace his ancestory to the Mayflower.
A replica build in 1955
Mayflower Newlyn 400
In September 1620 Mayflower and Speedwell set sail from Plymouth to America . The Pilgrims were leaving and risking everything because of their religion. They were known as ‘Saints’ , ‘Protestant Separatists’. There were up to a 100 people on board and it was originally a cargo ship. I visited it in 1995 at Cape Cod, USA. It was tiny. How they managed to survive and sail for 60+ days to their new home hoping to set up a new church is unbelievable.
The replica was built in the UK in 1955 – 1957 and set sail to Plymouth USA , where she arrived in June 1957. She was restored in 2020 in time for the 400th Anniversary .
What is a little known fact , unearthed and researched by Bill Best Harris, who was considered the leading authority on the history of Plymouth, he was in charge of all the Plymouth historical library records and wrote the best selling history books on Plymouth, that due to the fact that it was soon discovered that Speedwell was unsuitable for the crossing they stopped at a Cornish harbour and the evidence points to it being Newlyn. The Cornish port was the last port of call before leaving for Virginia.
It is said they stopped for water, because there was cholera in Plymouth, but they also had to arrange for more people and their possession on board. It got pretty tight.
A plaque can be seen at a private house above the old quay, due to the fact that the information on it is totally wrong a small group would like to replace it with a new one with the correct historical details.
We are meeting on the old quay at the appropriate date and time , some of us dressed in period costume, to celebrate Mayflower leaving Newlyn, Cornwall around the 9th – 11th September 1620
8 Years – and loving every minute
June 2012 I started my own business.: Guided Walking Tours of Penzance Town.
A dream I had for a few years. Using my language skills to take visitors around Penzance and tell them all about the fascinating history of our amazing town. I could not find a local tour guide that just focussed on Penzance and maybe surrounding area. A few people said: What is there to talk about Penzance. Well now I find it hard to stick within the 1.5 hours a tour is suppose to last. I always warn people that it might last longer. Every tour is different and visitor led. There is so much to tell.
Before I started I spend the winter month in Morrab Library and attended a college course on the history of Cornwall to give me a good back ground. But in reality my knowledge grows and grows. Local people have so much to tell and Old Cornwall Society is just a well of information. I can tell you those little bits of local knowledge you can’t find on apps or maps
This is the meeting place. The big planter outside our railway station. I am easily recognised with my pink bag and rainbow hat.
It didn’t take long and I was asked to work for a cruiseship agency. Meeting the big cruiseships that anchor in Falmouth and take passengers around Penwith. Always hoping to entice them to come back for a proper holiday and spend some time in the area. West Cornwall has so much to offer, but try to avoid the peak season. We get awfully busy down here.
I have adapted my tour for different abilities. Wheelchair users, visitors with vision impairment (that was the hardest) and tours for children. During the summer I run drop on tours, just turn up – no booking required, and in the winter on request. Winter is a quiet time, but still busy with visitors holidaying out of season.
The above group is a private walking group who were also interested in the history of towns. Here I am talking and pointing out historic buildings or the remains and telling them what has happened here in the last 400 years.
Now I run FREE tours of Penzance twice a week. Just giving something back to the town that has given me so much over the last 30+ years.
And when I am not guiding I will just do some wild swimming. 
FREE Guided Walking Tours of Penzance
Sundays 10 am & Wednesday 4 pm
booking is essential – no just turning up
up to 5 people max except if you are a family group
ring or msg me before the start of the tour please
07919681535
Come and join me on a tour, local or visitor to historic Penzance. You will hear all about pirates, the spanish and so much more.
See you soon.
Lamorna (during Corona Lock Down)
During the last 3 weeks this view has greeted me nearly everyday. I am lucky that I can do a circular walk which takes about an hour. Steep in places – because if you go down into the cove you have to come up again
. 
(Postcard of water colour by AR Quinton of Lamorna Cove, near Penzance)
As you can see the view has changed a bit. The quay – built in 1854 – has been washed away. Due to neglect by an owner the sea took more and more.
The quay was built to transport the granite from the quarry on the left to far away places. It was used in Thames Embankment, St.Paul Cathedral and closer to home for Wolf Rock Lighthouse and the steps of St.John’s Hall in Penzance.
Today Lamorna is a tourist destination and very busy during the season. Expensive parking and a lovely cafe. Easy to get to by public transport which will stop just at the turn off
and you wander down a lovely lane to the cove.
Lamorna is a cove steep in history. It had quarries on the right above car park place and the biggest and last one was on the left above the houses. It ceased working in 1911. Then the cottages were built on the left of the road for fishermen and still today a little bit of fishing occurs in the small bay. Mostly for crabs and lobsters.
Remains of the old quarry.
The stream that wanders all the way from Penwith Moors down to the sea in Lamorna
Lamorna village is further back up the lane. It had a full working mill in the valley. The local school is now the village hall which is very often used for art exhibitions. Lamorna still has a thriving art colony dating back to the beginning of 1900. We all heard about ‘Summer in February’
Lamorna is a good point to join the SWCP and hike back to Penzance via Mousehole or onwards all the way to Land’s End via famous coves used in the Poldark Series. Penberth. Porthgwarra and Porthcurnow and our famous open air theatre The Minack.
Or hike a little bit inland , up Rocky Lane to visit the Merry Maidens, Pipers and the Tregiffian Burial Chamber.
The Merry Maidens is also a good spot to catch the bus towards Land’s End or back to Penzance
Enjoy your time spend at Lamorna
