Newlyn is mainly associated with fishing. The regattas of old Newlyn were certainly important events for the fishermen. It is said that Newlyn Fishermen were the finest yachtsmen in the world, ordained by circumstances to be fishermen, but always racing in their luggers to and from the fishing grounds. These old Newlyn Regattas were tremendous affairs with great carnivals and fairs on shore. For example the 1933 Regatta Day was accompanied by the Super Tit Bits Entertainment (see photo below).
For boys, destined for the sea like their fathers, the Newlyn Harbour Sports enabled them to show their expertise as swimmers and rowers. There was also Rugby, which was played on St Goulders Field, a sloping field that definitely favoured the home team. Bowling became an important sport in 1916 when the Penlee Bowling Club opened, to become the home ground of many famous national Bowles players. There were also the lesser known sports that featured in the local festivals such as the 1871 Easter Monday donkey race at Paul which scores of people from Newlyn attended. Following the donkey race were all sorts of other sports such as wheelbarrow races.
The exhibition highlighted three main journeys.
The display of the voyage of The Spirit of Mystery included a hair raising first person account by Pete Goss who revived the original journey to Australia in 1854 in a restored version of The Spirit of Mystery in 2008.
A fine model of The Rosebud and an account of its voyage to Westminster in 1937 was displayed. A petition signed by 1100 householders from Newlyn protesting against the proposed clearances was described in moving detail.
A rare early colour photograph of The Rosebud taken by Charles Hoyland was on show together with a reminder of how tucked away images in lofts and cellars might have significance today.
The board celebrating the journey of The Mayflower in 1620 was enhanced by creativework from both Newlyn and Mousehole primary schools. The children had created collages of boats on stormy seas and a timeline of the ship’s journey to the new world.
The arrival of the Spanish fleet in Cornwall and the capture of The Lark and its crew together with boards depicting Master Mariners of Newlyn completed a very thought-provoking and lively exhibition.
We were pleased to welcome a display of significant voyages from The Mousehole Archive too.
Thanks are due to Sue Newton who liaised with the schools and created the Mayflower boards, to Pam Lomax for the boards on the voyages, and to all the volunteers who helped make the day a success.
Sue Roach
Great voyages that started at Newlyn include the voyage of John Pollard of Newlyn who kept a Journal from 1794-1795, when his voyage aboard The Lark was rudely interrupted by the 44 gun Permoney and he was taken prisoner by the French. Henry Kelynack also kept a personal log of his voyage, on the schooner Queen of the West, from Penzance to Buenos Aires In 1851-1852. Only two years later in 1854, the Mystery left Newlyn for Australia, reaching Melbourne on 14 March 1855 after a journey of 11,800 nautical miles. More recently, the Rosebud made her remarkable journey to Westminster to deliver a petition to stop the Newlyn Clearances. There are also the many voyages to distant fishing grounds of Newlyn’s famous fishing fleet.
However, 2020 will be the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower to America in 1620. Did she stop at Newlyn to pick up fresh water because there was cholera at Plymouth? There is a plaque at Newlyn to say that she did. In memory of this event children at Newlyn School and Mousehole School have done some amazing artwork which can be seen at the Open Day.
Poster for Open Day Download here
The Newlyn Archive was set up in 2009 and Ron Hogg was a founder member and has been the Treasurer since then. Friends of the Archive will know what a tremendous job he has done in many respects, particularly supervising the renovation of the Boathouse to hold the Newlyn Archive. On Saturday 8th September 2019, he was honoured by being made a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth ‘Gorsedh Kernow’ at St Just in their ancient circle.
His bardic name is Crambler Alsyow, Climber of Cliffs
A ceremony to erect a copper plaque in memory of Linda Holmes was held at the Boathouse on Friday, 16th August 2019. A large number of her friends from the Newlyn Archive were in attendance along with her daughter Sara and son Matt and their families, and Anne and David Badcock and Morvah Stubbings. Linda’s family had just returned from a trip on the lifeboat to scatter Linda’s ashes near the Low Lee Buoy. She had arranged this (a teacher as ever) so that the grandchildren would have the opportunity to go to sea. The four grandchildren Will, Nellie, Rachel and Joe took it in turns to a fix an engraved copper plate to the counter of the Boathouse which had been made by Malcolm Pilcher on copper provided by Michael Johnson. David Tredinnick was master of ceremony and spoke of Linda’s inspiring energy and enthusiasm for the archive. We will all miss her greatly.
150 visitors came to enjoy, reminisce and share ideas about the shops that used to be part of the community of Newlyn many years ago and those that still are today. The exhibition was made easy to follow by a colour coding system and resembled a virtual tour of Newlyn. It was fascinating to see the profound changes that had taken place. Basket makers, boatbuilders, potters and coopers were all represented together with a wide range of shops selling quality clothing, antiques, oilskins, meat, fish, farm produce and ice cream. Lloyds bank, a chemist, Vi’s hairdresser and the wonderful Gaiety cinema were talked about and remembered with interest and affection.
Quotations from the visitors book: "A wonderful exhibition "; "excellent to reminisce".
Thanks to Diane for arranging the meet and greet team; to Pam Lomax and Sue Newton for their professional and informative boards; to Brian Newton for the media component and to the archive committee for making the open day such a success.
Above: Members of the Laura Knight Society on the Cliff, Newlyn
The Newlyn Archive hosted a group of 32 members of Dame Laura Knight Society from Malvern, on Thursday 16/5/2019. The Society wanted to visit the houses of artists associated with Laura Knight and three stalwart Friends of the Archive (Ron Hogg, Andrew Gordon and Richard Cockram) led three walks that took off at 15 minute intervals from Wheal Betsy.
Wheal Betsy was an appropriate place to start. Built by Thomas and Caroline Gotch in 1910 the Knights had moved into the Gotches’ previous home at Trewarveneth when the latter moved to Wheal Betsy. Both families had come to Newlyn in 1906 and Phyllis Gotch and Laura Knight became close friends, being of a similar age. Pam Lomax made the introductions and was able to wet appetites by reading a letter written by Phyllis Gotch to Laura Knight in July 1906, which described a dinner that was held at Penzer House where Mrs Beer was landlady.
Left: Two groups cross on their walk to the Artists' houses
Fortunately it was a down-hill walk. 13 Artists Houses were identified: Wheal Betsy, La Pietra, Malt House, Orchard Cottage, Mount Vernon, Boase Castle, Penzer House, Myrtle Cottage, Meadow Studios, North Corner, Rue de Beaux Arts, Joel and Keel Alley. From there, the groups walked to the Boathouse.
Ron, Andrew and Richard shared some of the knowledge we have in the West Cornwall Art Archive about artists’ houses. Richard reported ‘my group asked plenty of questions, some of which I could answer thanks to Ron’s notes’. Ron said that he had recounted Laura Knight’s story of coming home to Penzer and finding Alfred Munnings comfortably settled in one of the armchairs. Munnings had said, ‘Mrs Beer has let me a bedroom and says I can share your sitting room and have meals with you’. Apparently, Harold Knight was not amused!
In the Meadow all the groups were invited into the studio of artist Virginia ‘Ginnie’ Bounds, who is currently resident in Stanhope Forbes Anchor Studio, which once house the Forbes School of painting and is said to have the original anchor from Forbes famous painting outside.
The walk ended at the Admiralty Boathouse where Sean Perrott and Helen Burnham and their team of Friends were waiting. Brian Newton had made a short film with extracts from different films about Laura Knight held in the archive. Sean and Helen said that ‘the Boathouse became alive with the arrival of the first group of the Laura Knight Society members. More arrived later, some a little tired after their walk, but all interested in looking through the folders or enjoying the excellent film show. There were plenty of questions, not only relating to the collections, but also to the restoration of the Boathouse. A great many signed our Boathouse Diary. It was a very enjoyable morning.’
On the first sunny day of Spring 60 Friends of the Archive and invited guests, varying in age from eight to eighty, enjoyed a rare visit to the Tidal Observatory on the South Pier. Four visits took place on the day, with only three or four people allowed inside at any one time, since this Grade II listed building is still fulfilling a vital scientific purpose after nearly 100 years of operation.
Originally built in 1915, and equipped to establish Mean Sea Level, the Observatory now provides one of the longest continuous records of sea levels in the world, essential for studies of climate change.
For much of its existence the Observatory was run and maintained by local people, though nowadays it is automatic. For the visitors, seeing the Observatory for themselves was a perfect complement to reading about it in the book published last year. An added bonus was that the tour guides were Richard Cockram and Ron Hogg, two of the authors of the book.
150 visitors came to enjoy, reminisce and share ideas about the shops that used to be part of the community of Newlyn many years ago
Above: Members of the Laura Knight Society on the Cliff, Newlyn The Newlyn Archive hosted a group of 32 members of Dame Laura Knight
On the first sunny day of Spring 60 Friends of the Archive and invited guests, varying in age from eight to eighty, enjoyed a rare
Figure: 34 PZ in front of old boathouse on the Green Slip before the South Pier was built
It was with great sadness that Patrons of St Peters Players learned that the motion ‘The St Peter’s Players, Newlyn be formally disbanded’ was carried
The Archive has re-published with some corrections and minor alterations its very successful first publication, Newlyn at War. The price has risen since the first
On Saturday 24 November 2018 the Community Fund Team from our local Co-op invited members of the Archive to join them to celebrate receiving the
On Wednesday 21st November 2018, the Newlyn Archive hosted a group of students from Cape Cornwall School along with their teachers and the author JR
On October 15, 2018 Richard Cockram, Ron Hogg and Brian Newton visited the new location to which the Cornwall Record Office will be transferring in
On the weekend that brought us Storm Callum, the Archive held its final Open Day of 2018, representing 15 families with varying histories and occupations.
Historic England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) recently visited the Newlyn Tidal Observatory to make a preliminary assessment of the
The Basket Maker, June Hicks It has been very difficult to select material to feature in this Newlyn Archive Open Day Exhibition because so many
Ruth Simpson welcoming Elizabeth Bolitho to the Open Day ‘Fishing at Newlyn’, 11th February 2010 We are very sad to announce the death of
It was fitting that one-time Ordnance Survey man Ray Lloyd represented the Newlyn Fish Festival in 2018, the year the festival was cancelled due to
The Newlyn Tidal Observatory Compiled by Richard Cockram, Linda Holmes, Ron Hogg and Frank Iddiols Edited by P Lomax Published by Newlyn Archive 2018
On Friday 22 June 2018 the Wherrytown Co-op hosted a fund raising event selling cakes and running a tombola to raise awareness of the three
There were 138 visitors to this open day, ‘Getting There and Getting Back’, and it was very enthusiastically received. Many conversations could be heard of
This Open Day looks at the role of transport in enabling business to progress. How did the fish that was landed get to people’s
The photograph shows the Badcock family in front of a model of the Mystery in the Boathouse, the home of the Archive. Linda Holmes, third
This was a popular well attended Open Day celebrating the bravery of the RNLI volunteers from the late 19th century through to the present day.
The lifeboat Elizabeth and Blanche 2 returns to Newlyn Harbour after the rescue of the full crew of 13 men
The dark green wooden shop located in the centre of Newlyn close to the War Memorial is no longer in existence. On Monday 5
During the Second World War the Navy developed a new technology to find enemy submarines underwater. This was called ‘ASDIC’, and was based on the
The collage above celebrates the final opening of the Boathouse in 2017, when Friends of the Archive provided light refreshments for visitors and there was
Above: David Tredinnick, Chairman of the Newlyn Archive with film-maker Shauna Osborne-Dowle at the launch of the film ‘Boathouse Diary’ at the recent Open Day.
The last Newlyn Archive Open Day this Year is ‘Newlyn in Uniform’. It will be held at Trinity Centre, Newlyn on Saturday October 21, 2017
Christopher Laughton took this wonderful photo of the Archive Open day at Trinity on Saturday 6th September. 114 visitors visited the exhibition which was about
Above: A morning at the archive. Visitors with Maurice Bishop, Dave Barron and Sean Perrott. So much has happened since the last posting in June.
On a very warm Saturday, June 16 2017, the archive held its most recent Open Day ‘100 Years Ago’ at Trinity Centre, Newlyn. Much of the
The photo shows the 34ft long Ripple SS 19 leading Rippling Wave SS 628 out of St Ives prior to World War I when fishing
On Friday March 24 2017, the Newlyn Archive celebrated the launch of its project ‘Delivering the Admiralty Boathouse for Heritage’ at its future home, The
The Open Day focusses on events that happened ‘A Hundred Years Ago’ in 1917 and in the years of the Great War. The pen sketch
The next Open Day ‘On the Other Side’ is on Saturday April 1 2017 at Trinity Centre, Chywoone Hill, Newlyn from 10.00-3.00. The topic ‘On
We would like to share the first letter addressed to the archive at its new home in the Admiralty Boathouse, which appropriately was a Friend’s
Most regular readers of this webpage will know that we are moving the Archive to the building vacated by Newlyn Post Office, which the Newlyn
It was the focus of the last Newlyn Archive Open Day of 2016, the topic puzzled some and enthralled others, ‘They Came, they Stayed and
The Newlyn Archive was present at the Newlyn Fish Festival this year in the Admiralty Boathouse (the old post office) with thanks to Rob Parsons
Above: Visitors at the Newlyn Archive Open Day To-ing and Fro-ing The third Open Day of the year, ‘To-ing and Fro-ing’, on July 16 2016,
The photo above shows the erection of a second shed at the Seaplane Base at Sandy Cove in 1917 by the local builder George Curnow.
The photo of WJ Olds, Butcher in his horse-drawn cart outside the Kings Arms, Paul is just one of the many examples of T0-ING and
We had another very successful open day last month. The Building of Newlyn Harbour was held at Trinity Centre on April 4 2016 and was
Inspiration to develop Newlyn Harbour came from a number of people whose interests ranged between concern for the well-being of fishermen to commercial interest concerned
The photos were taken at the last Open Day ‘The Great Storms’ on Saturday February 13, 2016, when we had a record 272 people visiting
The picture above shows high tide at Newlyn Harbour’s North Pier, October 27 2004. Courtesy of Roger Clemence. The first Newlyn Archive Open Day of
The amazing picture of St Mary’s Church photographed by Vaughan T Paul after the thunderstorm of 4/8/1899 shows work in progress to replace over 100
The last Newlyn Archive Open Day of 2015, the two-day event ‘Where the artists lived in Newlyn and Lamorna’, was a great success. It was
The ink and watercolour sketch of fisherman William Henry Tonkin by an unknown artist shows him sitting on the window seat at his cottage at
The photograph shows Margaret Follows, Sue Hampshire (Chair of CAHG), Anne Forrest and Julia Nash (Friend of the Archive) on the occasion of the presentation
We have called the next Newlyn Archive Open Day on Saturday 18 July 2015, 10am-3.00pm in the Main Hall, Trinity Centre, Chywoone Hill, ‘When the
Above: J Irving Thomas was one of the early conductors who led the choir to many county honours until his retirement in 1956 when he
We were delighted to see the 127 people at the Open Day on ‘Farming, a Forgotten Trade’ on Saturday 11 April. There were many new
The next Newlyn Archive Open Day ‘Farming, the Forgotten Trade’ is on Saturday April 11 2015 at Trinity Centre from 10.00-3.00. The display boards tell
Above: Friends of the archive Diane Donohue and Douglas Williams having a chat at the last Open Day. Diane is helping people find out about
This is the earliest photograph of a wedding in the Newlyn Archive. It shows Joseph Carter and Harriet Badcock on their wedding day in 1871.
(above) Fundraising group, 5/11/1953. The Smugglers Loft Club raised money for British Empire Cancer Fund by organising a massive November 5 Bonfire with a 12ft
The last Open Day of 2014 was a huge success with 169 visitors enjoying the exhibition of wartime photographs and memorabilia from Newlyn Archive. The
The photo was taken by George Stevenson Curnow (b1887) and shows naval personnel enjoying a tug of war on Newlyn Green during a respite from
Margaret Follows has managed a project with children from Newlyn School on the theme of Newlyn at Play. This resulted in an outing to Wheal
Above: Alan Shears and four friends on the Good Friday walk to Lamorna in 1954 The next Newlyn Archive Open Day is a two-day event