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.
Before the South Pier was built the area around Green Slip was used by the local boatbuilders and shipwrights such as Francis Hitchen. The two buildings at the bottom of the slip were known as the upper boathouse and the lower boathouse. In due course the upper and lower boathouse were used by the renowned sail maker JH Francis.
Figure: 34 PZ in front of old boathouse on the Green Slip before the South Pier was built
The following letter to the editor of the Cornishman says it all.
Sir, − Reading your paper I see a lot of old Cornish words and amongst them the ‘timmy noggy’ of a Mount’s Bay boat; a piece of wood with notches in it, for the ‘vargouard’ to rest on. This vargouard has been done without in some boats these 33 years. The boat New Tar, of Newlyn belonging to Mr Trahair of Newlyn, was the first boat that had a sail cut by JH Francis, sail-maker. Mr JH Francis was the sail-maker who cut the first lug-sail, to set without a vargouard, in Mount’s Bay. Cornishmsn, June 5, 1879.
Download the poster here
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 at the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 15 August 2018. The Newlyn Archive contains the papers, programmes and photos that document the history of this remarkable group which has entertained us for over 50 years. The players' very generous donation of almost £500 to the Archive will go to editing a book about the Players.
We asked Diane Tredinnick to remember a particularly remarkable play and she chose ‘My Three Angels’ in which Goff Johns made his directorial debut.
The numbers 4707, 6817 and 3011 were not attached to heavenly angels but to three likeable Rogues (Adam Bowkett, David Tredinnick, and Peter Byrne) incarcerated in a French penal colony in the early 1900s!
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 edition, but it is still only £8 and would make a wonderful Christmas present in this year devoted to remembering the horrors of war.
A new picture in the book shows Sid and Bert Perrott with Mary and Amy Hichens on Newlyn Green Beach with the barbed wire fence of wartime clearly visible behind. Seymour Cooke who joined the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and helped construct the beach defences, claimed that the longest run of barbed wire was from Newlyn Harbour to Marazion.
Download the Order Form War
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 final payment raised for the Archive. This amount is the Archive's share of the fund sponsored by the Co-op. The money is raised by the Co-op giving 1% of the amount their members spend.
The Archive very much appreciates having been chosen as a beneficiary of the fund. The final amount is a remarkable £9,639.80. The money is being used to enable us to share our resources with the local community.
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 Carpenter. They came as part of the Dark Sky Bright Stars project organized by Joanna Mays to learn about researching topics, such as navigation, and to experience the workings of an Archive
After lunch at Trinity and a short film about the Mystery projected by Brian Newton, the students walked down the hill to the Boathouse where Ron Hogg showed them ‘the anchor fouled’, the Admiralty symbol carved in stone at the corner of the Boathouse.
Inside the Boathouse, Sue Newton pointed out different aspects of the building and briefly explained how an archive operates. Pam Lomax had prepared two displays of archive material, one to show the role of the Boathouse when it housed the rocket wagon and the other to illustrate the route the Mystery took via Cape Town to Melbourne.
After the introduction, the students were divided into two groups. Ron Hogg explained how the rocket system had worked and Peter Morgan explained about navigation and how the Mystery had made its journey navigating by the stars. The students seemed totally engaged and were fascinated by some of the old documents they were shown. They surprised their tutors by the detailed knowledge they had about some of the events, such as shipwrecks.
‘Having been married to a primary school teacher for over 40 years’, Peter Morgan said, ‘I feel well qualified to judge the behaviour of primary school children, and the children from Cape Cornwall must be amongst the best behaved that I have ever met. Well ordered, well dressed, well behaved and with sensible questions and interested attention to their subject. I was impressed, and their teachers and families can be very proud of them.’
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 2019. The photo on the left shows the team with the building in the background
Kresen Kernow - or Cornwall Centre - will be an amazing new base for the Cornwall Archive, the Studies Library and the Cornwall and Scilly Historic Environment Record when they are brought together for the first time in April next year. The historic Redruth Brewery building at the heart of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site is being converted to house the world's largest collection of manuscripts, books and documents related to Cornwall. When we visited in mid-October, we were confidently informed that building works would be completed by Christmas and the miles of shelves would be filled and ready to be accessed by April 2019 - it was hard to believe! Filling any gaps in our own Archive will be far quicker and easier. There will also be a cafe on site for weary researchers.
Ron Hogg
The site is that of the disused brewery at the lower end of Redruth and quite near the Tesco store. A high standard has been adopted for external finishes and materials used to compliment and blend in with the existing old buildings. Work inside continues apace and there are miles of cable and wiring looms hanging in great loops waiting to be run along their cable trays and connected up. There has been extensive thought given to the future requirements regarding storage capacity and two very large rooms arranged with high capacity travelling shelving installed. Extremely sensitive smoke alarms will be fitted, and the rooms have only one entrance and no windows; temperature and humidity control of a high standard is included. There is much to say but suffice to say here that we can be well assured that design and planning to a very high level has been applied throughout by the CRO team.
Richard Cockram
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. There were 91 visitors, many with connections to the families displayed including a couple from Marazion who came in to shelter from the rain to find the wife in one of the photos on display.
The display began with the story of the voyage of The Mystery and the mariners who sailed to Australia in 1854 with lots to learn about the Kelynack and Badcock families. There was next an exploration of a Huguenot connection with the Rouffignac family. A wonderful depiction of the basket making Wallis family told the story of father and son including a lovely transcript of an original interview and photos of their craft which eventually came to an end in 1975. A colourful series of boards highlighted the artists from Lamorna, the Birch/Kerr connection, and a description of the place being ‘almost something unworldly’. This was followed by an inspiring display featuring the philanthropic Bolitho family and next the Batten brothers who played rugby for Newlyn. Finally the blue-eyed Harveys, described as tall and handsome, featuring photos of Annie, grandmother of our own Linda Holmes brought the exhibition to a close.
The raffle of the print of ‘Ring a Roses’ by Elizabeth Forbes drew many participants and the winner, drawn by Julian Drew, was Peter Morgan. Wonderful archive films were being shown, courtesy of Brian Newton, covering subjects from the Voyage of The Mystery to the comedian Jethro relating anecdotes about his own family.
Thanks to David and Diane Tredinnick who were selling books on local topics and the ‘Meet and Greet’ team : Helen Burnham, Judith Porter and Maryla Perrot for helping monitor visitor numbers and enabling the whole event to run smoothly. Thanks also to Pam Lomax and Sue Newton for assembling such a comprehensive and fascinating display. And thanks finally to all those who worked together to create a successful Open Day.
Report by Sue Roach
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
Carnivals became a regular feature of Newlyn life after the Perkin Warbeck Pageant of 1906, which was part of a wider set of seaside pageants
Above: Diane Donohue and Denny Harvey were available to assist those who wished to explore their own family histories and were able to offer valuable
Above: The workers in the photo belonged to be at Penlee Quarry in the 1960s. They are Al Cadman, Sam Munkley, Bob Symons, Jack Harvey,
Thomas Cooper Gotch, A Night in June, 1910. Gotch described this painting as ‘a nightpiece, a lawn with dining table lit by shaded candles, two
It is only five months into 2014 but the Archive can celebrate achieving our funding target for the project which we have called ‘When Newlyners
Belonging to Be is the title of the next Newlyn Archive Open Day on July 19 2014. Belonging to Be is about the places where
One of the delights of Newlyn Archive exhibitions is the willingness of visitors to contribute their own treasured memories and valuable information to the rich