Henry Martin's painting is reproduced in a new book that the Archive has published. The book, Walk Newlyn, costs £5. Order Forms for the new book are available on the Website.
Picture: Henry Martin, Breakneck Alley, private collection.
We were surprised at how much has changed in Newlyn since earlier walk books were published and we were keen to showcase this alongside the important historical landmarks recognised in earlier books. The new book makes ‘walking Newlyn’ accessible to more people by splitting it into three separate walks round each of the historic districts of Old Newlyn – Newlyn Town, Street-an-Nowan and Tolcarne. We have been able to illustrate the book with images from old Newlyn so that visitors can imagine more easily how the village has developed. We have also reproduced some paintings of the Newlyn Colony Artists by kind permission of Penlee House Gallery where the original paintings may be seen.
Walk Newlyn, published by Newlyn Archive, August 2020. ISBN 978-0-9567528-5-7. Price £5.
The Tonkins cottage was on the southern corner of Gwavas Terrace which consisted of a number of dwellings. There was a small strip of garden at the front and two front doors; one led to the Tonkins cottage and the other to that of their nearest neighbour. The other dwellings of Gwavas Terrace were accessed at the side and back of the Terrace. On the landside there were orchards.
The Tonkins’ cottage was rather larger than the other cottages in the Terrace, being roomy enough for two visitors. However, as with all cottages in Newlyn in the 1880s, there was no running water and sanitation relied on the night soil cart, and the only light was from a paraffin lamp or candles and there was no light in the streets at all.
The front door of the Tonkins cottage opened into a hallway. There were doors on either side to the parlour and front room, and a kitchen at the far end. A staircase rose to the three bedrooms on the floor above. At the far end of the kitchen, there was a window and a door into the linhay. The linhay was a paved yard surrounded by neighbouring cottages, whose upper storeys projected over it, so that only its centre was open to the sky. The sheltered portion served as a store-place. The linhay at Gwavas Terrace could be accessed directly from the street by means of a covered ope, which was a dark passage or tunnel running down the side of the house. This was part of the Tonkins’ cottage, although the flying freehold above formed part of the cottage, next door.
There was an upper room above the covered part of the linhay at the Tonkins’ cottage, called the sail loft, which smelled of cutch, tanned nets, tar, and creosote and contained the nets that were out of season or being repaired. This is where Thomas Cooper Gotch made a rough studio in the early 1880s and was used by artists Stanhope Forbes (who stayed at the cottage when he first came to Newlyn in 1884) and Walter Langley. Thomas Cooper Gotch painted some of his most significant early work while staying at the cottage, including Hiding from Granny, 1883 and The Sailor’s Farewell, 1886, both painted in the linhay of the cottage.
In 1879 Gwavas Terrace was the home of the childless William (a fisherman) and Annie Tonkin. They rented rooms to some of the first artists of the Newlyn Colony. NAME THE ARTISTS AND THEIR PAINTINGS.
The painting by Alec Walker shows Jessie Bray and Grace Thomas behind the bar of the Tolcarne Inn. Jessie Bray owned the Tolcarne in the late 1800's. Her daughter Grace Thomas took over from her until the St Austell Brewery bought the Inn in the 1960's. During the early years, many Newlyn artists drank there, including Alec Walker, who first came to Newlyn in 1912. Grace Thomas was a good friend of Derek Tangye and is mentioned in his books. Thanks to Grace’s granddaughter Lizzie for the information.
NAME THE INN, THE LANDLADY AND HER DAUGHTER.
This painting was done by Alec Walker c1912 and shows the landlady and her daughter behind the bar of a famous Newlyn Inn. The Inn is very ancient and situated next to the sea.
Michael Hitchens, currently in lockdown in Spain, thought the woman in the doorway of the grocery and vegetable shop looked like his grandmother Hannah Deeble Hitchens. A census lists Hannah as the shop manageress with her husband ‘Jack’ Hitchens as bus owner and driver of what was the original brown and cream Penzance-Mousehole bus. However, Claire Murton says that the lady in the photograph was her mother, Mary Uren (néé Hitchens), daughter of Hannah and Jack, the photo probably taken before she married Charles Uren.
The shop was at Cliffside in Fore Street, Newlyn, on the corner of Boase Street. Cath Langman (nee Richards) who used to live in Church Street emailed to say that the shop had two entrances, one in Fore St and one in Boase St. The house next door at 16 Fore Street was called Westcliff, and was occupied by Michael Hitchens’ uncle, carpenter John Wroath, and his wife Olive. John was a keen rugby fan and Michael Hitchens and his father occasionally went to matches with him.
Cliffside is now double fronted with two bow windows with central access door and is one dwelling. The doors between Cliffside and Westcliff were originally an access to what would have been a small ope of properties and sail loft, which subsequently have been incorporated and extended into both the adjoining houses. Some years ago Westward TV aired a programme called Walking Westward with Clive Gunnell. He interviewed Granny Hitchens, at the time being the oldest female resident in Newlyn
Please add any information to this account. So far we have had one correction. The next quiz will be posted soon..
Here at Newlyn Archive, we are finding new ways to keep our friends involved. Below, we have displayed part of a photo from our digital archive. Can you identify this image? We will publish the whole photo at our next posting. Do let us know what you think!
Here are some clues. The photo was taken in Newlyn Town. The woman is standing outside a shop. Can you name the shop and its location? Who was the woman?
Vaccination Court was one of the small courtyard complexes off South Fore Street, Newlyn Town. In local folklore, it was linked with the cholera outbreak of 1832, but it was more likely to have been associated with smallpox.
Smallpox was endemic in the eighteenth century. When Newlyn St Peter’s was formed in 1848, its parish surgeons used a vaccination, based on cowpox to combat smallpox. The smallpox vaccine was the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, the British doctor Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox virus. He had observed that milkmaids who previously had caught cowpox did not catch smallpox.
By 1848, vaccination was freely provided to all. The 1840 Vaccination Extension Act extended free vaccination to rich and poor alike. The Act required Boards of Guardians to contract doctors to vaccinate all persons. Annual returns had to be submitted to the Poor Law Commission to ensure that the duty was carried out in all areas of the Country. Most likely, Vaccination Court was the centre where the vaccinations at Newlyn Town were performed.
Michael Hitchens, currently in lockdown in Spain, thought the woman in the doorway of the grocery and vegetable shop looked like his grandmother Hannah Deeble
Here at Newlyn Archive, we are finding new ways to keep our friends involved. Below, we have displayed part of a photo from our digital
Vaccination Court was one of the small courtyard complexes off South Fore Street, Newlyn Town. In local folklore, it was linked with the cholera outbreak
Newlyn, like other places in Cornwall suffered during the great cholera epidemics of the nineteenth century; the disease spread quickly because of overcrowding and lack
In view of the ongoing crisis involving the Coronavirus (Covid-19) we have postponed the Open Day that was due to take place on Saturday 28th
TRADES TO DO WITH FISHING Due to unforeseen events we have moved the Newlyn Archive Open Day from Saturday 21/3/2020 to Saturday 28/3/2020. The Open
It is always rewarding when people visit the Archive in order to carry out research. Monday morning was a particularly busy day and here we
65 people attended the Open Day at the Centre in Newlyn. The promise of poor weather didn’t help attendance and there was some competition from
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 exhibition highlighted three main journeys. The display of the voyage of The Spirit of Mystery included a hair raising first person account by Pete
The next Open Day is at the Trinity Centre, Chywoone Hill on September 21, 2019 Great voyages that started at Newlyn include the voyage of
The Newlyn Archive was set up in 2009 and Ron Hogg was a founder member and has been the Treasurer since then. Friends of
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
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