MAY 2013 NEWS

02

Church, Chapel and Playtime, Saturday April 27 2013

The ‘rude’, ‘gaping’, Newlyners addressed by John Wesley in 1747 were soon silenced by what they saw and heard. By contrast their successors, present day Newlyners, responded with animated discussions and delight as they viewed the latest exhibition mounted by the Newlyn Archive. ‘Church Chapel and Playtime’ celebrated a period in the history of Newlyn when the spiritual, social and leisure time of villagers centred largely on chapel and church activities. It recalled a time when Sundays were reserved for chapel, Sunday-best clothes and rest from labour, while weekdays and holidays were punctuated by choir practise, edifying bible study, lectures and memorable outings to local beauty spots. Fascinating displays of photographs and illustrations set alongside contemporary records and explanatory notes, generated lively discussion and pleasure as many visitors were able to assist in identifying locations and family connections.

Church, Chapel, and Playtime was the second of our scheduled Open Days at Trinity Centre for 2013. 144 people visited the Exhibition no doubt encouraged by our growing reputation, the attractive poster and the preview that was printed in the Western Morning News. Thanks to Jerry Drew, the hall at Trinity was enlivened by the magnificent banner created nearly one hundred years ago for the Wesleyan Band of Hope. As well as the usual excellent display of photos and information, Douglas Williams showed his personal collection of material related the Ebenezer and Centenary Chapels, which included two original chapel minute books. An innovation this time was to set up a table just for the sale of books, overseen by Liz Harman; a second table was manned by Den Harvey who armed with two laptops was ready to supply information at the click of the mouse; a third table was occupied by an interesting display of photos of Trinity ‘Bright Hour’.

The most remarkable ‘exhibit’ was the beautifully designed and created ‘Sanctuary’. As part of the church fabric, the sanctuary provides a focus for worship at Trinity. The immense skill and thought which lay behind its creation blended references to the local area, including the fishing industry, Cornish wildlife and landscape, with the symbolism of Christian belief. In an exhibition highlighting the past, it was good to see an area created for the pleasure and spiritual benefit of the current generation of Newlyn worshippers. Julian Drew, Victoria Reed, Michael Johnson and David Need have created a significant contribution to the heritage of present and future Newlyners. (Thanks to Andrew Gordon and David Tredinnick for this review)

NEWS FLASH Fishing Out of Newlyn

The next Open Day is a 2-day event at Trinity on Friday and Saturday 5 and 6 July 2013 10-3.30. We will be exploring the history of fishing at Newlyn, the development of Newlyn as a major UK Fishing Port, the infra-structure that emerged to support this, and the people involved. We will also have available our display books on PZ fishing boats. If anyone has anything to contribute to this Open Day please contact Pam Lomax on newlynarchive@aol.com or Linda Holmes on 01736 364537.

NEWS FLASH Put the Date in Your Diary

The Newlyn Archive is organising a slide show of paintings and old photographs with poetry at The Acorn Theatre, Penzance on Wednesday, July 17 2013, 3-4pm as part of the 2013 Literary Festival. The picture show depicts work and play; celebration and mourning; war and peace; and achievement and failure. It is accompanied by a reading of poetry mainly by local poets including Batten, Barron, Bond, Harman, Kingsley, Parke, Pilcher, Rablan, Ruhrmund.