Edition TwoSpring / Summer

2015

Amanda's Round Up

Polpier & Penpol New Offer

Two Rescue Dogs' Story

Mevagissey Feast Week

Bacon, Egg and Parsley Pie

Trenance Chocolate

What's On in Cornwall?

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Mevagissey Feast Week's spectacular firework display from

the outer harbour, the perfect view for a warm summer's

evening from Polpier & Penpol's terraces. Page 5

PHOTOGRAPHY SALLY MITCHELL

02 Polpier & Penpol

T he new season is a wonderful

opportunity to make the most of

Cornwall’s wide variety of fantastic

produce. As well as freshly caught fish

and succulent spring lamb, Cornish new

potatoes have a special flavour. Enjoy them

simply boiled in their skins with a melting

drizzle of Cornish golden yellow butter

and a sprinkling of sparkling white Cornish

sea salt. Delicious. Another indulgent

new season treat is asparagus. Polpier’s

asparagus bed is now in its third year, so

the crop can be fully harvested by our

guests. It is a time to spoil yourself.

Easter, of course, also means chocolate –

particularly in Cornwall where

Good Friday is not kept at a

day of mourning but as a feast

known as Goody Friday. It is fun

to visit The Eden Project to see

the cocoa bean plant growing in a

spectacular giant dome, but it is just

as important to sample the end product.

Our feature on Trenance Chocolate

explains just how much care and love goes

into producing their delectable treats and

how you can see them being hand made. A

real family affair, they make something for everyone in your family to enjoy.

Later in the season, the Cornish Festivals

kick off bringing a magical combination

of music, the arts and fancy dress to

the county. They all have their own

individual style but are united by offering

entertainment for all ages, none more so

than Mevagissey Feast Week which we

celebrate in this edition. A great one for

literary fans of Cornwall’s most acclaimed

author is the Daphne Du Maurier Festival in

Fowey during May. Avoid the traffic and add

to the experience by letting the Mevagissey

to Fowey ferry transport you across the sea.

With so much to experience during Spring

in Cornwall, make sure to still relax on the

beautiful beaches. We have a new

recipe which is perfect for

picnics, tasty egg and bacon

pie. The best kind of finger food

with no danger of dropping in the sand.

Disappointing for the many dogs who will

be accompanying you, but they will still be

delighted to be part of your family holiday.

They are the fortunate ones and please

spare a thought for those far less fortunate.

Read one of our guest’s plea for help to

save Mauritian stray dogs and see if you

or anyone you know can make a home

for them.

The county is famous for the Camellias, Magnolias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas that flourish in a

riot of colour on the acid soil. At Polpier and Penpol there are many fine specimens, but it is also

the best time to visit the famous gardens, including nearby Caerhays and Trewithen, created by

generations of adventurous Cornish plant hunters who travelled worldwide to bring these exotic

plants back to us.

Polpier’s

asparagus

bed is now in

its third year.

It is a time to

spoil yourself.

Amanda's Round Up

A Spring in our stepSpring is a lovely season in Cornwall. Our mild climate means gardens come alive with fresh lime greenery and blazing blooms while the rest of the country is still shivering and dormant.

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Spring / Summer 2015 www.polpier.co.uk

amanda.hines@polpier.co.uk

We are pleased to announce that we are now offering two night mid-week breaks at Polpier and Penpol.

This means you can now rent Polpier for 16 guests for two

nights from £1,750 and Penpol for 10 guests for two nights

from £750. Don’t forget to bring your dogs too.

New Offer

03 Polpier & Penpol

When one of our guests, Deborah Donner, was staying

with her family on an island off the coast of Mauritius

in 2012, she and her daughter made friends with two

stray dogs on a beach. “The puppy had already learnt to

approach children rather than adults, very tentatively and

politely. The older one, maybe her mother, came to say

hello once we had made friends with the first,” Deborah

recalls. “It might sound romantic to start life on a beach,

but the reality is rather different.

No food, no supply of

fresh water, no way

of knowing whether

a human is going to feed you

or throw a rock at you – a cut

can mean infection and death.

Staying alive is a daily and

desperate struggle for survival.

Even worse, the Mauritian

authorities had a brutal ‘catch

and kill’ policy at the time.”

When the time came to leave

the beach that evening,

Deborah’s fourteen year old

daughter simply would not

turn her back on the dogs. “I

did resist – after all taking two

feral dogs back to England,

especially when I already had

dogs of my own to think about,

was not without potential

problems!” Deborah says

drily. “But my daughter is even

more stubborn than I am and

when I found on returning to

the hotel, that I had received

“Even worse, the

Mauritian authorities

had a brutal ‘catch

and kill’ policy at the

time...”

a text message from my

mother, telling me that they

had unfortunately put their

elder dog down that very day,

it did seem as though fate was

definitely taking a hand. Under

strict instructions from the

junior members of the family,

I phoned mum and wasn’t

terribly surprised when she

said she would have one. It

was meant to be.”

So the

next morning they waited in

Reception to meet a local lady,

Yasmin, who helps organise

repatriation of stray dogs.

Within two hours they were

back on the beach where

they had first met the dogs,

to find them and start their

journey, via the rescue centre

and quarantine, to England.

“Yasmin took them back to her

boarding kennels and while

we were back in the UK, she

sorted their paperwork and

vaccinations and six months

later they were put on a plane

to a new life here in the UK,”

explains Deborah. Quite what

the dogs must have thought,

when they landed at Gatwick

Airport in February 2013,

faced with snow and ice and

a biting wind, we can only

imagine. But their story has a

happy ending.

Two Rescue Dogs' StoryEvery dog that visits Polpier is a lucky dog, but we discovered regular holiday makers Midge and Penny are luckier than most.

An interview with Deborah Donner

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Dogs

Spring / Summer 2015 www.polpier.co.uk

04 Polpier & Penpol

Deborah took Midge and Penny

went to live with her parents,

Sandra and Clive. It took them

precisely three days to learn good

behaviour, including getting used

to unfamiliar and frightening things

like walls, floors, electric lights,

televisions and cars. “If you have to

survive, you have to be adaptable

and you certainly have to have

your wits about you. Mauritian

strays are exceptionally bright

little dogs,” Deborah says proudly.

“Unlike training most pets - and

rather surprisingly for those of

us who have trained a dog - their

primary motivation is not food,

despite never having enough on

the beach, but affection. Perhaps

the most heart rending truth

about these animals is that given a

choice between love and attention

or a good meal, it is human

companionship they crave the

most.” Now both Midge and Penny

are adored by their respective

families and are well behaved, well-

adjusted pets.

However Deborah did not forget

the other strays. She says, “Yasmin

lost her original kennels, so we

helped her to set up a new Kennels

and Rescue Centre in La Marie, in

the south of the island. She has 16

purpose built kennels, outdoor

runs and a permanent helper and

security guard who lives on site.

Yasmin boards dogs when Mauritian

owners go on holiday, which

gives her income, and rescues

dogs befriended by tourists, as

she did for us. With part of the

proceeds, she also rescues strays

and rehomes them locally. It isn’t

enough, so I fundraise regularly

for her.”

Now Deborah is redoubling her

efforts, because, although the

previous Mauritian government

bowed to international media

pressure and introduced a policy

of education, sterilisation and

micro chipping for strays, the

new regime has re-introduced

the ‘catch and kill’ policy. Deborah

emphasises, “It involves catching

the dogs in a net, resulting in

broken limbs and other injuries.

They are kept for three days in

dreadful conditions and if they

aren’t claimed, injected directly in

the heart, then thrown on a heap

of other dogs to die an agonising

death. The authorities frequently

net people’s pets as well as strays,

if they are loose in the villages. To

reclaim them, locals have to pay

a fine which is often too much

for people to afford. Even those

who are re-claimed are often

traumatised by their experiences and never recover. And this is being done because apparently tourists

don’t like the strays.”

So this summer she will join Midge

and Penny for their holiday at Polpier,

playing with his new ‘brothers

and sisters’: Morgan, a rugby ball

obsessed Flat-Coated Retriever,

Finnegan a young Irish Wolfhound,

and Lucy, a patient Labrador cross.

Sometimes they have their ‘cousin’

Poppy, an energetic two year old

Beagle to join them. The new member

of the family will soon learn to roam

the gardens, going wherever he

wants, investigating absolutely

everything! The vegetable patch with

an optional tasty snack of a carrot

is a favourite doggy destination.

Deborah smiles, ‘It is a far cry from the

golden beaches of Mauritius, but if

these dogs could tell you where they

would rather be, there would be no

hesitation. With their special biscuits,

comfortable beds and loving families,

the answer would definitely be: on

holiday at Polpier in Cornwall.”

If you might be interested in giving a

Mauritian beach dog a home, or you

think you might know someone who

would, please do let us know. The

government in Mauritius has stated

it will ‘cull’ all these animals from this

April so the race is on to rescue as

many of them as possible, before

that happens.

Yasmin and Deborah have just organised the rescue

of another beach dog destined for England. ‘Pepsi’

was befriended at Christmas, but her new owner did

not know then who to contact to rescue her and came

home to hear that government policy had changed

and a deadline set for the cull. Desperate, she posted

messages on Facebook, which Deborah luckily saw.

So Yasmin was able to go to the particular beach and

not only find Pepsi, but also another four beach dogs,

including one who has since given birth to four healthy

and very lucky puppies, all of whom now need homes.

And Deborah’s mother has adopted another Mauritian

stray, little Chloe, who has just arrived in England.

"It is a far cry from the golden

beaches of Mauritius, but if these

dogs could tell you where they

would rather be, there would be

no hesitation: In Cornwall."

Dogs

Email Deborah at

debdonner@oneit.demon.co.uk

MIdge, enjoying her new home.

If you might be interested in

giving a Mauritian beach dog a

home, or you think you might

know someone who would,

please do let us know.

PHOTOGRAPHY AT POLPIER

Spring / Summer 2015 www.polpier.co.uk

05 Polpier & Penpol

The perfect view for a warm

summer's evening from Polpier

& Penpol's terraces.

Mevagissey has celebrated the

‘Feast of St Peter’ since 1754.

Mevagissey’s celebrations were

originally held in December and

were seen as purely religious

with every denomination having

a ‘Feast Day’.

The week long event features

exhibitions, demonstrations, live

music and lots of fish dishes to eat.

Along with choirs and bands, flora

dances, children’s entertainment

and competitions, plus colourful

parades, boat and raft races, a fete

and a huge firework display,

there really is something

for everyone.

From early

afternoon every

day there is a

programme of

events for all to

take part in, including

crab catching on the

harbour, a pavement artist

competition and a children’s tea

for the kids, you can watch fishing

boat races on the water, dance

along the street in the traditional

flora dance, swing your partner at

the ceilidh or simply find a seat and

enjoy listening to the many choirs

and bands that perform during

the week. The festival ends with a

colourful carnival parading through Mevagissey’s ancient streets and a spectacular firework display from the outer harbour, the perfect view for a warm summer's evening from Polpier & Penpol's terraces.

01 Fry the bacon lightly to draw out any water,

drain if necessary then leave to cool.

02 Meanwhile roughly chop the parsley.

03 Lightly whisk two of the eggs together, add a pinch of salt

and plenty of pepper.

04 Cut 2/3 of the pastry, roll out on a floured surface and line

the flan tin leaving an overhang to allow to seal the lid and

the bottom together.

05 Place the cooled bacon in the pastry lined tin followed

by the parsley and the two beaten eggs. Make six equally

spaced indentations in filling and break a whole egg into

each one.

06 Roll out the remaining pastry large enough to cover the

top of the filled tin, allow an overhang, brush overhang with

beaten egg, pinch both pastry overhangs together to seal,

make a small hole in the top of pastry lid to allow steam

to escape. I crimp my overhangs to seal, but this is not

essential.

07 Brush pie top with beaten egg.

08 Place pie on an oven tray and cook for 35 - 40mins. The

pastry should be golden and the pie should feel firm when

cooked.

09 Allow to cool before serving.

Oven temp. 180 c. pre heated

23cm loose bottom flan tin

Pastry

280g Plain Flour

70g Lard - chopped into small cubes

70g Butter - chopped into small cubes

Pinch of salt

Cold water to mix

Flour for rolling out

Place all ingredients into a large bowl, except the

water. Rub in the fat to flour until it resembles bread

crumbs. Add enough water to make a pliable dough,

cover with clingfilm and place in a fridge for 30mins.

Filling

8 x Eggs

450g Lean bacon chopped

1 x Large bunch of parsley

Pinch of salt

Pepper

Beaten egg to glaze

Amanda Craze's Bacon, Egg and Parsley PieFood

A Feast for the Senses A look at Mevagissey Feast Week

The festival would include

children’s sports, a feast

tea, a procession with

a band and hymn singing. This

was a very special occasion and

everyone would attend in their

‘Sunday Best’. However, these

celebrations coincided with a

busy fishing period and so in 1752

Mevagissey adopted St Peter as

its patron saint and has held a

festival to celebrate on the 29th

June ever since. There were a lot

more churches and chapels in

Mevagissey back then and the

celebrations would have taken an

entire week, but with the gradual

demise of the chapels feast week

slowly began to die out.

Luckily, the Feast Week Committee was formed in the

1960s and the festival was rejuvenated, having now

evolved into a week-long celebration with a whole host

of events for everyone.

This wonderful festival is thought to be the longest

surviving in Cornwall and it owes its success to the

blend of traditional and contemporary events which

bring the whole community together and welcome

hundreds of visitors to share in its unique celebrations.

Mevagissey Feast Week is on between 28 June – 04 July

www.mevagisseyfeastweek.org.uk

First #MevaFeastWeek meeting of 2015 done, looks like it's shaping up to be a beauty

already.... roll on June! #cornwall

Serves 4

PHOTOGRAPHY SALLY MITCHELL

Spring / Summer 2015 www.polpier.co.uk

06 Polpier & Penpol

“I love the variety, no day is the same

here,” explains Emma. “There are

six full time staff and six part time

staff to manage, trade and retail

customers to talk to, trade fairs

to attend, deliveries, ordering of

stock and the seven days a week

of making chocolate.” Trenance

Chocolate now imports 23,000kgs

of the finest Belgian chocolate each

year but every single product is

handmade in Cornwall in their two

factories in Mullion. Meadows. That

means at the busy times, in particular

Easter when they make 6,000 eggs

and 1,000 bunnies, everyone gets

involved.

So instead of achieving her aim of a

more balanced work and life division,

Emma is immersed in Trenance

Chocolate. It can be stressful – at

Easter when fragile eggs crack the

chocolate tempering machines run

late into the night – but as well as

love there is another big reward.

Emma has achieved what many of

us dream of: she can eat as much

chocolate as she wants. She smiles,

“Jon and I do eat chocolate every

day, we never get sick of it. He also

makes me a special Easter egg,

combining milk and white chocolate.

There is no romantic message

though, more like a, ‘Well done, we

survived!'"

“There is a creative side to making chocolate,”

enthuses Emma. “Each Easter egg is hand spun and

we all help decorate them and that means each one

is totally individual as we all have our own designs.”

Visitors can watch this and other processes through a

large viewing window into one of the factories. “There

are tables in front of the window so visitors can see

some of the intricate work – you get used to the flash

photography,” laughs Emma. “And I cannot tell you how

many people ask ‘Where are the Oompa Loompas?’”

Emma and 33-year-old Jon worked closely together

and she remembers, “It was pretty intense bouncing

ideas off each other and then we just clicked. I don’t

know how it happened but we fell in love. Fortunately

everyone else at Trenance Chocolate guessed and we

didn’t have to make a big announcement. My sister and

mother work here as well, so it’s a real family business.”

Now engaged, they share a home with their two golden

retriever dogs, Bailey and puppy Dingle. “Some people

might think it is claustrophobic living and working

together, but it suits us. Jon is my best friend.”

As well as marriage plans, Emma and Jon have big

plans for Trenance Chocolates. She says, “We survived

the recession because of customer loyalty and a wide

product range, starting with lollipops priced at 60p,

now we’ve revamped the website and mail order is

taking off. It’s lovely people try our chocolate while on

holiday and then want to keep eating it. We write the

cards for the mail orders and often the message is the

chocolates are a reminder of their time in Cornwall. But

we would never risk expansion at the cost of quality.

We take pride in being artisan chocolate makers.”

Chocolatiers

“And I cannot tell you how

many people ask ‘Where are

the Oompa Loompas?’”

Emma Finney found love for the unique and creative world of handmade

chocolates and for owner Jon Raftery. “I’d been working 80 plus hour weeks

developing a farm shop and restaurant and thought the move to Trenance

Chocolate would give me a more balanced life,” says 34-year-old Emma.

“To my surprise, that wasn’t what happened at all.”

renance Chocolate started in 1999 when the owners

at the time diversified from a dairy farm to a local craft

centre which included making chocolates. When Jon’s

family purchased the centre in 2001, he took over the chocolate

business, expanding both lines and production.

With success, including supplying Cornwall’s National Trust

shops, running their own shop and the introduction of mail order,

someone was needed to streamline management. When Emma

took on that role, she found there was a lot to learn.

Trenance Chocolate When Emma Finney joined Trenance Chocolate as manager in the spring of 2010, she thought she was taking on a new job which would allow her more down time. Instead she found love.

An interview

with Emma Finney

To order Trenance Chocolates or

find out more about visiting The

Chocolate Factory, please look at

www.trenancechocolate.co.uk

www.trenancechocolate.co.uk

We take pride in being

artisan chocolate makers.

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07 Polpier & Penpol

Taking place each summer in the woodland gardens

and park of the ancient stately home and mediaeval

monastery, the beautiful Lynher Estate, Port Eliot

Festival remains a rare original. The four day Port Eliot

Festival is a magical combination of books, food,

music, art, comedy, fashion, films, flowers, wildlife and

water, which defies categorisation.

Amongst the confirmed line up for the Port Eliot

Festival are: Archie Bronson Outfit, Awesome Tapes

from Africa, Chris Watson, Stealing Sheep, Kurt

Jackson and John Sauven and Andrew Weatherall.

s always, there is a vast and

varied choice of activities to

enjoy and take part in the Spring

and Summer in Cornwall. As the weather

becomes brighter and warmer, the gardens

are more beautiful and offer many enticing

events to take part in. In particular The

Lost Gardens of Heligan, which can be

reached on foot from Polpier and Penpol,

has exciting scavenger hunts and wild

adventures for children, they also welcome

dogs too. Here are some ideas of things

to get up to this Spring and Summer

in Cornwall:

Artists and craftspeople all over Cornwall

open the doors to their studios for a week

at the beginning of summer.

Internationally acclaimed Cornish

theatre company Kneehigh will

present their radical new show

946, in the stunning location

of the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

St Austell Feast Week is a revival of the traditional

week of feasten activities surrounding the

celebration of the Feast of Saint Austol, the last of

which took place in 1946. Feasten activities will run

alongside the Bread Riots Community Play which is

based on the 1847 Bread Riots.

This wonderful festival thought to be the longest surviving in Cornwall,

owes its success to the blend of traditional and contemporary events

which brings the whole community together and welcomes hundreds

of visitors to share in its unique celebrations. See article for more info.

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What's On in Cornwall? Festival

For more information on any activities

featured in this newsletter visit:

www.visitcornwall.com/whats-on

Port Eliot Festival

Open Studios Cornwall

The Kneehigh Asylum

St Austell Feast week

Mevagissey Feast week

Legend of the Bay features both kitesurfing

and stand up paddle boarding, so there's

always something to see whatever the

conditions.

The English National Surfing

Championships, now in its 42nd

year, one of the UKs longest running

competitions, will see the next

generation of young surfers battle to

knock established competitors off

the top spot over three divisions.

Legend of the Bay and English National Surfing Championships

18th - 19th April and 2nd - 4th May – Newquay

Port Eliot Dog Festival and Whippet Tea

Party celebrates its success in the delightful

grounds of Port Eliot. Last year

over seven hundred people

and hundreds of dogs came

along. For humans there will be

an array of stalls, cream teas

and other refreshments, a

treasure hunt and

other activities for

kids, and musical

entertainment

from the wonderful

Wurlizta band later on

in the afternoon.

Port Eliot Dog Festival

9th May

Pedal in paradise on the new Eden Classic

cycle ride, which promises to be the most

memorable and distinct cycling sportive in

the UK.

Elton John and his band will visit the Eden

Project on Tuesday 16 June 2015 to

perform at the Eden Sessions as part of

his European tour. This will be Elton’s first

performance in Cornwall for 30 years.

Eden Classic Cycle Ride and Eden Sessions: Elton John and his band

Elton Johnin Cornwall

10th May and 16th – 17th June

10th May and 16th – 17th June

23rd – 31st May

30th July – 2nd August

25th July – 9th August

22nd – 28th June

28th June – 4th July

See page 5

Eleanor Newell - Ceramicist

based in Lamorna (West Cornwall)

Spring / Summer 2015 www.polpier.co.uk

Can you feel the love tonight?

Until next time...Amanda Hines

amanda.hines@polpier.co.uk

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