Lizard Peninsula Heritage Trust - Newsletter 67, April 2016 - Page 1

Lizard Peninsula Heritage Trust An environmental charity dedicated to the recognition, protection, enhancement and enjoyment of the Lizard Peninsula

Friends of the Lizard 1997-2006 Registered Charity No 1092934 Patron: Jill Morison DL

Newsletter No 67, April 2016

Chairman’s Message

The Events Programme for 2016 is being issued with this Newsletter. I would like to convey my thanks to Lynda Blackman and her Events Committee for all their hard work in putting this together. Our next event is an “out of area” trip to Pencarrow House and Gardens near Bodmin. We will be car sharing again for this event so, if you are interested in attending, please let us know. You should also let us know if you intend to come to any of the events so that we can keep you informed of any last minute changes etc. I trust you will find something of interest among the varied events we are putting on this year. However, if you have any suggestions for possible events that we could put on, then please let us know. Our first event of the year was a very enjoyable lunch at the Prince of Wales in Newton-St-Martin - see the report in this Newsletter. I hope to meet up with as many of you as possible during the year at our events.

John Thompson

Events before the next Newsletter (due in July 2016)

See Events Programme, sent with this Newsletter, for full details, booking arrangements, costs & contact information.

Visit to Pencarrow House & Gardens (See article on page 2)

Tuesday 19 April 2016. For shared transport meet at 10.00pm Mawgan Village Hall car-park. Cost £20 per person, includes group entrance & buffet lunch. Booking in advance essential - contact Anne Roberts.

Treasure Hunt - Lizard Village & Church Cove (Lunch at Polpeor)

Friday 13 May 2016. Meet at Village Green car-park at 11.00am. Booking in advance essential - contact Gill Richardson.

Annual BBQ at Mellan House, Coverack

Saturday 11 June 2016. Mellan House, Coverack at 12.30pm Booking & payment in advance essential - contact Geoff Blackman

Midsummer (Madness) Picnic

Monday 20 June 2016. Meet 8.30pm at Predannack Wollas car-park. Please let a member of the Committee know if you will be coming.

Botanical Walk with Steve Townsend (Natural England) (Picnic)

Friday 1 July 2016. Meet 11.00am at Higher Bochym NE offices.

John & Ruth Thompson

Returning to our series of introducing individuals from our membership, we invited our new Chairman and his wife to tell us about themselves and how they came to live on the Lizard Peninsula. Already, Ruth and John have taken active rôles in the Trust's management and events programmes and we look forward to their continued involvement.

I was born in Middlesborough and lived in Redcar for short time. My father`s work took the family to South Wales so I went to school and college there, trained as an accountant with British Steel, then moved around the country working as an accountant for various companies. Ruth was born in Belper, Derbyshire and lived in that area until going to college in Shrewsbury. She trained as a Home Economics teacher and her first job was as a lecturer at The Staffordshire College of Agriculture, near Stafford. Ruth and I met when we were both living and working in that area. We settled in a village near Stafford and our two children were born there. We lived in that area for 15 years and then another job move took us to the Evesham area where we lived for 22 years, the longest period either of us had ever stayed in one area.

Our new Chairman John, & wife Ruth, always "at home" in their garden.

Our children, Sarah and Andrew, were born in 1982 and 1984. They both went to the local schools before deciding on their career choices. Sarah trained as a physiotherapist in Bristol and worked in several London hospitals. In 2010 she married Chris who also trained in Bristol & worked in London. In 2012, after enough of city life, they started their own business running ski chalets in Morzine, France. Our first grandchild Chloe was born last July and Ruth now travels out regularly to spend time with them in the mountains!! She is also brushing up on her `O` level French so as not to be outdone by Chloe!!

Andrew trained as a computer technician and now co-owns a business specialising in forensic computing. He still lives in the Evesham area but his work takes him to the USA where he spends much of his working time. He loves travelling down to Cornwall to spend time with the dogs.

We have been coming to Cornwall on holiday since we first met and decided over 30 years ago that this area would be the place where we would like to retire. Mainly visiting the North Coast, staying in holiday cottages, our favourite spots being Portreath, Porthtowan and Perranporth. We brought the dogs and the children so most of our holidays were beach holidays.

We re-discovered the Lizard area when the children had moved on and no longer came on holiday with us, staying in holiday lets in the Mullion area and occasionally at the Mullion Cove Hotel. We liked the relative peace and quiet of this area and that focussed our search for a property here. We bought Mellan House in August 2012, initially as a holiday home, coming here for all available free weekends and holidays. The pull of the lovely house and location persuaded me to take early retirement. We sold our house in the Evesham area very quickly and moved down permanently in May 2014.

Within a few weeks of moving in, we were introduced to the LPHT and have managed to attend several of the events to date. We helped lead a couple of walks and last year`s annual BBQ was held at Mellan House in beautiful weather!

Ruth’s main interests are gardening, walking her two Labradors and playing golf. After being involved with playing & organising tennis leagues & tournaments for most of her life she decided to have a change to golf & is now a member at Mullion Golf Club. The garden at Mellan House needed a lot of work so with some help from a local lad it is gradually being restored to its former state.

John Thompson

Lizard Peninsula Heritage Trust - Newsletter 67, April 2016 - Page 2

Pencarrow House and Gardens

Following the success of our visits in the past two years to Prideaux Place and Mount Edgcumbe, Anne Roberts has arranged this year's visit to Pencarrow House and Gardens, including a buffet lunch there. As last year, initially we will meet to share cars at Mawgan Village Hall. We are hoping that priority of lifts can be offered to members who would otherwise be unable to go. Contact Anne to book a place but please contact me with offers or requests for transport.

David Richardson

Pencarrow, whose name in Cornish means “head of the valley” or “high fort”, lies at the foot of a sweeping valley between Bodmin and Wadebridge in Cornwall. The largely Georgian mansion is still owned and occupied by descendants of the Molesworth family, who were introduced to Cornwall from Northamptonshire in the late 1500s, when John Molesworth was appointed by Queen Elizabeth as Auditor to the Duchy of Cornwall. He secured the family’s status in the county by marrying Catherine Hender of Botreaux Castle near Tintagel. John and Catherine’s grandsons further improved the Molesworth fortunes: the elder was knighted by Charles II and appointed Vice-Admiral for Northern Cornwall; the younger, a Colonel and Governor of Jamaica, was made a baronet by William III as a reward for loyalty.

Thus established, landed, and titled, and with plenty of money from agricultural tenancies and mining interests, the Georgian Molesworths were in a position massively to re-structure and improve the family seat. They hired architect Robert Allanson from York to design and build it; it was probably his greatest work, as he died in 1773 aged only 38.

Georgian Britain was greatly fascinated with Greek and Roman antiquity, and Pencarrow was on trend. Its new east and south fronts were based on the style of Venetian architect Andrea Palladio who, in turn, copied the classic proportions and elements of Greek and Roman temples. Older buildings can be traced on the house’s other fronts. The interior of the house boasts many fine features including ornate wood panelling, a rococo ceiling, cantilever stone staircase, handsome stained glass, and many other points of interest. The eighth baronet, Sir William Molesworth, expensively redecorated it prior to his 1844 wedding to Andalusia, a singer and London society hostess with exacting standards.

The house was uninhabited in the middle of the 20th Century,

before being taken on in the 1970s by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Arscott and Lady Molesworth-St Aubyn. They spent decades re-claiming the gardens from an overgrown state and shaping the house to open to the public. Today, the family inhabits one wing of the house.

Pencarrow boasts a fine collection of paintings, most notably an important series of family portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and two riverscape views of London by Samuel Scott. A favourite family work is a tableaux of the Four Misses St Aubyn in front of St Michael’s Mount, a delight of drapery by Sir Arthur

Devis. Other artists include Richard Wilson, Henry Raeburn, and Charles Brooking.

China and porcelain in the house include Meissen figurines, Chamberlayne’s Worcester dinner service, Sèvres plates and candelabra, and famille verte plates of the K’ang Hsi period (1622-1722). Equally enjoyable is an eclectic collection of glass pens made for the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace in 1851.

The jewel in the crown is the large Ch’ien Lung famille rose bowl known as the Pencarrow Bowl, which was specially made by Chinese artisans based on drawings. The outside of the bowl shows farming scenes demonstrating the estate’s connection to agriculture; on the inside is a colourful artist’s impression of Pencarrow and a foxhunt, complete with horses and riders, a pack of hounds and their rather otter-like quarry. Furniture of note include a giltwood Adam suite, side-tables carved in the style of William Kent, Louis XVI settee and chairs, and a George IV four-poster bed.

Pencarrow’s gardens are a combination of formal landscaping and woodland walks, with attractive planting for both garden specialists and casual walkers. Shorter and longer walking loops are available, as well as some wheelchair access. After the Snowdrop Sundays in February, Pencarrow’s floral season begins in March with a dazzling display of camellias and rhododendrons (more than 600 varieties in total) which bloom through the spring. Bluebells and Wild Garlic carpet the woods in May/June; the Memorial Garden provides a summer display, followed by hydrangeas, fuchsias and azaleas into the autumn.

Points of interest include an Iron Age hill fort, sunken Italian Garden with a quatrefoil fountain, ice house, palm house, ancient Cornish cross, and a grotto, which is believed to have been a secret meeting place. The gardens were designed and laid out between 1831-55 by the radical statesman and later Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir William Molesworth, together with his head gardener, Thomas Corbett. Much of their collection came from botanical explorers such as Douglas, Lobb, and Wallich, and is particularly strong in trees – at one stage, Pencarrow’s woodland boasted a specimen of every conifer, except ten, considered hardy enough for the British climate.

To the left of the Italian Gardens is the first Victorian rock garden in England. Its great granite stones, now interplanted with shrubs and trees, were carted to Pencarrow by Bodmin Moor farmers grateful for Sir William’s staunch support in Parliament.

Pencarrow also has a special relationship with the Araucaria araucana, the first specimen of which was bought by Sir William Molesworth for 20 guineas and planted in solemn state before a house party. Noted barrister Charles Austin remarked upon touching its prickly leaves, “It would be a puzzle for a monkey”, a witticism that gave the tree its common name of Monkey Puzzle.

Lizard Peninsula Heritage Trust - Newsletter 67, April 2016 - Page 3

Dean Super Quarry Issue - update March 2016

I am pleased to report that some progress has been made regarding the issue of the proposed re-opening of the Dean Quarry near St Keverne.

Permission for the Planning Application was quashed by the High Court in December 2015, for lack of an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment). It has now been reported (on 25 February 2016) that Shire Oak Quarries Limited (the developer) has now withdrawn their planning application to re-open Dean Quarry, with immediate effect, rather than undertake the legally required EIA. Full details of the planning application and Shire Oak Quarries’ withdrawal letter to Cornwall Council can be found on the Cornwall Council planning website (ref application PA 14/12081).

Separately from this, the Government also appears to have gone cold on the proposed Tidal Lagoon project in Swansea and a further series of other possible tidal lagoons in the UK which were to have been the recipient of the rock from Dean Quarry. A recent Government announcement confirms that an independent review into the feasibility and practicality of tidal lagoon energy in the UK is to be undertaken, the results of which will not be known until the autumn.

As I said in the last Newsletter, you would be forgiven for thinking that is the end of the matter. Well it is certainly not, it is just a respite for now, and developments in this case will need to continue to be closely monitored. If the Government does give the green light for tidal lagoon developments in the UK, then the developer may well re-apply for planning permission to re-open and upscale operations at Dean Quarry. I will report on any news in future Newsletters.

John Thompson

In recent Newsletters, Lynda Blackman initiated an alphabetical series of brief notes on some of Cornwall's towns and villages. This is now a regular feature in our Newsletters, serving as a reminder of how delightful and attractive many of the County's historic settlements are:

The ABC of Cornish Towns and Village - 3 Come-to-Good

Location – 3 miles south-west of Truro, at grid reference: SW 814 403

Come-to-Good is a small settlement comprising of a farm,

seven residential houses and a Quaker Meeting House found between Feock and Kea parishes. The name promotes much discussion and originally it was thought that it derived from the Cornish ‘Cwm-ty-coit’ meaning the coombe by the dwelling in the wood. Research never proved that this was the case and the name was only appears quite late in the 17th Century after the building of the Quaker Meeting House. The latest research seems to indicate that it was an ironical reference to friends and meetings. The Meeting House underwent a renovation in 2010 at a cost of £175,000.

Lynda Blackman

From a recipe booklet printed in Truro in 1929:

"CURRANY 'oBBIN"

Make a stiffish paste with flour and lard and a pinch of salt, but no baking powder. Wet it up with milk if you got it [sic], and water if you ab'n got it. Roll it out nice and thin and sprinkle it all over with currans, nice and thick. Then roll it up careful like you would your starch clothes, squeeze home the ends and brish it over with the white of an egg if you want it to shine. Then clap 'en in the ob'n. The children do dearly like it, and as they say currans be full of they new fangled "vitamines" the Doctors be always ordering, they ought to be good for 'em.

If you get tired of currans you can make a "figgy" wan for a change (Figs is just Cornish for Raisins).

Avril Evens

Kestle Barton, Rural Centre for Contemporary Arts

Summer programme Kestle Barton has notified us of the following events, as part of the Centre's summer programme, that may be of interest to our members. Further details, information and booking (when necessary) may be obtained from their website (info@kestlebarton.co.uk) or by telephoning 01326 231811.

Lizard Exit Plan: Kestle Barton Sector - Paul Chaney

19 March - 8 May 2016 Opening: Saturday 19 March 2-5pm, Artist's talk at 3pm

Our 2016 season will open with a new development in the ongoing speculative research of the Lizard Exit Plan by Paul Chaney. Imagining a catastrophic event cutting off Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula from the global economy, the artist has compiled a strategic plan for the population’s survival, first shown at Kestle Barton in 2014. Chaney’s new work will focus specifically on the role of Kestle Barton within his post-apocalyptic narrative and continue to uncover questions of

sustainability and the utility of art.

Critical Camping series with Paul Chaney Six weekend events 2016 - 21 - 22 May, 4 - 5 June, 2 -3 July, 23 - 24 July, 3 - 4 September, 24 - 25 September.

A series of workshop activities and fireside dinners with an invitation to camp overnight, Critical Camping will take place at Paul Chaney’s recycled pavilion Encampment Supreme in the orchard at Kestle Barton. The series comprises six separate weekend events throughout the season, all open to the public. Invited experts will join the artist and campers in conversation to discuss themes and repercussions raised by Chaney’s imagined post- apocalyptic scenario Lizard Exit Plan.

Naomi Frears - New Work 14 May - 3 July 2016

In 2011 Naomi Frears spent six weeks living and working at Kestle Barton as part of the fledgling residency programme. She fell for Kestle Barton as well as the green and mysterious Frenchman’s Creek, the Helford River and the Lizard. The work she made during her stay has been central to her practice ever since.

After her first work with moving image Still Here formed the focus of her solo exhibition at Newlyn Art Gallery last year, Frears has made a film specifically for this show at Kestle Barton. Several works on paper made employing various printmaking techniques and stimulated by source material gathered in preparation for this exhibition will be

shown alongside the new film. Double Brass - film screening Sunday 19 June, 3pm - Free admission

St Keverne Youth Band performance followed by film screening

As the summer solstice this year falls on a week day there will be no Double Brass 2016 devised by artist, Abigail Reynolds. Rather, we have a showcase of past years. In the garden St Keverne Youth Band will perform Troheaul, Gareth Churcher’s composition for Double Brass. In October 2015 the youth band won their section in the Cornish Championships with their performance of Troheaul. The concert will be followed by a screening of the new film which documents Double Brass 2015, as well as the Double Brass 2014 film made by piecing together crowd-sourced footage.

Lizard Peninsula Heritage Trust - Newsletter 67, April 2016 - Page 4

An historic finger-post, one mile north of Coverack sea-front. Top, in 2005 and below in 2016

Roadside heritage items survey

I make no apologies for giving such prominence to two telling photographs of the same historic finger-post in Coverack. To me, it is a disgrace that much-loved traditional features such as this have been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent.

I would like to resurrect our roadside heritage items survey, which has faltered after an initial promising start - no doubt, in part, to the apparently complicated survey form and the bewildering range of heritage roadside structures and features.

To make the procedure more convenient for our volunteer surveyors, I am proposing a much simpler first stage survey, with only basic information recorded, while limiting the range of artefacts to just three - finger-posts, post-boxes and telephone kiosks; the latter has recently been a topic in the national press, due to their worrying rate of loss.

If you are willing to participate in the revised, simpler survey, please let me know and I will send further information on the proposed procedure.

David Richardson

Spring Lunch, 19 February 2016

Of course, John and Jane Grierson were greatly missed at this year's Spring Lunch, held again at the Prince of Wales Inn at Newtown St Martin, when other commitments kept them elsewhere. However, Jane the more so (sorry John, we did also miss your convivial wit and learned opinion), as it left your Newsletter editor with the task of finding a stand-in scribe for the event. But who could possibly match Jane's exceptional reputation for achieving such an enjoyable balance of accurate reporting, literary skills and clever observations, that come so naturally to a classically educated scholar.

So, it is left to your editor merely to report that our splendid lunch at the Prince of Wales was greatly enjoyed by 20 of our members, in an atmosphere of noisy but friendly merriment.

Jane (and John) - please come next year !

David Richardson

Kale – the healthy option

Having recently embarked on a diet, I have been looking at recipes containing little or no fat and no sugar. Not being very green fingered at times, I buy vegetables from farm shops and supermarkets which results in too much quantity to eat before they go mouldy. I dislike wasting food so, below, is one of my ways of using up a bag of kale.

Firstly, why all the hype about Kale as a healthy option? Well, it is a brassica, but is closer to wild cabbage than most domestic forms. A relatively small quantity provides a good amount of vitamin A, C, K, E and B6 plus riboflavin and foliates. Boiling decreases its nutritional value but steaming or stir frying results in a very small loss.

Anybody addicted to crisps and picker type biscuits will enjoy these Kale Chips:

Spray a non-stick baking sheet with spray oil, tip on as much kale as you want to use up and spray again. Now sprinkle with your choice of seasoning – I like salt, black pepper and lemon zest. Put in a hot oven for about 5–10 minutes until very dry and crisp but not burnt. Serve as a nibble or sprinkled onto a salad.

Lynda Blackman

Members of the Committee

Chairman John Thompson 01326 714417 Mellan House, North Corner, Coverack TR12 6TH

Vice Chairman (vacant)

Secretary David Richardson 01326 280058 Bodlowen, 3 Bounder Treath, Coverack TR12 6TP

Treasurer Geoff Blackman 01326 241722 Chy an Mordhu, 5 Park Enskellaw, Mullion TR12 7JG

Committee Geoff Blackman 01326 241722 Chy an Mordhu, 5 Park Enskellaw, Mullion TR12 7JG

Lynda Blackman 01326 241722 Chy an Mordhu, 5 Park Enskellaw, Mullion TR12 7JG

Adele Brazier 01326 280171 Chegwiddens, 6 Bounder Treath, Coverack TR12 6TP

John Brazier 01326 280171 Chegwiddens, 6 Bounder Treath, Coverack TR12 6TP

Avril Evens 01326 290629 Tresaddern House, Ruan Minor TR12 7NA

David Richardson 01326 280058 Bodlowen, 3 Bounder Treath, Coverack, TR12 6TP

Gill Richardson 01326 280058 Bodlowen, 3 Bounder Treath, Coverack, TR12 6TP

Anne Roberts 01326 221243 Pipers Green, Garras, Helston TR12 6LP

Ruth Thompson 01326 714417 Mellan House, North Corner, Coverack TR12 6TH

President: Geoff Blackman Vice Presidents: John Grierson, Peter Greenslade, David Richardson

Published by Lizard Peninsula Heritage Trust, Bodlowen, Coverack TR12 6TP Tel: 01326 280058 Email: d813richardson@btinternet.com

Website: www.lizardpeninsulaheritagetrust.org.uk