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The end of May ndbeginning of Junesees the start of thegooseberry season,and I do recall that aschildren my brothers

and I were not particularly fond ofthis fruit because we considered ittasted sour and horrible. It isamazing how our tastes change aswe become adults. Britishgooseberries have a very shortseason, around 4-6 weeks, whichkicks off with the familiar greengooseberries around thebeginning of June but that isdependent on the fruit havingbeen blessed with some sunnyweather. Green gooseberries areexcellent for cooking and aredelicious in pies, crumbles,charlottes and fools. They are alsogood for making gooseberry saucewhich goes beautifully with bothgrilled or pan fried freshmackerel. Once the season for thegreen fruit has gone, then thelarger dessert gooseberries, whichcan be a golden or a pinky redcolour, come into season and aresweet to eat, and also make adelicious addition to a fresh fruitsalad. Although the gooseberryhas not been terribly popular overrecent years, I hope this willreturn as it is rich in fibre andvitamins A and C.

SUMMER FRUIT FLAN

Ingredients (serves 4)250g gooseberries250g redcurrants150ml water225g caster sugar2 tbsp cornflour225g plain flourPinch salt60g butter50g lard1 tsp lemon juiceCold water80ml double cream

MethodPick over the gooseberries andredcurrants and put into asaucepan with the water andsugar and bring to the boil, andsimmer for around 15 minutesuntil the fruit is tender. Removefrom the heat and puree in ablender or food processor. Mix thecornflour to a smooth paste withtwo teaspoons or so of the fruitpuree. Return the puree to a cleanpan and stir in the cornflourmixture and bring to the boil,over a medium heat, stirring fromtime to time until the mixturethickens, remove from the heatand allow to cool a little. Put theflour and a pinch of salt into amixing bowl, add the fats, cut intosmall pieces, and using yourfingertips rub the fat into theflour until the mixture resemblesbreadcrumbs. Stir in the lemonjuice and sufficient water to form

Yo u ’d be a fool notto like gooseberries

a firm dough, turn onto awell-floured board and kneadlightly until smooth. Roll out thepastry to about 6mm thicknessand line a flan dish. Prick thebottom with a fork, line the pastrywith foil and bake in a preheatedoven set at 220C (Gas mark 7) for10 minutes, then remove the foiland lower the heat to 180C (Gasmark 4) and continue to cook for15 minutes or until the flan case isgolden. Remove from the oven andallow to cool. Spread the fruitmixture in the pastry case andchill in the refrigerator until set.Whip the cream and pile or pipeon top of the fruit.

HONEYED GOOSEBERRYPUDDING

Ingredients (serves 4)350g gooseberries150g soft light brown sugar2 level tsp ArrowrootGrated rind and juice of a lemon5 level tbsp runny honey600ml milk50g semolina

MethodTop and tail the gooseberries andput into a saucepan with 75g ofthe sugar and 90ml of water andbring to the boil, then lower theheat and allow the fruit to simmeruntil soft but still whole. Strainoff the liquid and set aside. Putthe berries into a bowl. In a cleansaucepan blend the arrowroot to asmooth paste with a tablespoon ofthe lemon juice and the honey, addthe saved gooseberry juice andmix well and bring to the boil,over a medium heat, stirring allthe time and cook until clear.Remove from the heat andtransfer into a bowl, and allow to

cool. Put the milk into a cleansaucepan and bring to the boil,sprinkle on the semolina, lemonrind and remaining sugar, cookfor about ten minutes until themixture has thickened then stir in4 tablespoons of cooled gooseberryjuice. Layer the gooseberries andcooled semolina into four largeglass goblets, finishing withgooseberries. Spoon over theremaining gooseberry juice andchill well before serving.

YOGHURT GOOSEBERRYFOOL

Ingredients (serves 4)450g gooseberries2 tbsp runny honey4 level tbsp caster sugar4 level tsp gelatine150ml natural yoghurtA little green food colouring(optional)Boudoir sponge fingersTop and tail the gooseberries andput in a saucepan together with300ml water. Cover the pan andcook over a low heat until thefruit is soft. Puree the fruit in ablender and pass through a sieveto remove the seeds. Return thepuree to the saucepan togetherwith the honey and the sugar andbring to the boil. In the meantimeput 4 tbsps water into a smallbowl, sprinkle over the gelatine,and when this has swollen, stirinto the hot pureed gooseberriesuntil dissolved. Set aside to cool.Once the gooseberry mixture isbeginning to set fold in theyoghurt, and stir in a few drops ofgreen food colouring. Spoon intoglass goblets and serve with theBoudoir sponge fingers.

Rosa Mashiter

GA R DE N I NG / FO OD OU T D O OR S

A GOOD READ

Ithink this will work.

With those five words,Martin and HermonBond began a journeythat would take themfrom being down-to-earth

Cornish farmers tointer nationally-recognisedentrepreneurs. In a few years,from the late-1970s to themid-1980s, they transformed anarea of poor farmland in SouthEast Cornwall into aworld-renowned golf and leisureresort, hosting majorcompetitions and attracting thebiggest names in the sport.

At an event to launch a newbook celebrating the lives andachievements of the brothers,Her mon’s son, Graham, said: “Itwould be the equivalent today ofasking Tiger Woods to comehere and play – it just would noth ap p e n . ”

Graham, along with hiscousin, Chris – son of MartinBond – were among the guests atthis week’s launch of St Mellion:The Bond Legacy. The 300-pagebook has been written byMichael Taylor, a formerWestern Morning News and BBCRadio Cornwall journalist, andPaddy Flavin, a former directorof golf and leisure at St Mellion.

It has been published to markthe 30th anniversary of theofficial opening of the JackNicklaus golf course on July 10,1988. On that day, four of thewo rl d ’s greatest golfers – Ja ckNicklaus, Tom Watson, NickFaldo and Sandy Lyle –christened the course. It was thefirst course Nicklaus haddesigned in the UK and hassince become known all over thewo rl d .

The seed of an idea begansome 15 years earlier, when thefarming brothers, both keengolfers, decided they’d have a goat building their own course onfarmland just outside the villageof St Mellion. They concededthat in the early days they didn’thave much of a clue about whatthey were doing. But theirdetermination was rewardedwith the staging of the Benson &Hedges International Open in1979. They went on to court JackNicklaus, arguably the greatestgolfer of all time, and finallypersuaded him to come toCornwall. Nicklaus was not aneasy “c at ch ” and it was far fromplain sailing after they “gottheir man”. However, the resultwas that the B&H returned to StMellion for six years from 1990to 1995.

The book details the progressof the Bonds from the birth of

their dream through to the saleof St Mellion and beyond. A mixof comic recollections, seriousand sad stories, the co-authorssay they hope the account mighteven inspire youngentrepreneurs. Conceived andresearched over several years,the authors spent many hourswith the families and colleaguesand staff and were given accessto a vast collection of documentsrelating to the development of StMellion.

Paddy Flavin said: “Mar tinand Hermon Bond were truevisionaries. They had ambitionsthat were way ahead of anythingother operators of proprietaryclubs had at the time. Theyknew intuitively how to harvestrelationships as successfully asthey farmed the land. I wasprivileged to have played a verysmall part in the growth of StMellion and that gave me aninsight into just how much ofthemselves the Bonds gave toturning their dreams intore a l i t y. ”

Hermon died in 2000 andMartin died two years ago.

Michael Taylor, who reportedon the Bonds and St Mellion formore than 20 years, said: “T hefirst time I met Martin andHermon was in late-1976 in thestill-to-be-completed clubhouseat St Mellion Golf and CountryClub. It was clear, even then,that they had set their sightsfirmly on revolutionisingsporting facilities in theWestcountry and attracting thebest golfers in the world toCornwall. They achieved theirgoal and Paddy and I decided toget together to ensure there isnow a permanent record of howthey went about the mammothtask of transforming farmlandinto a world-famous golf andleisure resort.”

Simon Parker

St Mellion: The Bond Legacy is available at St MellionInternational Golf Resort, Lanhydrock Hotel and GolfCourse, and Amazon. It is priced £12.97.

Few of the tens ofthousands ofholidaymakers whoswim and surf andsunbathe onCor nwall’s beaches

this summer will give a secondthought to the many holespeppering the cliffs above them.And even if they do consider theorigins of these pock-marks, orwonder about the red staining onthe rocks, it’s unlikely they willtake their curiosity any further.

Tomorrow, however, there is achance for the inquisitive todiscover more, with a public eventaimed at shedding light on thelittle-known mining heritage ofCornish cliffs. A team of experts,who are currently investigatingwhether tin and copper workingsin the cliffs at Perranporth datefrom medieval or even prehistorictimes, will be on hand to lead

guided walks, offer explanations,and answer questions.

Thousands of visitors enjoyPer ranporth’s beautiful sands, butmany don’t realise that most ofthe caves in the cliffs areman-made. The coast was used formining rather than leisure in thepast, with the solid rock beingtunnelled through by miners.Today, evidence of mining alongthe coast is being gradually lost asthe cliffs erode in the face ofincreasing winter storms.

The research is being carriedout by University of Exeterarchaeologist, Dr Gillian Juleff,who grew up in the area. She isjoined by members ofPerranzabuloe Museum,Perranzabuloe Parish Council, DrNicola Whyte from theU n ive r s i t y ’s department ofhumanities and Dr Kate Moorefrom Camborne School of Mines.

Unravelling cliff heritageThroughout tomorrow’s

discovery day, there will be pop-uptalks and walks by local expertson the beach on topics such asPer ranporth’s connections withWinston Graham and Po l d a rk ,mining heritage, seine fishing,geology, the history of surfing,and St Piran’s Oratory. There willalso be a beach art activity thatvisitors can join in, and themuseum will be open for visitorsto see a new beach and stormsd i s p l ay.

Dr Juleff, who was inspired tobecome an archaeometallurgist inpart because of her mining rootsin Cornwall, said: “There is somuch we don’t know about themining history of the beach andcliffs. We want to find ways to tellpeople about the mining heritageon this coastline. We are alsocarrying out an integrated surveyof the cliffs that includes oral

histories from the localcommunity as well as geology,archaeology and environmentals c i e n c e s.

“The sand in the area is shiftingand the cliffscape is constantlychanging. We hope our work willhelp all involved safeguard theenvironment and promotePer ranporth’s mining heritage tothe tens of thousands of visitorsthat come to Perranporth everyyear. We look forward to meetingthe community at this event,which promises to be afascinating and fun day.”

This is the second “heritage onthe beach” community day run bythose working on the project,including Perranzabuloe Museumvolunteers and Exeter students.The first event in September lastyear won the “audience initiative”award at the first CornwallHeritage Awards.

Simon Parkerspeaks to theteam behindplans for a dayout for localpeople andvisitors to findout about themining heritageclose to some ofthe area’s finestbeache s

The rapidly-eroding cliffsat Perranporth containsignificant evidence ofancient mining activity,including shafts and aditsThe name’s Bond...

Martin andHermon Bond

Martin Bond, Hermon Bondand Jack Nicklaus discussthe construction of thecourse at St Mellion in 1983