Cornwall's Hidden History Blog
I have always loved the mystery that a ruined place creates. They are on one hand like a blank page on which I can jot down any story that my imagination likes and then on the other they of course already have a real history to discover. Real characters and real events. The past halted in time […]
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One of the most iconic and memorable sites in Cornwall is a man-made one. What the locals call the Cornish Alps. The huge, bright-white spoil heaps left by the China Clay industry dominate the centre of the county and can be seen for literally miles and miles highlighted against a blue sky. China Clay is […]
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John Knill loved St Ives. And more than 2oo years after his death St Ives is still remembering him. This rather eccentric philanthropist (sometimes smuggler) wanted to provide for the people he had grown so fond of. And to also guarantee that his name would be remembered for all time in the town that he made […]
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Grandpa Dale was a quiet, stern looking man who always wore a shirt, tie and waistcoat on the farm, even on the sunniest days. He was hard but never unkind and I adored him. I followed him about the farm like a puppy, getting under his feet. He always carried a roll of blackcurrant fruit […]
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Tales of lost worlds and underwater cities are the stuff of our fantasy, myth and imagination. The legends of Atlantis and Avalon have become a part of our psyche. Ingrained in our culture. Since I was quite young I have been told the stories of the magical land of Lyonesse. The city of Arthurian legend that is said to have […]
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No one these days really knows what a collar stud is, let alone wears one but King George V certainly did and he is said to have kept his in a rather special place. Cornwall is not really known for its treasure troves, we live in hope of a discovery like Sutton Hoo to put […]
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Old buildings, I feel, always have a certain presence but ruined places somehow even more so. There is a special kind of mystery in a ruined place and I find myself drawn in and pisky-led. My rather over-active imagination can fill these ivy-clad, tumble-down spaces with life and lives that are entirely of my own invention. Maybe […]
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Living as I do in Mid Cornwall sometimes it can feel that I am a long way from anywhere in either direction. If I take a trip ‘down west’ then I like to make a day of it and take a picnic. And the same must be said for the other direction too. There would […]
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We all know a little of the story of the Mayflower. Every schoolchild is told something of that famous fleet of ships that sailed to America in the last days of the summer of 1620. And in the US I am sure that many would hope to perhaps trace their roots back to those 102 intrepid travellers. Those few who journeyed to the […]
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Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end. The Tamar river in many ways marks the beginning of Cornwall. And of course we all know where to find the End. It is the village of Lanivet, not far from Bodmin, that marks the middle.You see this little place’s claim to fame is that it is meant […]
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