Cornwall's Hidden History Blog
Much of Penzance’s Chapel Street is lined with historical buildings. Many date from the 18th century but at the top of the street there is a building truly like no other in the whole of Cornwall. Penzance’s Pride and Joy Egyptian House, Nos 6 -7 Chapel Street, is a rare survivor of a style of […]
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It is romantic to think of a photograph as a snapshot of a world that would otherwise be lost to us. However the Gibson family’s enormous collection of photographs of Cornwall is so much more than a romanticised version of the past. They document the everyday. Capture the world of working-class Cornish people. Set against […]
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In the back of Joseph Thomas’ book of poems entitled “Randigal Rhymes” you will find, along with a list of Cornish proverbs and charm for toothache, a glossary of Cornish words. The first one that you should look up of course is randigal. And you will find that it means “a rigmarole, a nonsensical story”. […]
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Lets face it most of the decisions you make in the pub are at best misguided and at worst dangerous. We have all read or heard about some crazy misadventure and thought to ourselves that decision was definately made after several pints of Spingo!? I have to admit that was my first thought when I […]
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December is the time of the year when our days are at their shortest and darkest. When it seems that our little world is more night than day. But the Winter Solstice, 21st December, marks the turning of the year. The return of the sun! Celebrations marking this returning of light and warmth have been part of our […]
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I went on a really wonderful walk the other day. The sun was shining. I was all alone. And there was so much history along the way that I am hard pressed to decide which part should be the subject of this piece of writing. This is Rogers Tower. And it has often been called a folly. […]
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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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The last time I visited the beautiful St Michael’s Mount, just off the coast of Cornwall, there was a steady stream of tourists crossing the tidal causeway ahead of me. I have walked this cobbled path many times in rain and shine. It’s a place that is different in every season and in every light. On […]
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She pulled me up onto her lap and her woollen skirt scratched the back of my bare legs. I looked down at my grubby knees and the bruises like inky thumb prints down my shins. She reached, tired hand quivering, and brought down the photograph from its shelf. The frame was tarnishing, silver turning black […]
Read MoreCelia Fiennes was born in 1662 in Wiltshire but she had very different ideas about what a woman of her time should be and how they should behave. The daughter of a wealthy politician Celia refused to be bound by convention and she never married. At a time when making a journey for its own sake […]
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