Little Cornish Adventures

In the dark depths of the winter of 1870 the tiny Cornish fishing village of Cadgwith made the national newspapers when it became unwittingly embroiled in the ongoing Franco-Prussian war. The strange story of the lost balloon post brings to life a forgotten period of history, a time when the postal service (and a speedy delivery) could be a matter of life and death. The Seige The Siege of Paris…

Ann Boswell, better known as Granny Boswell, is one of Cornwall’s best known characters and an important figure for many in the gypsy community but who was the real woman who has inspired so much affection, so many stories and has even been depicted in one of the biggest TV shows of the past decade?! Meet Granny Boswell One of Cornwall’s best-known gypsies, Ann Boswell, was actually born in…

In September 1937 workmen digging the foundations of Truro’s new Telephone Exchange unearthed human bones. This macabre discovery in the heart of the city surprised everyone and would lead to rumours of a forgotten burial ground, while a curious carved head found nearby would give rise to tales of an ancient curse. Why those bodies were buried where they were and where the strange carving came…

A year or so ago an old Porthlevener asked me if I knew about the Moonstone. (I think that he might even have called it an asteroid at the time.) When I said I hadn’t he told me I couldn’t miss it, this rock that had supposedly fallen from space, if I went to cliffs outside the village at low tide. Of course I had to see it for myself and he was right, the rock really is unmissable! It isn’t hard…

For the past couple of years I have been a bit of a guinea pig for the iWalk Cornwall team! I have been helping them to test their amazing new range of MYSTERY WALKS. These brilliant interactive walks bring together so many things I love – they get you out and about, they are fun and interesting, they get you interacting with where you are and they help you discover something unexpected and…

In the summer of 2017 I interviewed Dr E. Emma Carlyon about her role as County Coroner for My Cornwall magazine. It was the first professional interview that I had ever done but she put me completely at ease. Although I only met her that once I still remember how struck I was by her warmth and compassion. I was therefore deeply saddened to hear of her passing, such a tragic loss not only for her…

There are certain members of our community who are supposed to be beyond reproach. Individuals that we hold in higher esteem, who are meant to set the standard for the rest of us – the village constable or doctor perhaps and of course, the local vicar. But experience should have taught us that these individuals are just a fallible as the rest of us, just as likely to commit a crime or indulge in…

In the spring of 1909 a series of startling events in Cornwall became front page news across the British Isles. The newspapers reported that a ‘madman’ had shot four people and had barricaded himself into his home in the small rural town of St Blazey. Cecil Dench was quoted as saying that his home was his “own castle” and that he would shoot anyone that approached it. He was frighteningly true to…

Last year I was very fortunate to hear Dr MacKenzie speak at the NMMC as part of their autumn lecture series. The topic that night was a well known Cornish character, Mary Bryant, and her extraordinary life, a story I thought I knew reasonably well. But the insight and detail that Dr MacKenzie presented really brought it all to life for me and added a different dimension. This is what academia…