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St Agnes Parish News
Parish News – January – February 2024
Written by: Ben Jackson
Wishing all our subscribers and readers a happy new year!
We hope that everyone has had a lovely festive period, filled with fun and joy. Let’s all make this year a good one!
Apologies for the printed version of the newsletter – it doesn’t work as it was hoped to, but we are working on it. This newsletter is a learning curve for us all – so please bear with whilst we try to get that working.
Would also like to apoligise for this being a few days late and a bit short… we always aim to get this out on the 1st of the month, but illness, Christmas and breaking down on the motorway on New Years eve have hindered this months news letter.
Council News
Vacancy – Join the Council!
Want to be involved in shaping your community? Making decisions about public spending and services? Have a positive impact? We are looking for an enthusiastic person to join the Council as a Councillor for the Mount Hawke ward. If you’re over 18 and live anywhere in the parish (does not have to be Mount Hawke specifically) – please consider this. Details can be found here.
Deadline: 21st January 2024.
What’s Been Happening in the Parish?
Mount Hawke Millennium Green
Cllr Lauren Porter and her partner Hannah Cook, held a wreath-making workshop to raise funds for Mount Hawke Millennium Green. Everyone left with a wreath they were proud to hang on their front door!
This is the third year Lauren and Hannah have hosted the event, and hope to host multiple wreath-making workshops within the parish next year, including having a few free spaces on each for those who would love to join in but can’t afford to.
All foliage is local and sourced from multiple locations to ensure sustainability. Christmas tree cuttings were bought from Kehelland Trust, an amazing place that helps young people and adults with learning and physical disabilities to develop personal and social skills, and to gain life and work experience in a rural setting.
Shout out to Rosie at Rookery Farm and her huge eucalyptus plantation!
Mount Hawke VCA
Mount Hawke VCA hosted a free Christmas dinner where anyone was welcome to come and get one, regardless of age, circumstance or ability. Rev’d Simon Clarke came and entertained hungry guests with his guitar whilst they waited for their food, as well as a visit from Santa and from Wendy with her owl.
A big thank you to all those involved!
To the ladies who came and peeled all the veg (in record time!), for Mount Hawke Methodist Chapel for use of the space, to Nurture for use of their oven, to Tony for expertly carving the Turkey and generally being a great help along with his daughter, Nina, to those who served, cleared and washed up, and, last but certainly not least, to Sam at Corner Cafe for being the brains of the operation and spending many hours prepping, cooking and working out every part of the delicious meal.
Mount Hawke TRA
Mount Hawke TRA hosted their children’s Christmas party which was attended by 39 children. They all had a wonderful time with food, games and a visit from Father Christmas who gave each of them a present. They all went home happy with a party bag.
A successful afternoon!
Mount Hawke Christmas Makers Market
What a miserable Monday evening for a Makers Market it was… Locals must have been eager to do a bit of Christmas shopping though, as it was well attended!
Shout out to Sam at Corner Cafe for doing her last ever pizza night at the same time – really helped make this event worthwhile. Thank you for providing Mount Hawke with its only takeaway for the last few years, it will be sorely missed.
Keep your eyes peeled for an Easter market! Cllr Lauren Porter will be hosting these markets quarterly to support and showcase the work of the amazing makers, artists and designers within our parish.
Porthtowan Village Hall
Porthtowan hosted its Christmas Bazaar which was full of wonderful stalls with goods from local artists and makers, along with a “Santa’s Grotto.”
St Agnes Library
On Saturday 2nd December, 18 children and 9 accompanying adults enjoyed a free session learning about fish in association with the St Agnes Marine Conservation Group and the Westcountry Rivers Trust. Local Author and Marine Ecologist Angela Gall read her beautiful book “Allis the Shad who wouldn’t give up” and the attendees learnt all about Allis Shad fish that live in the River Tamar. After the story, the attendees looked at stunning underwater photographs of the fish and made craft fish on sticks to take home with them.
On Tuesday 5th December, Mousehole class from Mount Hawke Academy visited the library for storytelling, movement and Christmas craft in association with the Hall for Cornwall.
On Friday 15th December, children from Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 at Mithian School visited the library for a performance of “Nadelik” by O-Region Theatre. Based on Craig Barr-Green’s Christmas in Cornwall book, the children enjoyed a rhyming Christmas story performed in the round which included music, poetry, singing and storytelling.
Take Flight School of Dance
Take Flight School of Dance hosted a Christmas dance performance to showcase some of the skills that the dancers have been learning this year.
The Christmas Lights 2023/24
All the best laid plans are at the mercy of the weather when you live in Cornwall! Having worked up until midday on the day of the Switch-on, the Lights team where forced to cancel the event on the basis of the weather forecast! High winds and heavy rain from about 4.30pmonwards but in the event it arrived an hour later and the Switch-on could have gone ahead! Hindsight only adds to the disappointment which the team and all of you experienced that the event was cancelled. There were a few of us in the square at 4.45pm when the lights did come on but no Bolster or Silver Band. In over 25 years the Switch-on has only been cancelled twice, both in the last five years – our weather certainly isn’t improving!
The cancelled event was just one of the challenges which we’ve faced, it’s probably been a year to remember but for all the wrong reasons. It was a race to get everything up in time, fuses kept blowing, winds blew lights down, power failures tripped RCDs and it was a good few days before all the lights were on at the same time. Special thanks to a couple of the team who were ‘on the case’ most days until the middle of the month. We hope everyone enjoyed the display and appreciated the new lights in the Old Burial Ground. This was an experiment which we hope to extend in future years and also to light up the woods at Peterville.
As you know the Christmas Lights couldn’t happen without the generosity of many people in the village who help finance the lights. This year the ‘CLIP’ scheme has continued to grow and there are now 85 villagers who provide support on an annual basis. Their generosity provides an ongoing fund for improvements, repairs and replacements. If you’ve really enjoyed the lights this year and would like to become a CLIP, just get in contact – richard.tufnell@btinternet.com.
Our fundraising quiz, raffle and auction in the St Agnes Hotel in early December raised just about £700 which is brilliant. Our thanks to Neil for hosting the event, Pete for organising the quiz and all those who came and made the evening such a success. Many local businesses contributed raffle prizes and the items put up to auction, so thanks to: Little Feathers, Finestere, Fingers & Toes, The Green Forge, St Agnes Surf Shop, St Agnes Farm Shop, Churchtown Gallery, Churchtown Butchers, St Clements Vets, Shellfish Beach Deli, Eddie’s Salon, Trunk Deli, Cafe Q, Churchtown Veg, The Miners and Mechanics, Fission Fish and Chips, The Green Room, Goundrys, The Taphouse, Martina’s Bakery, The Peterville Inn, AWFM Financial Advisers, The Bullfrog and The Pizza Cafe.
The single most significant donation was the Christmas tree in the WI Square which was once again donated by Tony at Seven Milestone Garage. Thanks Tony and well done on the decorations at the garage which provide such a wonderful welcome to our village.
I’m sure everyone would like to join me in thanking all those who made it possible. Some of the Lights Team have been involved now for over twenty five years, others were new to the team this year. There are many tasks: servicing the lights, climbing ladders, footing to ensure the safety of others, road closures, tree dressing, checking that the lights stay on throughout the 33 day period etc. In addition all those undertaking tasks on which the team relies, those performing secretarial and financial roles, our auditor, and all who help at fundraising events – it is a genuine co-operative effort! As you see, it really involves so many in the village but isn’t it worth it! When the January newsletter is posted there will still be six days before Twelfth Night so you still have a chance to see the lights and enjoy them. The next day the lights will start coming down and being packed away ready for next year. You may ask ‘why not leave them up?’ Well in our climate they just wouldn’t survive from year to year, I think that’s where I started!
– The Christmas Lights Team
Porthtowan Christmas Swim
Many braved the cold and charged into the water on Christmas Day! Here are a few images people sent in for the newsletter!
The Grower – CSA Growing Greener Award
The Grower scoops major new sustainability award!
We are delighted to announce that The Grower has won a brand new category for 2023 in the Cornwall Sustainability Awards – “Growing Greener – Planting Trees in Cornwall.” This category, sponsored by Forest for Cornwall, Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust, celebrates a county-wide commitment to planting new trees.
The Grower was up against stiff competition, with Arbor Farm the runner up, Bolghen Tree Nursery CIC highly commended, and Gaia Trust CIO receiving a special commendation. We’d like to extend our congratulations to those organisations, as we recognise that planting trees in Cornwall is important.
The Cornwall Sustainability Awards have been running for over 20 years, and are acknowledged as “the prize to win” in the world of environmentally friendly business. The organisers have been pioneering the celebration of all things green, developing the awards to reflect the changing landscape of business, as well as innovations in the sector, such as an increased national focus on tree planting. For The Grower to have won the first Growing Greener award is huge, for us, as we’re still a new business. This recognition will help cement our reputation in our sector, as a pioneer of sustainable planting practices, so we are very grateful to the Cornwall Sustainability Awards team and judges for their support.
Our winning application…
Our nomination form for the awards explained not only what the business does, but also how we are unique. We are the South West’s largest grower of bareroot hedging and trees, having grown two million trees this year. Our environmental diversification programme on our farm is pioneering on a farm this size.
The three main strands of our application were our commitment to regenerative agriculture in our tree-growing operation, our knowledge base, helping ensure that customers’ trees thrive, once we have handed them over, and our “practice what we preach” approach to nature recovery on our own farm.
The trees we grow are exported across the country, to the landscape, forestry, and agricultural markets, and include field maple, sycamore, beech, blackthorn, wild plum, oak, Scots pine and many others. We are proud members of CONFOR (confederation of Forestry Industries) and FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group) as well as corporate sponsors of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust; whilst also Woodland Trust UKISG (UK and Ireland Sourced and Grown) accredited. We also recently announced our Plant Healthy accreditation, the first in Cornwall.
In Cornwall, we have planted 48,656 trees, since 2021, including landscape mitigation for a solar park, broadleaf replanting on a Larch plantation which had succumbed to Phytophthora, and mixed woodland planting on an ex-open cast mine and landfill site as part of wider landscape recovery.
The industry standard for any tree planting scheme is to expect a 40% loss of trees, but The Grower’s team aims to turn up on site with all the trees, sundries and experience required to ensure that planting scheme survives. We use experienced labour, and have a survival rate between 85% and 95%, meaning that the customers’ trees thrive, there is less wastage, and successful planting schemes are flourishing more quickly, with less need to go back and fill in gaps.
Practicing what we preach
On our home farm, our key aims are to create new areas of habitat, connect existing habitats, enhance water conveyance, improve soil health, increase carbon sequestration, and improve ecosystem services. We are achieving this by planting new areas of woodland, restoring existing hedgerow corridors, planting new hedgerows, planting field corners up with trees, and developing an agroforestry silvo-arable trial. So far, we have planted 4,665 trees on our farm, with more planned, and focussed on projects close to and along Public Rights of Ways on the farm. This is specifically to improve the immediate environment for the local community by increasing access to nature, improving air quality, landscape quality and water conveyance along these local routes.
There were several case studies presented alongside the Award application, and these will be being added to the website in due course, to encourage other landowners to explore options for planting trees on their land, to enhance and protect their local environments.
Please do get in touch for more information.
Take Flight Dance Studio – Lessons Throughout the Parish
A little bit about Miss Kim…
Born and raised in Cornwall, Kim discovered her passion for dance at an early age, with her journey beginning at Capitol School of Dance. It was here that she honed her technique and performance abilities under the guidance of esteemed mentor Kay Jones.
Throughout her career, Kim has amassed a wealth of experience as both a performer and an instructor. She has graced stages across the South West and London with performances in festivals, competitions and many wonderful productions.
After obtaining her Cecchetti ballet exams up to professional level, Kim embarked on her diploma in ballet and performing arts at the Urdang Academy in London, graduating in 2000. London was her home for many happy years until 2017 when she came back to Cornwall and began teaching children and adults across St Agnes, Mount Hawke, Porthtowan and St Austell. Since returning to Cornwall, Kim has completed her Level 1 Acrobatics qualification and is working hard towards obtaining her Cecchetti Ballet teaching qualification.
As an instructor, Kim is known for her ability to inspire and mentor students of all ages and skill levels. She believes in creating a nurturing and inclusive environment where dancers can explore their creativity, build confidence, and refine their technique.
In addition to her teaching commitments, Kim remains actively engaged in the dance community, attending workshops, summer schools and constantly seeking new avenues to expand her knowledge and skills.
Driven by the belief that dance is a universal language that transcends barriers, Kim has dedicated herself to creating a positive and inclusive learning environment in her dance classes. Her teaching philosophy combines technical precision with creative expression, emphasising the importance of self-discovery and individuality in each dancer.
Kim has a relentless passion for dance and continues to inspire aspiring dancers, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of her students.
Pilates in the Parish
Jenni Dandy – Dance Classes at Mount Hawke Skatepark
