Friday 8Th May the Country Commemorates
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MOUNTMOUNT && WARLEGGANWARLEGGAN LIFELIFE May / June 2020 Number 118 Non-Parishioners 50p FRIDAY 8TH MAY THE COUNTRY COMMEMORATES VE DAY WE MUST NOT FORGET THE MANY PEOPLE WHO SADLY LOST THEIR LIVES PROTECTING THE UK, EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD FROM TYRANNY As a parish we are not able in the current circumstances to come together as one. On the 8th May decorate your gates / garden hedges with a Union Flag or bunting and at 3.00pm (weather permitting) sit out in your garden with a cup of tea or something stronger (your choice) a slice of cake, listen for the church bell at St Bartholomew’s to be rung, think of the sacrifice of “those few” and undertake the Toast - “To those who gave so much, we thank you” (and chat to your neighbours over the hedge!) RED IN TOOTH & CLAW 01.04.20 Latest Goverment Guidelines suggest that domestic and wild animals may be obliged to take over essential jobs due to CoronaVirus. Sheep are being interviewed over the next few days to work as Baa Tenders, and a Squirrel has applied for the post of Kernel in Chief of our Local Police Force, he is reputed to be a bit of a nutter, so beware. Dairy Cows will temporarily manage the Council Chambers, (just an udder day at the office for them.) We are lucky to have a Giraffe interested in maintaining all the overhead power lines in the Parish, and a team of Moles is to be put in charge of clearing Drains and Gullies. Word has it, a couple of local pooches will be playing their part too. Sarah, the Re- tired Guide Dog from Mount will supervise all aspects of road safety, and Monty the Wriggly Terrier is going to start up his own Window Cleaning Round. He will plunge himself into the nearest water trough, hurl his entire body at your windows, slide gracefully to the ledge, and disappear from view. Just leave a couple of dog treats on the doorstep if you require his services. Pigeons will be delivering the post, cats will be among the pigeons, and all being well, come Friday, Village Greens will pull a rabbit out of the hat and supply all your shopping needs! 08.04.20 Regular subscribers will know that every Wednesday, I've been in the habit of sending a message, with an update on farmlife, and information about what's available on Friday. Despite disruption to our routines, there seems no reason to cease these messag- es, so, here goes. Farm life actually continues very much the same as before. The animals are loving the sunshine after a hard winter with much rain. One of my regular tasks is to ring my Mother who is isolating herself in Yorkshire. I have been chatting to her whilst walking the dogs, describing in detail the progress of the season, through wildflow- ers coming into bloom, leaves budding on the trees and birdsong filling the air. Later in the day, she visualises all this whilst taking herself for a walk around the confines of her house. I also give her a ring when I go on my late night sheep check, we count the sheep, make sure no births are imminent and that all lambs are settling down for the night with their mum. However, I've had to give strict instruction, Mother is NOT to recre- ate sheep checks in her living room. The last thing we need right now is her blun- dering around in the dark, wrestling an armchair to the ground to help it give birth, or taking a potshot at a footstool because it looks like a fox. Di Wells MOUNT CHAPEL With no services being held at the Chapel we must individually be strong and main- tain our faith to help us pull through this current crisis. The Chapel has lost one its strongest supporters in Henry Jory who for the whole of his life attended the Chapel, bedecked it with flowers, played the organ and organised the annual plant sale. Our heartfelt condolences to Brenda and the family. WELCOME TO A NEW PARISHIONER The Parish welcomes Robyn to Forget-Me-Not Barn at Woodah where she has had no problem in self-isolating during this crisis. We look forward to seeing you at Parish events when we return to normality. COMMUNITY ACTS As you know we look across the valley into Mount from home and you will have noticed how quiet it is without the firing range, the aircraft in and out of Newquay, and traffic on the A30. We are all adapting to new ways of living, shopping, working. We are grateful for our box of goodies from Village Greens on a Friday, for the increased number of calls, cards and emails from friends catching up on the news and for those group calls deliver- ing Pilates lessons into our living room, or a chat with family. It is deeply moving to see how communities have responded and are working together to help anyone in need. The Nation acknowledges our huge debt of gratitude to the NHS but there are many unsung heroes. Our post arrives daily, the bins are picked up weekly, the re- cycling fortnightly and there are many delivery drivers who all deserve our thanks. I'll be banging the pot lids Thursday for everyone. Cornwall Council is supporting local businesses and is leading the country with the amount of Government grant paid out, 17,000 businesses already helped receiving £195 million to date. Currently there are no Council meetings but this will change shortly with on-line meetings becoming the new normal. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this disease, especially those who have lost loved ones. Meur ras/Thank-you Martin Eddy Lib Dem Cornwall Councillor e.mail: [email protected] Tel: 07453 295622 / 01208 821613 Should you have a problem or need help please contact me. Katinka Peter Katinka wrote about the china clay industry in Cornwall for a geography project at her school in Germany. This is presented here in two parts. Part 1. All about China Clay in Cornwall Everyone uses china clay. If you need to take any kind of pill it will be coated in china clay to help you swallow it more easily. Any glossy magazine or photograph is coated in it. China clay is used in toothpaste, for makeup, in light bulbs, in the rubber in- dustry, in paper making, and - of course, for making porcelain. China clay is one of the UK's most important natural resources, second only to North Sea oil and gas in volume. For many decades, Cornwall was the biggest producer in the world. Now Britain is in fourth place. I spent some of my childhood in Warleggan and went to Cardinham School. One of my favourite places is the old china clay mining site at Glynn Valley on the moor we call "Claypit Lake" and we often go there when we come back on holiday. This mine became inactive a long time ago and nature has gradually taken over the place. The clay hills are getting grown over and the old pit is now a lake. We enjoy swim- ming and picnicking there. Some of the old structures, once used to mine and re- fine the china clay, together with the remains of miners' houses, are still there and are fun to explore. The china clay industry in Cornwall started around 274 years ago. Kaolin of a simi- lar quality to that in China was first discovered by William Cookworthy in 1746 near St Austell. The deposit turned out to be the largest in the world and a global indus- try, initially based on porcelain production, developed rapidly. Once tiny villages soon had a high population as men and women began working in china clay. Sport and music developed with villages having football teams and brass bands. Many service industries to transport the clay - and associated industries to house and feed the workers - such as railways, boat builders, brick workers and pilchard cur- ers - developed. Charlestown became a major port for exporting china clay. Today it is merely a historic village. The china clay workings at Glynn Valley started in 1875 and stopped in 1942. It had a great number of different owners over that time. There were three phases to the mining (a) 1875 to 1911, (b) 1912 to 1914, then a break due to the war, and finally (c) 1919 to 1942. The evidence for the last phase is clearest, and you can still see the circular settling pits and various channels, as well as, of course, the clay hills themselves. About 32 men are listed as working there in 1930 so it was an im- portant source of income to many local families. The whole site is special in Corn- wall because, unlike most workings, it has not changed much since the mine closed around 80 years ago. Employment and Production in China Clay Employment in the china clay industry in Cornwall fluctuated greatly from 1851 to 2017. (It was not possible to find sufficient good data for the years 1868 - 1974.) China clay in Cornwall employed 1000 men and women in 1851 and this number rose rapidly until 1867 where 4000 were employed. Employment levels went up and down over the next century until a peak was reached in 1975 with around 5,500 people working in the clay mines. Since then the number of employed people has declined rapidly and today is the same as in 1851 with 1000 workers.