During this year we have held a number of Open Days at the Market House to enable the community to enjoy access to the space for the first time in 75 years. These days have been so successful that many people already think we have moved in! In reality, there is a lot of work to do before we can finally call it home.
Over the past few months we have been working on finalising the grant funding from both the Community Ownership Fund and The Enterprise Grant awarded as part of the St Ives Town Deal. This grant funding will be used to update and renovate the building. Both sources of funding are part of the previous Government’s Levelling Up Programme, and in accessing these grants, the Archive has worked in partnership with the St Ives Town Council who own the building.
The Archive wants to transform The Market House into a modern and welcoming space for both visitors and the local community. At the same time, we wish to retain the historic heritage of the building once home to the Town Council before 1939 and where a Magistrates court was regularly held. The Magistrate’s chair is still in situ and thanks to a kind and generous offer it will be reupholstered and conserved by a local company.
The Archive intends to appoint an architect who understands the value of retaining the local heritage, but who also understands the needs of a modern archive. Wherever possible consideration will be given to environmental sustainability and improved access.
Over the next few months design work will commence to determine how we will fit into the new space whilst retaining the historic features. One of the main innovations to conserve space is the use of modern roller racking. This, however, is not without its difficulties as structural steelwork will be required and this will inevitably cause some disruption.
Once the building design work is finalised along with structural advice, a tender exercise for the building work will be carried out. This is expected to go live in the next two months.
A huge improvement in the building’s accessibility will be the reworking of the existing staircase which has been a barrier to use for a number of years. This improvement will be augmented by the installation of a lift to the first floor, which will facilitate easy access to an archive space, which will provide wheelchair-friendly movement and compatible furniture.
A final date for moving into The Market House has not yet been set, however it is expected to be in early 2026.
In order to achieve this date and provide the town with an asset it can be proud of, considerable voluntary effort will be needed. We always welcome new volunteers, so if you are interested in joining us at this exciting time, please contact admin@stivesarchive.org for an application form. As we will need to finance the physical move ourselves, donations through our website are also greatly welcome and appreciated.
Discover the life and work of Alfred Wallis, a mariner turned artist who inspired many St Ives artists with the paintings he made in his cottage in St Ives. Join Ethan Carney from St Ives Archive for a biographical talk, with quotes and images throughout plucked from the Archive, helping to bring Wallis to life.
Venue: Porthmeor Studios, Back Road West, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1NG.. Doors open at 2.00pm. Talk starts at 2.30pm
Thursday 19th September and Tuesday 24th September
The History and Mystery of St Ives with Tony Mason – Guided Walk Beginning at 11am
Please meet at The Malakoff by the Hepworth sculpture. With the help of photos from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Tony explains the significance of the fishing and mining industries, the coming of the railway, lifeboat tragedies, shipwrecks, the development of the harbour, customs and traditions, tourism and anything else that takes the eye as we go along.
Tickets are £5 (no booking required, cash only, children free)
All proceeds go to St Ives Archive whose Trustee Tony (aka the Cornishpastyman on YouTube) leads a 120-minute stroll from Porthminster Beach to Porthmeor Beach.
Troika ceramics were produced by a mid-twentieth century group of creatives who were intent on pushing design and style boundaries by daring to be different. Continuing her series of talks, Madie Parkinson-Evans has conducted further in-depth research, which provides insight into how the items were made and decorated. Many of the employees were local women and their dedication and decorating skill transformed the moulded pieces that are still recognised and highly valued throughout the world today.
Venue : Porthmeor Studios, Back Road West, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1NG. Doors open at 2.00pm. Talk starts at 2.30pm
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was a key figure in the St Ives Modernist Movement, and was once erroneously relegated to a mere disciple of Ben Nicholson. Her powerful work, artistic journey, and prolific output will be explored in this introductory talk with Ethan Carney from St Ives Archive, including some of the artist’s own insightful words.
Venue : Porthmeor Studios, Back Road West, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1NG. Doors open at 2.00pm. Talk starts at 2.30pm
To hear a person speak of past times adds a reality to history that words often fail to achieve. Some time ago, the St Ives Archive initiated an Oral History Project for St Ives. Many people had their memories of St Ives recorded and subsequently transcribed. These transcriptions became part of the Archive.
The Archive has now started Oral History Project 2. We would love to hear from anyone who would be willing to let the Archive record their stories for the use of future generations.
If you wish to take part, please contact the Archive on 01736 796408 or get in touch using the Contact Us form on our website.
Background: Oral History Project 2
On the 30th May 2024, Diane Callicot and Ethan Jerome took a trip to Madron to revisit some of the ladies who’d attended Ethan’s talk on Alfred Wallis for Madron WI last year. At the talk, it became apparent a few of the ladies had some Wallis stories of their own, so we formulated a plan to start a little Oral Histories Project.
Our first participant invited us into her home and told us of the Workhouse Christmas parties and her Grandfather who would take Wallis cardboard to work on. We then spoke to a lady who was in her 90s; she didn’t remember so much about Wallis but told us about the Workhouse allotment and what the war had been like in this area, as well as how she raised 9 children!
All participants were thanked profusely for agreeing to let us record them, and we all deserve a special pat on the back for navigating this while the whole of Madron was being resurfaced! Good job we didn’t get stuck before we arrived! A huge success and something Ethan is excited to be working on more once the September Festival preparation is over.
Join us for a celebratory afternoon tea with Richard Long, author of The St Ives Branch Line: A History, at Tregenna Castle on 6th September 2024 with all proceeds to the St Ives Archive.
Marking the 250th anniversary of Tregenna Castle, the celebrations kick off at 2pm. Throughout the afternoon, you will enjoy a cocktail or glass of Prosecco served with Chef’s fish & chips, handmade sandwiches, Cornish cream tea and a delicious variety of cakes.
Richard Long will be in conversation with local historian and Archive trustee Tony Mason, who will also be sharing archival footage of the St Ives Branch Line in action. Signed copies of Long’s book will be available to purchase.
To reserve your ticket – £40 per person – please email Tregenna Castle Hotel at events@tregenna-castle.co.uk or call 01736 795254.
We look forward to raising a glass with you there!
Lyn Burchess of St Ives Archive celebrates the 250th anniversary of Tregenna Castle in St Ives with stories of secret passages, the visit of a crown prince, steam locomotives and hosting US President Joe Biden.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of Tregenna Castle in St Ives, Cornwall. Originally the country house of Squire Samuel Stephens, Tregenna Castle, has since 1878 evolved into a luxury holiday hotel. Perched high above the town it offers breathtaking views of the historic St Ives Harbour, with its centuries-old cottages and the rugged North Cornish coast (see photo above).
Travelling Westward (Country Life May 13, 1922) described Tregenna Castle ‘as a standing sentinel amid its parks and woods above and behind the town of St Ives’, a position it proudly asserts to this day. The original house was attributed to John Wood the Younger famous for his work at The Assembly Rooms Bath and was constructed by a local builder from Penryn. It was built on the site of the old Tregenna homestead named after the long extinct family of that name. Beautifully hand coloured architectural drawings by Plymouth architect George Whitwick in 1845, now in the RIBA collection at the V&A, show the north side wing extension and the creation of service quarters at the rear. A further south side wing was added in 1922 thus achieving the symmetry seen today (see photo below).
Samuel Stephens Junior, who had inherited the property from his father, was the Member of Parliament for St Ives from 1818 to 1820. Papers held by The National Archives recall that old inhabitants can remember being told by their parents how they were brought up to the castle to line the drive and cheer the Squire’s departure to London. The day was a general holiday and the four horse coach took three weeks to arrive at its destination. The coming of the railway to St Ives was to dramatically change all that.
In 1871 Henry Stephens placed the house and the estate, which comprised most of the old town, up for auction. It was bought by mining industrialist Thomas Bolitho who was a director of Barclays and the local Bolitho’s Bank. The Great Western Railway (GWR) were looking to build a branch line to St Ives from St Erth on the main Paddington – Penzance line, which was completed in June 1877. Thomas Bolitho as one of the railways promoters quickly saw the opportunity to lease Tregenna Castle to GWR and the 42-year lease was signed in March 1878 by the famous GWR Chairman Daniel Gooch who with Isambard Brunel designed most of the broad gauge locomotives for GWR.
Tregenna Castle today
On 4th August 1878, the grand opening of this railway hotel took place. Coverage in the local Cornishman Newspaper announced the modern facilities provided and also commented on the beautiful lantern at the top of the staircase embellished with the Stephens coat of arms (see photo below). The Cornishman heartily wished the GWR scheme every success and what a success it was. This necessitated various alterations over the next 50 years, which by 1932 witnessed the expansion from the original 12 rooms, to 120.
In 1926, the Great Western Railway Magazine boasted a recent discovery, during the alteration phase ‘of a certain underground passage under the wine cellar leading to a secret underground room large enough to hoard many a smuggled hogshead in the Squires days. The underground passage made an unsuspected exit where the dining room now stands’. The hotel unusually benefitted from a heating system that was not only powered by boilers maintained by The Swindon engine works but were also fired by railway coal. The integration with the railway brought many other benefits according to GWR minutes, including a handed down GWR bus and in 1936 the redundant telephone system from Paddington Station.
The Hotel has played host to many famous visitors, including Herr Ribbentrop, Hitler’s Foreign Secretary who it is understood enjoyed visiting Cornwall, particularly St Ives. Because of this, it has been suggested he wanted to make Tregenna Castle his retirement home. Crown Prince Chichibu of Japan, who played an important part in Japan’s post WW2 reconstruction, also stayed on separate occasions. More recently Tregenna Castle hosted Joe Biden, President of America and his entourage, the United Nations, the Presidents of Australia, South Korea, South Africa and the EU Council for the 2021 G7 Summit held at Carbis Bay.
The Stairwell Lantern with the Stephens Family Coat of Arms
As an established golf resort, Tregenna bravely allowed its golf course to serve as a helipad. Marine One and Two were landed as required but it was the three accompanying V22 Osprey that left burn marks, causing much damage at the time. The downdraft of helicopter blades displaced large quantities of sand from the bunkers that needed replacement after the event. A marquee erected there too, served 6500 meals to contractors and staff during the course of the week. The dignitaries dined in the elegant Trelawney Suite
It is also noteworthy that from 1880-1940 four ships owned by the local Edward Hain Line, latterly P&O, were named Tregenna in homage to this renowned location. Adding to the prestige Tregenna Castle also lent its name to the famous GWR ‘Castle Class ‘locomotive which pulled The Cheltenham Flyer on its world record breaking speed journey on 6th June 1932 achieving a blistering average speed of 81.6 mph.
The Tregenna Castle Hotel continues to this day its tradition of giving back to the community with the support and funding of the Saints Boarders two storey Tregenna Surf Club House this facility provides accessible toilet facilities, board store , club house and cafe located by the Tate St Ives Gallery. As part of the 250 year celebration The Tregenna Castle team are also giving back to the environment by planting 250 trees in the Resort. Tregenna aims to minimise their ecological footprint, preserve natural beauty and enhance bio diversity. James Parker Operations Director said ‘together lets grow a greener future and ensure that Tregenna Castle remains a beacon of sustainability and natural beauty for the next 250 years and beyond.
A celebratory afternoon tea with Richard Long, author of The St Ives Branch Line: A History, is being held at Tregenna Castle on 6th September this year with all proceeds to the St Ives Archive.
Atkins Ferrie Wealth Management Services occupies an office in the cookhouse at the back of the old Stennack School in St Ives. The former school has a rich history as a building and holds fond memories for many local community members who were educated there. AFWM asked the St Ives Archive to research the history of the school for publication in its quarterly in-house magazine, Venture, that goes out to all its clients and staff. The resultant story is contained in the article which is printed in full below.
The 15th April 2024 marks the 112th anniversary of the most famous shipwreck of all and a chance to look at the fate of St Ives’ Titanic passengers. Of 2,233 on board, 7 were from our town. AGNES DAVIES (née FRIGGENS), her son JOHN and friend MAUDE SINCOCK (née ROBERTS), were among the 705 picked up by RMS Carpathia. As Titanic broke apart and sank, Maude thought the loud noise she heard was the boilers exploding. Agnes tells what happened next:
My older son Joseph (Nicholls) had dressed and he came to the stateroom and put lifebelts on us. Through all this time we had received no warning from the steward, no orders to prepare for anything like what we were to experience. Had it not been for our curiosity to learn what was going on we might have perished. We went on deck about 12.15 and my son (John) and myself were placed in the 3rd lifeboat.
Joseph helped to place us in the boat and asked permission to enter it himself, this being refused with the threat that he would be shot if he attempted to get in. I pleaded with the officers in vain that he be allowed to come with me. There were about 50 in the boat but there was room for more. After we were lowered away and before the boat left the ship some men entered it by sliding down the davit ropes. The men in charge of the boat rowed as hard as they could to get away from the ship. By the time she sank, which was at 1.45, it seemed as if we were miles away, although I could hear the screams, cries and moaning of the drowning passengers.
They spent the night in that lifeboat among the icebergs and when morning came a sailor called out “That’s a ship” as he saw a speck appear on the horizon. The lifeboat rowed toward Carpathia and it was only when she was aboard that Mrs Davies learned that Joseph was among those who perished. Agnes married Richard Henry Nicholls in Penzance in 1886, a union that produced 3 children, one of whom was Joseph Charles. Listed on the 1901 census as a widow, she remarried insurance agent Robert Davies in 1903. John Morgan was their only child.
The St Ives newspaper of 3 May 1912 carried the following letter written by Maude on the Carpathia to her mother in Cornwall:
I am saved but have lost everything. I must however be thankful for my life. I have not a penny and no clothes. I was thrown on board a little boat in my nightdress and boots. I had no stockings on. We were in this little boat in the middle of the ocean for 6 hours. And I was nearly frozen when we were picked up. I shall be a pretty sight when I land.
We were rescued by a passing ship, Carpathia. Titanic struck the iceberg just before midnight and was underwater at about 2 o’clock. There were over 1,000 persons on board when she foundered. Mrs Davies and her son John Morgan (of the Stennack, St Ives) are saved, but we have seen nothing of Joe. We think he is drowned. We have not seen anything of the other ‘boys’ (William Berriman and William Carbines) who left St Ives. We could hear the screams from the men as the Titanic was sinking. I think there are hundreds drowned.
Mrs Davies told me to ask you to send a message to Balnoon to tell her aunt she is saved, but that we don’t know anything about Joe. I don’t know what I shall do when I get to New York. I am frightened to death nearly, and afraid I shall catch my death of cold by the time I get to Hancock. I will write again as soon as possible and tell you more news. I don’t know where they are going to put us when we get to New York.
Your loving daughter,
Maud
She was also known as Maud or Maudie and only stopped making pasties when she was 92, passing away a year later in 1984.
John and his mother settled in Hancock, Michigan. Agnes married an English-born firefighter named Richard Edwards in 1921, dying of cancer in 1933 aged 70. John took his own life aged 48 in December 1951, almost certainly from depression due to his divorce a few weeks earlier, by barbiturate poisoning while working in a Detroit drugs store. He was buried 4 days later in Lakeview Cemetery, Calumet, Houghton, Michigan.
The remaining 4 were travelling to mining work in Michigan.
William Carbines
The only repatriated body was that of WILLIAM CARBINES (19). Willie boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a second-class passenger (ticket number 28424, £13) with his friend William John Berriman and they were planning to join Carbines’ brothers Robert and John in Calumet. His body was among 306 recovered from the sea by the cable repair ship Mackay-Bennett and identified by his 2 brothers. On 10 May it was taken aboard the White Star Line’s Oceanic for transport to Southampton, arriving by train at St Ives on 27 May, met by a long concourse of people on the terrace overlooking the railway. Over 500 mourners paid their respects as he was interred in his grandparents’ (William and Anne Carbines) grave in Barnoon Cemetery on 30 May. A few weeks later his parents suffered further heartache when their youngest child George died on 24 June.
William Carbines’ funeral, 30 May 1912
The body of Agnes’ older son JOSEPH CHARLES NICHOLLS (19) was recovered from the sea on 23 April by the MacKay-Bennett, the first of 4 ‘mortuary’ ships chartered by White Star Line to search for bodies in the aftermath of the disaster. He was buried at sea as identification proved impossible. Possessions removed from the body were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia and identified as belonging to Joe Nicholls by Carbines’ brothers. There is a memorial to him in the same Calumet Cemetery where his mother Agnes and younger stepbrother John are also buried.
William Carbines’ grave at Barnoon Cemetery
The body of WILLAM JOHN BERRIMAN (23) if recovered, was never identified. He is the only one of the 4 without a permanent memorial. His family suffered more heartbreak in the First World War when his brother Samuel was killed in action on 4 September 1916 while serving in the 8th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment.
STEPHEN CURNOW JENKIN (32) was born at Nanjivey on The Stennack, emigrating with his elder brother to Houghton County, Michigan in about 1903 where he worked in the copper mining industry. They subsequently became U.S. citizens. He returned to St Ives in the summer of 1911 to visit his family. He was not due to return to the USA on Titanic but coal strikes meant his second-class reservation (ticket number C.A. 33111, £10 10s) was switched. He had misgivings about the new ship and left his valuables, including his watch, with his parents in case anything should happen to him. A postcard he sent from the ship read as follows:
Dear Father and Mother and Sisters. I am sending another photo of the same ship. This is the 3rd one I sent you. This goes from Queenstown and the last one I sent from Cherbourg, the first one from Southampton. They are three different views of the same ship. I am not sick yet. She is a nice ship to ride on. I’ll write from New York next time.
From your loving son,
Stephen.
His body was not found but he is remembered on the family headstone at Barnoon. Messrs Carbines and Nicholls lived at The Stennack. William Berriman lived at Hellesveor.
Stephen Curnow Jenkins’ inscription on the family headstone
In all 12 ‘Cousin Jacks’ were lost in the disaster. Fairview Lawn Cemetery near Halifax, Nova Scotia is the largest single resting place for Titanic victims. See the video below for a video taken at the ‘Titanic Cemetery’.
30 of the 121 graves are unidentified.
Article and video by: Tony Mason
Featured image: RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912(Wikimedia Commons).
In 2023, St Ives Town Council approached the Trustees of St Ives Archive and offered them a permanent home – Market House in Market Place. It is a perfect partnership, enabling the guardians of St Ives history to breathe life once again into this important building, which was Grade II listed in 1972.
The Market House has been the home of commerce and administration in St Ives since 1490. The original building was made of wood with an open ground floor which provided a sheltered area for trading. In 1832 this building was demolished and replaced by the larger granite building that exists today. The rounded ends of Market House, which gives the building such a distinctive shape, were designed for a specific purpose. The rounded ends allowed space for carts carrying ships’ masts to and from the Harbour to negotiate around the tight corners of St Ives’ streets.
The first floor of the new Market House became the Town Hall. It became both the council chamber for St Ives Town Council and also the Magistrate’s Court until the new Guildhall was built in Street an Pol and the Municipal Offices relocated there in 1940.
Since it was founded in 1996, St Ives Archive has never had a permanent home. Wesley Methodist Church in Carbis Bay is currently its third location, and to move back into St Ives was always the aim of the Archive. So when the Archive Trustees were approached by the town council with the offer to move into the first floor of Market House, they were delighted to accept. The proposal is subject to raising the necessary funding, with the aim of completion in 2025. Applications for a St Ives Enterprise grant and the Government’s Community Ownership Fund are being prepared.
Archive volunteers were the first members of the public to have an escorted tour of the premises. An Open Day hosted by the Archive was held on 15th December 2023, and the response from the many visitors was overwhelmingly positive towards the move. On Thursday 28th March 2024, from 10am until 3pm, St Ives Archive will once again open the doors of Market House and hold a second Open Day with the co-operation of the Town Council.
It will be an opportunity to see the historic first floor – complete with the ceremonial chair and cells – before the first floor is closed for renovation. Refreshments will be available on the Open Day and a selection of Archive publications will be on sale. Volunteers will be there to give information and answer questions about the Archive and also to extend a warm welcome to any prospective volunteers. Volunteers are the life blood of the Archive and each one is valued for their commitment, time and skills at every level. This is an exciting time to join the team of enthusiastic volunteers and to experience being part of this unique project of relocation and the creation of a new Heritage and Study Centre.
By: Wendy Grove
This article was originally published in the March / April 2024 issue of St Ives Local magazine.
Image: Market Place, St Ives pictured in April 2010. Market House and Moffat Gallery can be seen on the right with St Eia House and No Worries souvenir shop on the left (Source: Wikimedia Commons).
Today marks the 130th anniversary (17 November 1893) of a notorious night/early morning in St Ives Bay when five ships were wrecked on what became known as the Night of the Cintra Gale. A crankshaft broke loose in the engine room of steamer Hampshire, tearing a massive hole in the hull. The ship went down within an hour 10 miles north of Godrevy Head with the loss of the captain and 14 crew. Cintra, Bessie, Vulture and Rosedale came to grief on Carbis Bay and Porthminster beaches.
This awful night would be a largely forgotten footnote in the story of Cornish maritime disasters but for reminders visible to this day – as seen in the video below – and an incident featuring one of St Ives’ most famous artists. At the lowest tides you can walk around what’s left of the three ships that met their end at Carbis Bay.
St Ives lifeboat Exeter II was launched but conditions meant that it could not go farther than Pedn Olva before giving up, oars broken. Eyewitness Sam Cleave observed, “they’ve got the lifeboat out but they won’t do nothing against that sea.” The wind brought the morning train from St Erth to a standstill as it approached the dunes in front of West Cornwall golf course, with the fury of the gale causing immense damage throughout Cornwall. As reported in The Cornishman, around 1,000 lives were lost at sea and on land.
The anchor of 418 ton collier Cintra of Liverpool was recovered from the seabed in 1959 and installed on Smeaton’s Pier in 2003. A nod to this is just 100 yards away, as the premises formerly trading as Caffé Pasta became Cintra Seafood Bar in Spring 2023.
Cintra ended up near the Porthminster Point end of Carbis Bay Beach. Captained by Henry Green of Brixham, the huge seas had already buckled stanchions and destroyed its ventilators but at 2 a.m. the windlass seized up, jamming the anchor chains solid. As dawn broke, the gale changed to NNE. As the ship was about to sink at anchor some crew tried to cut the fouled chains with hammers and chisels, only to be driven back to the shelter of the bridge.
Captain Green hoisted a distress signal and ordered the lifeboat to be lowered but it capsized on meeting the water, causing Chief engineer Rogers, fireman Summers and two able seamen to disappear in the surf. Cintra lurched onto the sands and it was every man for himself. Captain Green, steward Jones, two engineers and a fireman jumped overboard, but able seaman Ash of Brixham, though handed a lifebelt by the captain, stayed behind, hoping the collier would ebb dry. The rest were dragged ashore by coastguards and rocket men. Cintra suddenly broke up, drowning Ash, one of seven of the 12-person crew to perish.
The remains of Bessie and Vulture lie near Carrack Gladden, a few yards from the headland which divides the beach from Porthkidney Sands. Vulture’s crew, all from St Ives and Hayle, were landed by breeches buoy. All aboard Bessie were also safely rescued. The photo below shows 287-ton SS Bessie broadside to the surf, with the boilers of 345-ton Vulture of Cardiff beyond.
Bessie has the unusual if melancholy distinction of being wrecked on both her maiden and final voyages. Built in 1865 for the busy Hayle – Bristol trade route and launched by Harvey and Company of Hayle, the collier ran aground on Hayle Bar in a heavy north-easterly gale on 11 January 1866. In mountainous seas, St Ives’ first RNLI lifeboat ‘Moses’ was unable to reach the casualty so a telegram was sent to Penzance requesting help.
Drawn by eight horses through Canon’s Town and Lelant, Penzance lifeboat ‘Richard Lewis’ and its crew of 12 met ‘Moses’ in St Ives and both boats set off together. After a long struggle Bessie’s captain and crew of eight were brought ashore. The Silver Medal was awarded to Penzance Coxswain Thomas Carbis three weeks later with the following citation: “The long struggle of both crews to reach the wreck and their coolness and judgement in the actual rescue were beyond all praise”. Additional payments were awarded to both crews.
The 936-ton cargo steamer Rosedale wound up at Porthminster, broken beyond repair. Out of Southampton en route to Cardiff, the captain had no option but to try and ground on the beach. Sam Cleave stated that he did this with some skill but correctly assessed that the ship was “leaking water at every hole it can find and will be fit for nothing but scrap”.
The next day, Richard Taylor and James Stevens, aged 12 and 13 took brass fittings lifted from the ship to marine stores dealer Alfred Wallis (his business a few yards from Quay Street closed in 1912, after which he started working for a local antiques dealer. It was not until his wife’s death in 1922 that he took up painting “for company”). The boys grudgingly accepted Alfred’s meagre offer and boasted of their windfall in The Sloop. Word spread, resulting in Sergeant Jones paying Alfred a visit to enquire if he had recently acquired any brass. It was well hidden in a bag of bones so the policeman found nothing but Alfred knew he had to shift it – fast.
The following day he cycled to Penzance, feeling “more relieved the further I got from St Ives”. Sadly, his confidence was misplaced for on arrival at Denley’s (the intended purchaser), he was greeted by none other than Sgt Jones. Soon in the dock at the St Ives Borough Police Court, Alfred was fined £10 for receiving stolen goods. This was a large sum for a man who would end his days penniless at Madron workhouse but he was (just) able to pay, avoiding time in Bodmin jail. The lads were less fortunate. Unable to raise their fine of 25 shillings each, they spent a month at Bodmin.
The photo of Rosedale below shows the high sandbank that forms on the beach after high tides with a strong northerly wind, and New Pier, built in 1866.
Article and video by: Tony Mason
To learn more about the maritime history of St Ives, visit us at the Archive Centre in Carbis Bay. You can find our opening hours here and book your visit in advance by filling in a form here.
