December 2015

Visitors to December’s Memory Cafe were greeted by a hall decked in red and green bunting and a display of Christmas books. A packed room was soon engaged in an equally full itinerary to welcome the festive season!
After the usual chat and a ‘cuppa’, local artist Elaine had everyone involved in making some Christmas decorations: a festive lantern with flickering candle (worked by battery – Health and Safety please note!), a simple but effective gift tag featuring ‘Rudolph’, and a charming Christmas tree decoration. The results were great and everyone felt very pleased with themselves.


Christmas picture puzzles were then poured over, whilst our wonderful catering team served up Christmas tea with home-made biscuits, decorated buns, mince pies and an iced Christmas cake, not forgetting the crackers, of course!
Meanwhile, Newquay’s talented team of hand-bell ringers ‘Keur Klegh Kernow’ were setting up to entertain us and we were soon singing along to familiar carols. The bells were delightful and really captured the spirit of the season. A few brave souls even took up the offer of ‘having a go’ – it’s not as simple as it looks!

Gifts and cards were distributed to everyone and thanks given to our gifted visitors before we all set off for home with the sound of bells ringing in our ears.

Our next Memory Cafe will be held in Crantock Village Hall on Monday 4th January from 2pm – 4pm. The cafe, which is run by volunteers, is free for all those concerned with memory loss along with their carers. For more information ring Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.
Crantock Memory Cafe hopes that everyone in Crantock and the local area has a very happy Christmas and we would like to send our best wishes to all for 2016. 

We're nearing the end of our second year...

With only one more cafe to go before our second anniversary, it seems a good time to reflect on the ‘niche’ we have found in our local village communities. From the very start we have been well supported by individuals from Crantock, Cubert, Newlyn East and Newquay who have come along to share in our social afternoons, have cooked for or waited on us, entertained or advised in equal measure.
Outside of the cafe itself, other groups and organisations within our communities have included us in their thoughts and deeds: these include not only the ‘Bale Push’ perhaps our biggest local fund-raising event, but also Crantock WI and the ArtyCrafty Group which recently gave us a fantastic donation following its Christmas Craft Fayre.  For the second year running we were honoured to lay a wreath in the village on Remembrance Sunday, particularly poignant to the cafe as a number of our members and helpers have served in the Armed Forces.
We’re also grateful to our neighbouring Memory Cafes at St Columb Minor and Perranporth who have given us encouragement and advice.
Many thanks to all, and here’s to our third year!

November 2015 Extra

A good number of members old and new joined us at the Village Hall this month for a ‘cuppa’, a slice of cake and a fascinating look at ‘Old Time Music Halls’.  We watched some remarkably good-quality film from the early twentieth century of artists such as Marie Lloyd, Dan Leno and Wilson, Betty and Keppel, as well as some from later in the century who some of us could recall (but only just!): Gracie Fields, Max Wall, Arthur Askey .. just as entertaining today as they were fifty or sixty years ago!
Together with quizzes and puzzles, refreshments and chatter, and a game of ‘Musical Bingo’, the afternoon passed quickly as usual and left everyone looking forward to our final cafe for 2015 which will be on Monday 7th December from 2pm at Crantock Village Hall.

November 2015

Our November Cafe started with a bang as visitors were greeted with tables decorated with Guy Fawkes and ‘fireworks’! This linked with our wordsearch and wordwheel puzzles, and was followed by reminiscences of bonfire nights past – sparklers and bangers, ‘Penny for the Guy!’ and potatoes baked in the bonfire.

We were then entertained by the Cornish Dance Team from Newquay’s U3A who demonstrated a number of local dances: Mr Martin’s Reel, St Day Furry Dance, The Newlyn Reel and, a surprise for us all, The Mating Dance. 


After reading a few amusing rhymes, whilst they caught their breath, the ladies then invited us all to join them in the Flora Dance, which quite a few of us did, with considerable success! ..... 
Just watching the dancers was exhausting and those who joined in were particularly relieved to revive themselves with tea and cake before settling down to a quiz on a ‘let’s dance’ theme.  Who danced ‘cheek to cheek’ with Fred Astaire?  What dance craze was started by Chubby Checker in 1960? What dance did Matilda do? – just a few of the challenging questions which got us all thinking.

‘Conversation Boards’ on the dance theme brought back dancing memories, and we all had a laugh at a poem called ‘Dancing Queen’ read by Margaret and Di, and a recording of Joyce Grenfell’s ‘Old Time Dancing’ (probably better known as ‘Stately as a Galleon’).

Finally there was a sing-along session for all to join in, and the singing was quite impressive – perhaps it was the additional support from the U3A dance team which helped!

As usual, time flew by, and after thanks were given to all those involved in a busy afternoon, reminders were distributed of the dates of our next 2 sessions – Monday 16th November and Monday 7th December. New members will be most welcome. For more information please ring our friendly volunteers Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.

October 2015 Extra

The theme of the Memory Café Extra meeting on October 19 was ‘Home Sweet Home’. Guests watched a reminiscence DVD showing scenes from domestic life in the 1950’s and 60’s. Those were the days of milk bottles delivered by friendly milkmen (hopefully not too friendly), kitchen mangles and launderettes. It was the beginning of the domestic revolution with the appearance of appliances such as twin tub washing machines, upright vacuum cleaners and steam irons. It was interesting to compare these with the ‘state of the art’ appliances of today. In reality not a lot has changed very much in 50 years. What has changed is the prevailing attitude to women who were depicted as spending much of their time doing housework and attending to the creature comforts of their men folk who mostly sat around smoking and grumbling. Now there is much less smoking!


The film was followed by a brief quiz to find out who had managed to stay awake. Then there was tea and home made cakes followed by a game of Dog Bingo. This is the same as Bird Bingo but uses pictures of familiar and obscure breeds of dog. It is considerably more challenging than Bird Bingo because few dogs have brightly coloured plumage with which to identify them. Nevertheless a good time was had by all and we look forward to the next Memory Café Extra session on November 21 which will be about the Music Hall and should be a lot of fun.

A welcome donation from the Bale Push Committee.




Following on from this year’s Crantock Bale Push, held in September, along with a number of organisations we convened at the Bowgie Inn at West Pentire to celebrate the outcome of this annual and spectacular event.


Our chairwoman, Joan, was delighted to receive a cheque for £500 from Nigel Eustice who is the Chairman of the Bale Push Committee.  As a totally voluntary organisation we are pleased to report that 100% of this donation will be used to support our cafe members and will enable us to continue with our Memory Cafe Extra afternoons on the third Monday of each month.


The presentations were a real celebration of the hard work and generosity of all involved with the Bale Push and we wish them continued success and heartfelt thanks for their support of our Memory Cafe.  

October 2015


The Memory Cafe opened again on October 5th with a theme of ‘Harvest’ stirring up memories of harvest festivals, autumn walks, fruit picking, wine making, bottling and pickling fruit and vegetables, and making jams and chutneys – how different it was before we had freezers!
Memories were stimulated by autumnal displays of nuts and berries creating ‘nature’s harvest’ on each table, and if you looked hard there was a harvest mouse, too! 

We had a range of picture boards based on seasonal activities from blackberry picking to pickling onions, which certainly got us all talking! We also had our usual selection of puzzles.


To complete the first part of the afternoon we all enjoyed listening to John Betjeman’s poem ‘Diary of a Church Mouse’ with particular reference to the delights of ‘Autumn’s Harvest Festival’.

 With our appetites suitably stimulated, we moved ‘next door’ to “Highfields” where a delicious cream tea and a friendly welcome awaited – a treat for us all, but perhaps particularly for our usually busy catering team who were able to join us instead of waiting on us for once!

 Our next two meetings will be held in Crantock Village Hall from 2pm–4pm on Monday 19th October and Monday 2nd November and new members will be most welcome. For more information please ring our friendly volunteers Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.

September 2015 extra!

At the most recent CMC Extra meeting on 21st September, the theme was Victorian Britain. Members watched a documentary film illustrating the momentous events of Queen Victoria’s long reign (recently surpassed by our present Queen). This was a period of rapid and stupendous change driven by the industrial Revolution, the expansion of the Empire, social change and greatly improved life expectancy. There were many interesting comparisons with today’s technological revolution and social dilemmas.


After a ‘Victoriana’ quiz, members tucked into tea and home baked cakes. The afternoon was rounded off with a very enjoyable game of Music Bingo.


The next meetings of the Crantock Memory Café will be on Monday 5th October, when there will be a reminiscence session on Harvest time followed by a cream tea. The Memory Café Extra on Monday 19th October will feature a programme on the history of London’s East End and a trial of a new game called Dog Bingo! (developed in Barking presumably?). 

Crantock Memory Cafe at the Bale Push!


Crantock Bale Push is a large and very well-supported charity event held annually on the second Friday of September.  This year, despite bad weather, over 90 teams of four pushed heavy bales of hay around the village, competing for the fastest time and supported by large vociferous groups of supporters!

Our Memory Cafe was chosen as one of several local and national charities to benefit from the event. In addition to receiving a sum of money from the organising committee, it also entitled us to set up a stall in the village, publicizing our Cafe, and distributing advice and information. We also ran a tombola and invited donations which in total raised over £50.



Many thanks to all our volunteers who set up, and manned the stall during a very wet evening, in order to support our organisation!

September 2015

There was a strong Cornish theme to the Memory Cafe this month. The first weekend in September always sees the celebration of the Cornish Gorsedd, and we were delighted to welcome two Cornish bards to our gathering: Caner Plu Golom (Singer of the Parish of St Columb) and Canores Porthysak (Singer of Port Isaac) or in English husband and wife Keith and Clarinda Truscott, along with friend and accompanist Heather.

Keith and Clarinda were elected bards in 2002 and they were able to explain some of the history, traditions and dress of the Cornish Gorsedd, as well as introducing us to a little of the Cornish language and links with other Celtic nations.




The cafe was dressed in black and gold in honour of their visit, and the Cornish tartan and flag were much in evidence! There were plenty of Cornish books to look at, some Cornish copper and, of course, a puzzle – how many place names and surnames can you think of beginning with ‘Tre, Pol, Pen, Porth or Ros?’


It’s not surprising that we were soon singing along to ‘Camborne Hill’, ‘The White Rose’, ‘Hail to the Homeland’, as well as listening to some less well known, but equally enjoyable Cornish numbers performed by our guests.

Refreshments were much appreciated by all (including saffron cake of course!) and our catering volunteers were kept especially busy, as were delighted to have a packed room this month.

After tea, we relaxed and listened to an instrumental medley of Ivor Novello tunes played by Heather, who then read two of her own atmospheric poems – what a talented girl!

The afternoon concluded with some more delightful duets from Keith and Clarinda, ending with a rousing performance of ‘Trelawney’ from us all – what else! As always, it was a busy, entertaining and very enjoyable afternoon, with time for a chat and a smile amongst friends.


Crantock Memory Cafe is open and free for all those concerned with memory loss and their carers. For more information speak to our friendly volunteers Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.

Our next two meetings will be held on Monday 21st September and Monday 5th October from 2pm to 4pm in Crantock Village Hall. 

August 2015

The Memory Cafe opened its doors even wider than usual on August 17th when, in addition to our usual members and helpers, we welcomed friends, families and supporters to join us for an afternoon of ‘Fun and games’.

Visitors were greeted by a village hall decorated with bunting and brightly coloured stalls  and were invited to ‘have a go’ at a wide range of games and side-shows which included old favourites such as ‘hoopla’, ‘ hook a duck’, ‘tin can alley’ and ‘play your cards right’, and for the more seriously sporty amongst us, golf putting and bowls.


There was also the opportunity to ‘splat-a-rat’, shoot the ducks or throw a frog – but don’t worry – no animals came to any harm!  For our more sedate members a ‘Fairground Wordsearch’ and a ‘Fair’s Fair Puzzle Page’ were provided in a quieter room with a cup of tea if required!




Our catering staff were kept busy throughout the afternoon providing everyone with the usual delicious homemade cakes and refreshments, and all in all a great afternoon was had by everyone.  It was a pleasure to take the opportunity of the school holidays to welcome some young visitors to the Memory Cafe – some were a great help manning games, whilst others provided us with a delightful song-and-dance routine to round off the afternoon. Everyone enjoyed reliving memories of some of the simpler pleasures and activities from earlier years!




Our September meetings will be held on Monday 7th September and Monday 21st September from 2pm to 4pm in Crantock Village Hall. Crantock Memory Cafe is open and free for all those concerned with memory loss and their carers. For more information speak to our friendly volunteers Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347. You will also have an opportunity to find out more about us by visiting our stall at the Crantock Bale Push on Friday 11th September from 5pm onwards.

July 2015 extra


As a result of some temporary re-organisation, we’ve had two consecutive ‘Memory Cafe Extra’ meetings during the last four weeks. This has worked well, as we’ve been looking back at past decades through the use of old film footage and advertisements: the 1950s first, followed two weeks later by the ‘Swinging 60s’. We were fascinated by the way major news events were presented and amused by predictions of how technologies would develop by the 21st century!

It’s a good job we all listened carefully, as this was followed on by a quiz with multi-choice answers which was quite testing for everyone!  Never mind – a cup of tea and a slice of cake soon revived us and a chance to relax and have a chat brought us all back to the present.

During our 1950s cafe we had artefacts and books to bring back memories and in our 1960s cafe we spent a pleasant and amusing half hour playing a game of ‘Bird Bingo’ to round off the afternoon – a great way to identify and learn the names of some unfamiliar birds, as well as winning chocolates for a line or a ‘full house’, or should that be nest!

All in all two very pleasant and entertaining afternoons and our ‘Memory Cafe Extra’ numbers are growing with every meeting.



July 2015

On the first Monday in July we met again and were very pleased to be joined by ‘Cameo’ – our musical friends from St Columb Minor. Before they arrived, however, we welcomed several new members, as well as old friends, and also introduced two professional visitors: Sinead, the Primary Care Dementia Practitioner for Newquay, and Ros, a social worker for ‘Shared Lives South West’ – a registered charity which offers day support and respite services for carers. Both ladies were available to provide support and advice to Memory Cafe members, and we were delighted that they also entered into the spirit of the afternoon by joining in our memory-teasing games and quizzes based on well known proverbs and expressions, and songs from the musicals!



Musical group ‘Cameo’ arrived in time for tea and cakes, and then entertained us as only they can with songs from the 1930s through to the 1960s, interspersed with amusing verses and anecdotes.  There were plenty of opportunities to ‘sing along’ and a section of songs and rhymes about the Cornish Pasty proved especially popular! Thanks as ever were given to our catering team as well as our entertainers – we hope it won’t be too long before we see them again.




Crantock Memory Cafe  now meets twice a month and is open and free for all those concerned about memory loss and their carers. For more information  speak to our friendly volunteers Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.

June 2015 Extra!

CRANTOCK MEMORY CAFÉ EXTRA

The Crantock Memory Café has now been running successfully for 18 months, held in Crantock Village Hall on the first Monday afternoon of each month.

In response to popular demand we decided to increase the programme by holding a second monthly session on the third Monday. We have called this Crantock Memory Café Extra. We consulted our members and decided to offer a different sort of programme, mainly based on showing nostalgia films and programmes.

The first CMC Extra meeting was held in the Village Hall on Monday 15th June and was enthusiastically received by our guests. The proceedings began with quizzes and games followed by showing a nostalgia DVD entitled “Britain in the 1940's”.  This consisted of a compilation of fascinating news clips and vintage advertisements from that period. It covered the Second World War and its aftermath, including post war austerity and the beginning of the Cold War. This brought back many interesting memories for some of our guests.

Then we stopped for a tea break during which guests tackled 20 questions based on the film content. The meeting then finished with some light relief in the form of a comedy programme from the 1990's.

The next meeting of the main Crantock Memory Café will be on July 6 and CMC Extra will be on July 20.

June 2015

We always aim to introduce something different to amuse and interest our members at the memory cafe, and this month we were delighted to welcome John Sleep from West Pentire. John is affectionately known as ‘The Gramophone Man’ and he restores, repairs, buys and sell vintage gramophones and phonographs - his workshop is an Aladdin’s Cave!



John brought along several fascinating machines to show us and gave a brief history of these forerunners of our modern turntables, CD players, i-pads and other ‘hi-tech’ means of listening to music. Although these machines pre-dated even our oldest members, the classic  HMV (His Master’s Voice) logo of the dog listening intently to an early gramophone was familiar to us all, and it was wonderful to hear the scratchy sound of an old cylinder and 78rpm records played on original machines  - it brought the memories flooding back.


Amongst his vast collection of memorabilia, John showed us early shellac records, named record sleeves from many retailers in Cornish towns, postcards depicting phonographs and numerous needle tins.


We were spellbound by John’s knowledge and easy communication skills, although we were not sure what he thought of our afternoon tea being served on cake stands made of old (but well-scrubbed) records!


Puzzles and games were suitably themed to link with our overall topic of the afternoon and included a quiz based on songs from the days of the Old Time Music Halls which set us all thinking and, inevitably singing.

As usual, the afternoon passed very quickly with much chatter, reminiscences of our past and plenty of laughter. We were reminded that there would be a further opportunity to meet up again twice monthly, with our July sessions being held on Monday 6th July and Monday 20th July from 2pm – 4pm at Crantock Village Hall.

We are always pleased to welcome new members so should you need further information about our Memory Cafe  please contact Di on 01637 830544,  Joan on 01637 831347.

May 2015

This month we were transported back to the 1950s for an afternoon of music and memories!



A ‘trivia quiz’ on that era invited our members’ memories of those times and led to much chatter and laughter – talk of schooldays, first jobs, holidays, fashion and many other topics brought the decade to life, especially when photographs of some of our members and helpers taken at that time were passed around.



Everyone joined in the ‘singalong’ sessions, before and after a suitably 1950s tea break which included a cheese and pineapple ‘hedgehog’ and sausages on sticks (very trendy at the time!).  Music included songs by the stars of the day – Elvis, Cliff, Bill Haley, Ruby Murray, Alma Cogan and the Beverley Sisters, and of course we all remembered the words!

With a bit of tuition we attempted a handjive and gave a performance to the accompaniment of ‘Peggy Sue’ by Buddy Holly - a song from 1958.


Along with our usual fascinating selection of books, our display boards and puzzles the afternoon passed quickly and proved to be a great success.

The following poem, brought along and narrated by one of our members, perfectly caught the spirit of the times and gave us all food for thought:

The Way We Were
Sunday suits and hobnail boots

Shillings, pounds and pence

Reapers, binders, window winders,
Washing on the fence.


Cold stone floors and open doors

Shirts that reached our knees

Horses straining, teachers caning
Conkers from the trees.


Corn in shocks, white ankle-socks

Lime washed pantry walls

Tinkers, hikers, sidecar-bikers
Calf length overalls.


Rationed sweets, third class seats

Trains that ran on steam

Eleven pluses, country buses
Morris Minor green.


Trolleys, trams and telegrams

Propelling pencil sets

Saying graces, buttons, braces
Park Drive cigarettes.


Trilby hats, pink-ribboned plaits

Paraffin in lamps

Cut-throat razors, navy blazers
Saving foreign stamps.


Aertex vests and T.B. tests

Cigarette card swaps.

Trouser turn-ups, push bike burn-ups
Bald Kleen-eze mops


Acne, boils, cod liver oils.

Mother darning socks.

Aesop fables, twelve times tables
Girls in Dirndl frocks.


We said our prayers to kings and heirs

As old gave way to new

And bells were rung when we were young
In 1952.


Following on from this nostalgic verse we returned to the present day with some reluctance, but perhaps we’ll revisit the 1950s another time – there’s still much more to rediscover.

Our next meeting takes place on Monday 1st June from 2pm to 4pm at Crantock Village Hall. This will be followed up by an additional session on the third Monday of the month, i.e. Monday 15th June at the same time and venue. This is a direct response to our members’ request that we meet more often and we are delighted to provide another afternoon of social activities.

We are always pleased to welcome new members so should you need further information about our Memory Cafe  please contact Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.

April 2015

The Memory Cafe took place one week later than usual this month to avoid Easter celebrations, and we were all keeping our fingers crossed for fine weather! Luckily, this paid off, as a Crantock Village Trail had been organised to get our members out and about exploring the centre of the village. To make things a little easier we met in the Memorial Hall and once again we were delighted to welcome some new members in addition to familiar friends.

After a cup of tea and a chat, a good number set off in the sunshine armed with a list of some of the many interesting objects, signs and buildings to be found around the village.




The trail took us around the green and up to the church, and gave everyone a chance to look more closely at places we so easily pass by.




Meanwhile, those who hadn't felt able to join us on our walk had the chance to complete their Village Wordsearch and undertake a ‘virtual trail’ with photos of the parts of Crantock the rest of the group had set out to explore.

Arriving back at the Memorial Hall for another ‘cuppa’ with delicious cakes and biscuits, we had a chance to compare findings and to look at an interesting selection of old photographs about the towns and villages of Cornwall. We were especially pleased to learn that one of our members had co-written books on St. Newlyn East which we had on display.  The beautifully painted mural of Crantock around the walls of the hall gave us a chance to see where we had been- luckily everyone had been on their best behaviour, so we hadn’t been obliged to put anyone in the village stocks behind the church!




As always, the friendly, relaxed atmosphere quickly put everyone at ease and next month we will be back in our usual venue of the Village Hall.  However, the cafe will once again take place one week later than normal to avoid the May Day holiday so we will be meeting on Monday 11th May from 2pm to 4pm.

 We are always pleased to welcome new members so should you need further information about our Memory Cafe  please contact Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347

March 2015

There was a very lively meeting of the Crantock Memory Cafe on Monday 2nd March when we were delighted to welcome several new members, as well as meeting up with a number of old friends.

With St Piran's Day to look forward to later that week, we took ‘Saints’ as our theme, and alongside the chatter and laughter had the opportunity to puzzle over word searches based around St Patrick’s Day and St David’s Day before everyone settled down to a group quiz. We found we were quite knowledgeable on such varied subjects as the names of Cornish saints, placenames, saints associated with songs and films – we even included sport!


An added bonus of the afternoon was supplied by our good friend Brian. He is already known to us as a talented artist, but we weren't aware of another skill – the detailed construction and painting of miniature historical military figures. Brian brought several examples of his work to show us and we were all ‘wowed’ by the detail and accuracy of every model. The brushes used were so fine, they are virtually comprised of a single hair – amazing!  We were impressed, but not surprised, when he showed us a medal he had won at a national level for his work as a ‘model engineer’ – thanks Brian! We’re always pleased to share our members’ interests and hobbies.

As teatime approached we were delighted to welcome more visitors – members of ‘a cappella’ male voice group ‘Oll an Gwella’ who arrived to join us for a delicious Crantock Bakery pasty and a cup of tea before entertaining us for the remainder of the afternoon. Our ‘crib’ or ‘croust’ went down a treat, thanks to the bakery, delicious biscuits and shortbread from Brenda and Kerry, and the hard work of our ladies in the kitchen.


The boys from ‘Oll an Gwella’ did us proud with a very entertaining selection of songs old and new, interspersed with jokes and stories. The lovely mellow tone of their voices was a joy to listen to, and we were all delighted to have the opportunity to join in with a song or two!

All in all, another entertaining and enjoyable afternoon.

February 2015




Our February meeting was a lively and entertaining occasion. After our members settled in and we had a puzzle and word search, our guests and volunteers enjoyed a marvellous show put on by members of the Crantock Women’s Institute and were then treated to a fascinating talk about the Galapagos Islands by David Eyles. The WI members delivered a hilarious performance of Roald Dahl’s version of Cinderella. 

Several distinguished members of the Institute were unrecognisable in a variety of extraordinary wigs and other accoutrements. The plot concerned a search for the owner of a “smelly trainer” and for some reason involved quite a lot of sword play leading to a shower of plastic heads bouncing around the hall. It could be said that Veronica really was the Head Girl! It was a truly memorable performance, much enjoyed by all.

David Eyles then gave a slide show of a trip that he and Brenda made to the Galapagos Islands focussing particularly on the extraordinary wildlife. David’s photographs were superb and he demonstrated that he is not only a fantastic gardener but he is also a first rate photographer.   

This was a suitable preamble for a delicious tea provided by our wonderful kitchen helpers. As tea was being served we had the excitement of having a flurry of snow which, fortunately did not settle.  Hopefully the weather will be kinder when we next meet on Monday March 2nd.

January 2015

There was a party atmosphere in Crantock Village Hall on January 5th when friends met for the first Memory Cafe of the year. In fact it was a double celebration for in addition to welcoming in 2015 we raised a glass (well, a cup of tea, actually!) to the first anniversary of the formation of the Memory Cafe.



Games and puzzles on the tables took up the theme of celebrations and the New Year, and when everyone had finally finished ‘catching up’ with the latest news we enjoyed a light-hearted team quiz based on the theme of ‘Firsts’: e.g. who was the first man to run a sub four minute mile? Who were the first two people mentioned in the Bible? Who was the first British monarch to have a televised coronation? Yes, some serious thinking was required but all teams did very well, and in the end prizes were awarded all round!

As tea-time approached we were delighted to welcome a number of visitors who popped in to join our celebrations. These were some of the people who had actively supported us in a variety of ways during 2014. The room was packed as we all enjoyed delicious homemade refreshments washed down with – yes – you've guessed it – another cup of tea!

For the second part of the afternoon we were treated to a light-hearted reading by Margaret which pricked our consciences regarding over-indulging during the festive season, and then we were joined by talented local musicians Lamorna on violin and Elaine on keyboard. Everyone enjoyed singing along to a selection of well-known songs, and just when we thought we were going to sit back and have a rest, percussion instruments were handed around to accompany some lively jigs and reels played by Lamorna on the fiddle! It was all great fun, very noisy and brought back memories of school music lessons with triangle, drums and tambourines – our visitors enjoyed it too!
A brief look back at all the different activities and events which we have enjoyed during the past year brought the celebrations to a close. We now look forward to our next cafe meeting on Monday 2nd February.



Crantock Memory Cafe is open to all those in our local communities who are concerned about memory loss and new members are always welcomed at any time. You are welcome to ring our volunteers, Joan on 01637 831347 or Di on 01637 830544 for further information. We are a non-denominational organisation and the cafe is free, although donations towards our running costs are always welcome.

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