April 2017 Extra

Visitors to Crantock Memory Cafe come from all walks of life and bring with them a wide range of interests and experiences. Consequently, in addition to providing a relaxing social afternoon with refreshments, we aim to provide a variety of amusing entertainments and interesting speakers who will relate to and engage our guests.

For our mid-April gathering we were delighted to welcome local resident Alastair Ross, retired Rear Admiral, whose memories and anecdotes of 35 years in the Royal Navy fascinated and amused us all, regardless of our varied personal backgrounds!

Alastair’s talk took the form of a selection of ‘snapshots’ of his naval career and ranged from his initial training at Dartmouth in 1965 through to his involvement in the Torrey Canyon disaster of 1967, the ‘Cod Wars’ with Iceland in 1976, voyages around the world as captain of HMS Falmouth (crossing the Equator no less than four times) rescuing refugees from South Vietnam as captain of HMS Edinburgh in 1988 and commanding a squadron of ships from eight different nations as part of ‘Operation Sharp Guard’ blockading Serbia in 1994.

The talk was both riveting and awe-inspiring, and was amply illustrated by numerous scrap-books of the exploits and expeditions in which Alastair has been involved in his naval career. Paintings and photographs of the ships on which he has served also brought the talk to life, and belied the modesty with which he told his story.

Thanks and warm applause were given to Alastair and his wife Judy for the time and effort they had given to presenting us with such an interesting afternoon.

Whilst we enjoyed our refreshments, there was time to chat, have a closer look at the scrap-books, or have a go at a maritime-themed wordsearch or a rather challenging quiz that Richard had devised.

Copies of our regular ‘Sparkle’ magazine were distributed and the afternoon concluded with an amusing variation of the game of ‘pictionary’ which gave the artists among us a chance to shine!

Crantock Memory Cafe is always pleased to welcome new members, with their carers, and should you need further information ring Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347. Our next meetings will be held at Crantock Village Hall on Monday 8^th May and Monday 22^nd May from 2pm – 4pm.

April 2017

Our April Memory Cafe had a truly local flavour. First we welcomed Jane Fielden (nee Northey) who, supported by other members of her family, talked about the Gannel, Crantock Beach and the Fern Pit Cafe and Ferry which have been in the ownership of her family since 1910. Jane now lives ‘across the water’ in Newquay, but her family roots are entrenched in Crantock and she had many fascinating tales to tell.  Her father, George Northey, was a well-known and respected man who ran the ferry across the Gannel for many years, and was also involved with early gig racing, the Newquay Regatta and numerous other Gannel-related events – he was even the first official lifeguard for Crantock beach!

With the aid of film, photographs, paintings and postcards, Jane painted a wonderful picture of activities in and around Crantock and its beach and river over the years. Jane spoke with great affection of her own childhood and memories of growing up on and around Crantock Beach and, in doing so, she stimulated recollections of our own childhood and memories of summer holidays.

Our cafe tables, decorated with sandcastles, shells and other ‘finds’ from Crantock Beach, were soon laden with tea and cakes as visitors chatted about their own seaside memories, or had a go at our beach-related puzzles.

For the second half of the afternoon we welcomed back ‘Fiddle me Timbers’ Crantock’s very own shanty singers who, despite an increasingly busy schedule of performances, found time to join us for an entertaining and foot-tapping session. The singing was a great way to end the afternoon and we all enjoyed joining in the choruses and appreciated the adaptation of songs to include Crantock and Fern Pit!

It was a busy but very enjoyable afternoon, and even without the addition of ‘honorary members’ from the Northey family and Fiddle me Timbers, it was one of our largest memory cafes ever! Nevertheless our faithful cake-bakers had provided enough goodies to feed everyone, and our ‘refreshment team’ provided ample cups of tea and coffee – many thanks to them all.

Crantock Memory Cafe is open to anyone in the local area concerned about memory loss. Our next meetings will be held at Crantock Village Hall on Monday 24^th April and Monday 8^th May from 2pm – 4pm. We are always pleased to welcome new members, with their carers, and should you need further information ring Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.