We
welcomed a good number of friends to our second January Memory Café and there
was a happy buzz in the room as everyone settled down to tackle a word-search
or quiz, or to have a look at the latest copies of ‘Sparkle’ magazine, which
we’re delighted to say has been sponsored for another year by our friends at The Bowgie Inn at West Pentire.
The
focus on the far western extremity of our village continued as we welcomed
David Eyles and his wife Brenda, the former proprietors of the Crantock Bay
Hotel at West Pentire.
David’s
family history in this area goes back over sixty years to before the hotel was
built in 1936, and he had wonderful stories to tell about the early days of the
holiday trade, what happened to the hotel during the war and how it was
run in the early days when milk was delivered in churns, fresh meat came from
the butcher in Crantock and there were no locks on the bedroom doors! We were
fascinated and amused in turn by details of the hotel staff and other local
personalities, and by the hotel’s charges – 1/6d a night for car parking, one
shilling (5p) for a hot bath and 6d for a cold one and much, much more. The time went by too quickly and everyone was
thrilled when David assured us he would be happy to come back and tell us more
at a future date.
Our
indispensable ‘tea ladies’ then arrived with a tempting selection of homemade
cakes and everyone had a chance to have a chat or to look at the interesting
photos which David and Brenda had brought with them. Of particular interest was
one of the site at West Pentire when there was a village pond and a horse
grazing on the cliffs where the Crantock Bay Hotel now stands.
The
afternoon concluded with an entertaining game of ‘Musical Bingo’ which was led
by Joan, whilst Richard impressed us by running around the tables distributing
chocolates as required!
Finally,
as the afternoon drew to a close Richard gave the answers to the quiz before it
was time to say goodbye and ‘look forward to seeing you in two weeks!’
We will be meeting up again on February 5th at Crantock Village Hall from 2pm –
4pm. New members, who have a degree of memory loss, are always welcome to come
along with their carers, and should you require more information please contact
Di on 01637 830544 or David on 01637 830617.
