May 2017 Extra

The theme of our second May meeting was local history. Dr Ben Dobson, who grew up in Crantock and is an expert on the village, gave a fascinating talk on “William Johns – Crantock Master Mariner”.  William was born in the early part of the 19th Century and went to sea as a young man. He worked his way up by serving in several sailing ships until he became the master of the Liberty. Ben had identified most of William’s vessels from Maritime Records.

In 1847, whilst living locally, William was instrumental in rescuing most of the crew of the Marchioness of Abercorn which had run aground on Crantock Beach.

William came from a large family, and of particular interest was his sister Jane who had married a Portuguese trader. At some point she seems to have been captured by Barbary pirates and imprisoned in North Africa. Local lore has it that William sailed to rescue her and that she was hidden in a barrel during her escape.

Guests then enjoyed our usual refreshments of tea and home made cakes before the meeting continued with an enjoyable game of Bird Bingo and concluded with a Historical  Events Quiz.

May 2017

Nature was all around us for our first cafe in May!  Upon arrival, there was the usual friendly chatter, and on the tables among the display of natural objects including pine cones, shells and bird nests, there was a ‘Natural World’ word-search to have a go at.  Hannah then took us on a ‘virtual nature walk’ which, with the aid of Liz Burt’s wonderful photographs, took us on a trail from Penpol around to Polly Joke, looking at the beautiful views, flora, fauna and birdlife along the way.

A Penpol Kingfisher

Di then gave us a new challenge: with the aid of a CD everyone listened and tried to identify sounds of familiar animals, birds and insects. Some were more challenging than others but it certainly caused much amusement around the cafe tables!

Before tea there was a cryptic bird quiz for us to solve, with the help of friends, and after our indispensible tea ladies had cleared up we had a display of colourful boards showing photos of flowers, herbs and Cornish gardens for us to identify and chat about.

As always, it was a lively and entertaining afternoon and everyone left feeling that summer was well and truly on the way!  Thanks were given to Di and Hannah, and to be passed on to Liz for letting us share in seeing her impressive range of photographs.

We are always pleased to welcome new members, with their carers, at our Memory Cafe 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 22nd May and Monday 5th June from 2pm – 4pm.

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.