February 2019 Extra

Visitors arriving at the Memory Cafe choose to begin the afternoon in a number of ways – many like to meet up with friends for a chat, whilst others are keen to browse the latest edition of ‘Sparkle’ magazine, which has been generously sponsored for another year by ‘The Bowgie Inn’ at West Pentire. We also have a number who enjoy a word-search challenge or like to tackle a quiz.

At our mid-February cafe there was time for all of those activities before Richard introduced a good friend of ours, David Eyles, who had come along to talk about life at West Pentire, the little ‘outpost’ of Crantock where several generations of his family have lived and worked.  With the aid of a fascinating slide-show, David told us stories about the origins of the former Crantock Bay Hotel and of some of the families who have lived in the hamlet over many years: from painters and smugglers to farmers and quarry workers. 

 We learnt how the houses had changed and evolved with the times and heard about the way in which the dunes behind Crantock Beach have developed and altered with tides and storms.All these interesting facts and many more were illustrated with photos old and new – from snaps taken in the 1930s to a spectacular aerial view taken by David’s grandson with the aid of a drone.  Everyone’s interest was held and we could hardly believe it when it was time for tea!

The final activity for the afternoon was a game of ‘musical bingo’, which entailed identifying snippets of well-known melodies and matching them with the titles on our bingo cards.  This is always a popular activity and we were delighted that David and his wife Brenda were able to stay and enter into the fun and win a few chocolates in the process!

As usual it was an interesting, lively and amusing afternoon and we look forward to meeting up again on March 4^th at Crantock Village Hall from 2pm – 4pm. New members are always welcome to come along with their carers and should you require more information please contact Di on 01637 830544, Joan on 01637 831347 or visit our website crantockmemorycafe.org.ul

February 2019

Early February can be a grey time of year, so it was good news for visitors to our Memory Cafe that they were joining us for a bright and cheery afternoon!

Our theme – 'World of Colour' began as guests made their way to tables dressed with bright pots of primulas. Awaiting them were a wordsearch on the theme of ‘A Paintbox of Colours’ and a thought-provoking quiz: ‘How well do you know your colours?’ including such questions as ‘What colour were Vera Lynn’s ‘Cliffs of Dover’, ‘What colours are in the flag of Cornwall?’ and many more.

The room was soon buzzing with chatter as we looked forward to our entertainers for the afternoon ‘The Celtic Chords Barbershop Choir.’ This wonderful ladies choir had visited us once before and we were delighted to welcome them back to share with us the skill and vocal colour of their close-harmony singing. The range of music plus their smiling faces were just what we needed, and there was the opportunity for everyone to take part – soon we were singing in four-part harmony as the ladies spread around the tables to lend a hand (and a voice!) to each part – fantastic!  After some up-beat numbers they closed with a moving rendition of ‘The Irish blessing’.

Loud applause and thanks were given to the ‘Celtic Chords’ before everyone tucked in to a delicious afternoon tea, and had the opportunity to view a wonderful display of photographs and items which illustrated our colourful theme.  Topics such as ‘Colours in Nature’, ‘Colours around the World’ and ‘Colours in Art’ created a beautiful and interesting presentation which gave plenty to talk about, with the displays augmented by art work and other items brought in by some of our volunteers and guests. ‘Colours around the Home’ included fabrics and tableware along with some paint colour charts and wallpaper samples kindly donated by the ‘Paint Spot’ in Newquay.

There was so much to look at and talk about that we only just managed to squeeze in our last activity for the afternoon which was a ‘Colours in Songs’ quiz. David invited everyone to listen to well-known instrumental music and name the colours in the titles - ‘Yellow Submarine’, ‘Red, Red Wine’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and many more -  it was amazing how many we remembered once we heard the tunes! All too soon it was time for a last look at the displays before they were packed away and to say farewell to friends until next time.

As usual it was an interesting and amusing cafe for everyone and it certainly brightened up a grey afternoon! We look forward to meeting up again on February 18th 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. Should you require more information please contact Di on 01637 830544, Joan on 01637 831347 or visit our website crantockmemorycafe.org.uk