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Cath Bull’s brave leap of faith to St Just…

Published February 20, 2012 Cornish Artists , Cornish Produce , Places to visit Leave a Comment
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In my quest to show off some of Cornwall’s artistic talent of which there is plenty I stumbled across jeweller Cath Bull from St Just, nr Penzance. A fellow listener to Radio 4 as she drifts off to sleep trying to decipher the shipping forecast and what might be brewing in the Atlantic.

Although not Cornish and only having lived in the county a short time this is the story of one ladies leap of darkness to the west of Cornwall but fingers crossed the future is looking bright…

‘I was not born in Cornwall, Leeds was my birthplace. I have lived in various places in the UK with the last 25 or so in Lancaster. I moved to St Just, near Lands End, October 2010. This was the outcome of being diagnosed with a form of arthritis, and neither the health service or benefits system seemingly being able to cope with the intermittent nature of the illness, with my families help and support decided to move down here. It was a leap in the dark, and after some admittedly shaky moments, the ferocity of the Atlantic storms took me by surprise, Lancaster is relatively sheltered by comparison, and the fierce winter, being practically snowed in, I now feel it was and is a good place to be.

I trained initially as a Goldsmith, gaining a National Association of Goldsmiths Diploma, then went on to gain a BA in jewellery design at Birmingham. I have worked in other areas, bookbinding, production pottery, textiles, graphic design for screen printing, at the point where PC’s were just becoming widely available. For now I have two outlets and am hoping to build on that. One is the Arts and Crafts Gallery in St Just, and the other is Bohemia in Market Jew Street, Penzance. I don’t as yet have a website, but my details can be found on www.cornwall-arts-and-crafts.co.uk under jewellery, and also www.landsendchamber.co.uk.

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The jewellery I make has changed. It has become more colourful and freer. Walks on the beaches nearby with my camera have fuelled more ideas that I hope to carry out soon. The round rug is a new departure. It was inspired by walking down the Cot Valley, October just gone, in an unseasonably warm spell. The sea and sky were summer blue tones but the bracken had turned so there were also the rich russets and rusts of autumn. And then the soft glow of lichen on the rocks. I didn’t have my camera with me that day, but when I got home I dug out all the colours and started working on it. This is still a work in progress. The light down here is at first overwhelming, and even on a winters day can be blindingly bright. But being a jeweller I love all things that glisten and gleam. And the granite does just that in the sunlight. I hope I can carry on working and making things for other people to enjoy and feel quite eager to crack on with the ideas that come through living in this incredible landscape.

 


Miss Peapod’s, Penryn

Published February 16, 2012 Cornish Produce , Food and Drink , Photography , Places to visit Leave a Comment
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Do you ever feel like popping in somewhere warm and welcoming on such a grey and miserable day like today? Well, should you ever find yourself in Penryn you should be sure to make a visit to Miss Peapod’s at Jubilee Wharf.

Bright flowers on a retro table will soon cheer you up!

Jubilee Wharf is an award winning development with a mixture of housing, workshops, offices and a children’s nursery. Community creation & revitalisation – a hub for craft makers, quality childcare onsite from Jumblies Nursery, health & fitness classes and the café for socialising. It was built on what was the old coal merchants but has extremely green credentials, they have just installed photovoltaic panels and there are  4 x  wind turbines on the distinctive shaped roof.

To Drink?

We have only been to Miss Peapod’s for coffee but have plans to go back and eat next time!

They make their own pasta and bread and exploit all the seafood brought to them from a local fisherman. Expect specials like crab ravioli and fresh sardines, king prawns grilled in caper, chilli and parsley butter or for people with more simple tastes there are homemade burgers with chips and toasted ciabattas with fillings such as roasted seasonal vegetables and homemade butter bean hummous.

They seem to have regular event evenings and they were busy planning one when we were there. This weekend they have the wonderful Megan Henwood who was BBC Young Folk Award Winner who, ironically I photographed all the way up here at a garden party in Henley on Thames a few years ago.   Have a look at the website for more details www.misspeapod.co.uk

Origin please!

You may notice from the photos that the coffee at Miss Peadpod’s is Origin. Did you know that Origin is a Cornish company? I didn’t!

They were established in 2004  and are based in the depths of Cornwall near Helston and they distribute their coffee to restaurants, hotels, delis & cafes in Cornwall and everywhere else. You don’t even need to go down the A30 to try it, we saw on their website their coffee is being used in Malmaison and Hotel du Vin but its a good excuse to nip back to the home county isn’t it? Check their website for more info www.origincoffee.co.uk.
Happy days!

The final dash to Land’s End with the 3 Hungry Boys

Published February 6, 2012 Cornish Produce , Cornwall on TV , Food and Drink , Places to visit Leave a Comment
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In the final leg of Hugh’s Three Hungry Boys the chaps set off in Daisy in the direction of the Lizard. This weeks episode was the best yet, some of my favourite parts of Cornwall covered and the with The Lizard being closest to home. I have covered the Lizard in previous posts – just type The Lizard into the search bar at the top.

The boys are given the thumbs up from the people of Tregothnan to visit Asparagus Island, a lump of rock in the Atlantic. The boys wanted to go camping before the end of their trip and Asparagus Island was their destination. About a mile walk from the Kynance Cove National Trust car park the island is approachable on foot when the tide is out! With a short walk along the sandy beach of Kynance Cove the boys climb the steep cliffs to the top of Asparagus Island. After pegging out their tent, the tide had come in and they were now totally stranded in a lump of rock in the sea!

Thom the hunter grabs his spear gun and takes orders for the other two boys supper and head to the water whilst Trevor and Tim grab their fishing rods and head off to the rocks with a more relaxing way to catching supper. After a couple of hours all the boys return with nothing but excuses! No fish supper for you boys tonight! So with limited supplies the boys have some peppery rice for supper. They happened to find some sea beet growing on the rocks which made the rice more appetising giving them some greens for the day. Still, it could be worse, sitting on an island around a roaring fire listening to the sound of the sea as the sun goes down whilst tucking into a bowl of rice is almost heavenly (except the rice bit!)

After a good nights sleep listening to the waves crashing around them the boys get off the island and back to their trusty milk float, Daisy. In need of some protein Hugh gets contacts them and puts them in touch with Sir Ferrers Vyvyan, the 13th Baronet and current owner of the 1000 acre Trelowarren estate who has some pests on his land. The estate is near the mouth of the Helford river which almost cuts the Lizard peninsula off from the mainland. Still, with little clue why they are travelling to Trelowarren the boys meet Sir Ferrers Vyvyan to see what protein he can offer them. Is it rabbit problems, pigeon eating the crops or the beast of Bodmin’s offspring moving in on the Lizard?  After a short introduction Sir Ferrers Vyvyan informs the boys that they have a grey squirrel problem on the Lizard (like most of  the UK) however as the Lizard is almost an island they are trying to eradicate the grey squirrel and bring back the native red squirrel to the area.  As lovely as grey squirrels are they are huge pests to young trees and very aggressive hence the decline and almost extinction of our native reds. Although I have never eaten squirrel myself I have heard it’s a very tasty meat. So armed with a shotgun the lads head out with Sir Ferrers to look for squirrels in the tree tops. With little luck on the squirrel front Sir Ferrers shoots a wood-pigeon to help towards the boys supper. After some foraging on the estate the boys get some sorrel, oyster mushrooms and wild garlic to add to the wood-pigeon. The Trelowarren estate has a restaurant serving local produce and foraged food and is well worth stopping off for lunch or dinner if in the area. To find out more about Trelowarren and to see the sample menus click here.

The boys them have a cook-off with the chefs at Trelowarren who rustle up a rabbit recipe. Trevor rustles up a pigeon breast cooked with sautéed oyster mushrooms, garlic mash and sprinkling of sorrel. To see the meals being cooked it’s probably easier to check out the 4oD website rather than relying on my methodology – have you seen me in the kitchen? Needless to say the Lord of the manor gave full marks to the boys for their efforts of foraging and producing a tasty meal.

Sir Ferrers recommended the boys visit a sea salt producer on the Lizard in Porthkerris. I hate to say it but I’m one step ahead here. Check out my previous post on Cornish Sea Salt Co. by typing something along those lines into the search bar on the top of the blog. Trev’s idea here was for Tom to catch some fish and to bake them in the salt – salt baked fish I think it’s called! Well, whilst the boys are shovelling salt Tom is trying to catch a few fish for supper. By the end of the fishing session Tom had reeled in six pollock off the cliffs at Porthkerris to fill their bellies that evening.

With the final push to the end of this wonderful island we call Great Britain the boys jump in Daisy and with a 30 mile journey the boys arrive at Sennen. They meet up with the Sennen lobster hatchery for a days work at sea releasing baby 1” long lobsters into the sea in the hope they will survive and make it to adult lobsters. Unfortunately with a 1 in 15,000 chance of survival their time in the ocean is often short-lived as many are snapped up by predators.

As the boys are releasing 1000’s of babies they are also checking lobster pots and harvesting some good sizes specimens or lobsters and crabs for their last cook up of the trip. The final tweet was from Polgoon vineyard back up the A30 where they make their own wine and cider who offered the boys some work harvesting discovery apples to earn some cider for their last supper. Polgoon vineyard has won several awards for their produce and supply some top establishments such as Fortnum and Mason, Rick Steins Deli, River Cottage Canteen and Deli and John Lewis to name a few. To find out more about Polgoon vineyard  or to buy some of their produce check out their website here.

Final stop boys – Lands End! The boys pull up on the cliff tops at Sennen and see the Longships lighthouse of Land’s End in the distance.  Trevor gets to work on the shellfish they have been given making this one of the tastiest banquets one could dream of, all washed down with a drop of Polgoon Cornish black cider. After their fish platter they are back in Daisy and heading full speed for Land’s End. For those of you that don’t know much about Land’s End there is a modern leisure complex (a good day out for young families im sure) there and not just a romantic old weatherbeaten sign post saying New York 3147 miles thataway!  Beyond the leisure complex built by Peter De Savary some time ago when I was in my youth there is a sign post and a telescope – but I doubt you can see New York even on a clear day!

So the series is over – its been great so if you were not fortunate to watch it first time around, pick it up together with Hugh’s other great programs here on 4oD.

Now what time is Caroline Quentin on tonight…

a belated Cornwall with Caroline Quentin…

Published February 5, 2012 A bit of history , Cornish Produce , Cornwall on TV , Food and Drink , Places to visit Leave a Comment
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Apologies for the late post of Caroline Quentin’s Cornwall but I have lots going on at present! But here it is before the next episode tomorrow…

Caroline kick starts episode 5 at Prideaux Place situated  in Padstow with its own herd of fallow deer which have been roaming the estate since 485 AD. It is said that if the deer die out then the Prideaux family will disapppear too. The population of the deer became just six in 1926. George V sent down a stag from Windsor but it is said the game keeper shot it by accident.

Interestingly the back of the house is still as the American Army left the house for D-Day in 1944 when soldiers from a US combat batallion occupied the house. The rooms untouched, have many memories of those American soldiers. The lady of the house recently uncovered some letters for the mother of John Fontaine, sadly no longer with us whom must have died in service. Other soldiers names still appear on the wall in thier memory as they sadly never returned to their loved ones.

Robert Hocking, a man whos videos I have shown in past posts. A proud Cornishman who has a organic vegetable business in the Port Eliot estate who loves to spend a Sunday morning on his white leather armchair in the corner of his polytunnel reading the Sunday papers, and yes I did say polytunnel! Robert who runs Buttervilla Funky Leaves is a purveyer of fine fruit and veg. His website is well worth a look, he has had a lot of press and chefs like Heston Blumenthal and Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen resturants use his leaves. Not only are Roberts videos a great reminder of Cornwall’s past but his current business is a great tribute to Cornwall for producing such wonderful produce. Robert also does vegetable boxes which can be bought through the Dig For Victory website. If you live within a 30 mile radius of PL13 1PA then delivery is free.  So all you Cornish and Devonians out there log onto Dig For Victory and buy some veg! It’s ansome! If you are struggling for what to do with veg then two must have books are the Riverford Farm cook book which can be bought here and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Veg book which is a must for every kitchen, vegetarian or not!

Caroline then went onto talk about Robert’s other passion of perserving Cornish history on film. Some of his videos I have posted previously which you will find on this blog. Robert shows Caroline a video of his family sailing Redwings in Looe. the video can be seen here

The redwings championships still take place and Robert’s family have won the silverware more than any other family in the town. Robert, not a sailing man and the black sheep of the family prefers to keep his feet on dry land. Florence, Robert’s great neice was entering the Redwing race and won another cup for the family silver collection.

Next stop and Caroline is sitting on the ledge of one of the engine houses at St Agnes eating a pasty, hers is half savoury and half sweet. Personally I have never had one like that but it is said that in days gone by the miners would have had it half and half. I just prefer meat and veg in my pasty!

Another visit to the Camel Valley vineyard at the end of the grape growing season and they are now picking them ready to be pressed. The vineyard are launching their new 20th anniversary wine and it will take place at Nathan Outlaw St Enodoc Hotel at Rock with top wine critic Tom Stevenson and writer Suzy Atkins.  The wine got top marks all round, a wine where the grapes are grown and bottled all in the small vineyard tucked away in the Camel valley.

Good old Cornwall! I will try to get tomorrow’s episode on the blog sooner next week, but before I do that I will have to post about Hugh’s Three Hungry Boys, on tonight at 7pm on Channel 4.

Three Hungry Boys Part 3

Published January 30, 2012 Cornish Produce , Cornwall in the headlines , Cornwall on TV , Food and Drink , Places to visit , Recipes , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Did you see the Three Hungry boys last night? For those that missed it here is the low down…

Cocksure Tim the blagger, Thom the builder, hunter and forager and Trevor the cook and bartering expert are back in Daisy their milk float and travelling around the lanes of Cornwall!

Two and a half weeks into their five week challenge to travel to Land End they boys decide to venture to the North coast to a Pagan carnival in St Agnes. With no money to buy beer at the festival they had to blag some before they got there otherwise the festival ain’t gonna be much fun huh? So Trev makes a call toTerry at Skinner’s Brewery who has some worked lined up for them. The boys work hard for the keg of ale in their sights, doing all sorts of jobs from cleaning out the barrels to digging out all the spent malted barley from the vats. After some pretty sweaty work and smelling like a brewery they head off to the Crab and Ale public house in Truro in the hope of getting some food and beer. After chatting to the landlord the boys hear its quiz night and that 1st prize is a food voucher for the pub; 2ndprize is sweets & chocolates and the booby prize is a load of chocolate! So if they are smart they could do really well or if they haven’t a clue they could win some chocolate. Well, three biology graduates did better than winning the booby prize but unfortunately not well enough to win 1st or 2nd prize so no dinner or chocolate.  Still, it looked like a fun night out away from the milk float and they did a bit of glass collecting for a beer. Never mind chaps, maybe next time…

Next morning, the lads are back on the road and have a tweet from Woodland Valley Farm, a Cornish organic farm who were offering the lads some sausages in exhange for some work. Chris Jones who runs the organic pork and beef  farm in Ladock welcomed the boys and offered them some work mulching the nut trees (hazel nuts and chestnut trees) in his nuttery. Basically, the mulching involves putting used cardboard around the trees to kill off any weeds and then as the cardboard rots it will provide nutrients for the trees. So after a mornings work Chris rewards the boys with some sausages and duck eggs. The boys are thinking with some flour and milk they can make some toad in the hole. Now, for the milk blagging they head off to a near by dairy farm for a few pints of the white stuff. So Tim gets to work on the milking of some cows in the hope of not geting a brown shower! Well, with a few near misses they get their milk and head off grinning from ear to ear. With 3 ingredients down they just need flour. A local bakery message them on Twitter to drop in to do some work and the boys secure the final ingredient. With the ingredients on board Daisy the lads head off to the St Agnes for the carnival and festival.

The festival at St Agnes has been run for over 70 years where the traders and fish wives have been selling their wares to the locals. the boys try to sell their food and drink they have worked for in payment for other goods to stock up their larder. Trev knocks up the toad in the hole whilst the parade is in full swing. The St Agnes Bolster Festival can be seen here. With toad in the hole prepared the boys set about trading and by the end of the night they are full of veg, cheese and food for their larder. The night with a great success and they managed to keep enough beer for themselves so a good night was had by all!   If you are after a toad in the hole recipe or if you fancy trying it Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall style try it here.

Eventhough the excess of beer did slightly sway their idea of a good barter the boys hadnt done bad and they managed to swap a pineapple for their toad in the hole and beer trading so they certainly got some produce that’s not grown in Cornwall.

Next stop is music to my ears…

The Tregothnan Estate and home to Lord Falmouth (not to be confused with a Lord from Falmouth!) and the Boscawen family. I will touch on Tregothnan again in later posts but for now they are famous for being the only tea producers in Britain. The lads met Jonathan from Tregothnan who gave them some work to do, tea harvesting on the estate in exchange for somewhere to charge Daiseys battery and some fishing in the river Fal! Tregothnan has over 40 hectares and the Corinsh micro climate is the perfect aspect for growing a bit of tea! With several speciality teas on the estate the boys start harvesting the manuka bush (more famous for its honey) to make some tea from. Check out the Tregothnan website to see all the varieties of tea on offer. It makes a great present for the tea drinker in your life and not a chimpanzee in sight!

Next morning Thom the hunter decides to do a spot of fishing off the jetty at the bottom of the estate. After trying to catch some mullet by spinning (thats afsihing technique) he exchanges to float fishing without any luck. One spear gun later and he had three grey mullet in the bag. So, with some mullet and some manuka Trevor decides to smoke the fish with the Manuka flowers flavouring the fish.  After a short time of smoking the fish within reach of the incoming time the smoking nothing short of a disater, still looking on the bright side it was nice to see the river Fal on the telly last night.

The boys are then asked to harvest some Kea plums from the bank of the Fal. With only 20 acres of Kea plums in the world with them all being around the Fal they are somethig quite special to eat, either on their own or as a jam or crumble. we had some given to us from a friend who has a tree in his back garden in Malpas, Mother made a crumble whist we were down and it didn’t stay in the fridge for long.  Mmm..salivating just thinking about it…

The plums are worth about £30 per kilo so great when a friend gives you half a carrier bag full. The lads collected a fair few from the banks of the Fal before being given a couple of kilos for their efforts. Trev then makes some Kea plum jam to use as currency for the next part of thier trip. If you want to try some of this delicious jam you can buy it from the Tregothnan shop here.

So next the lads are in the milk flast ‘speeding’ along, racing for the King Harry Ferry to save driving around the Fal. The Ferry is a small chain ferry and goes back and forth accross the Fal all day long. If you are in the area its a great experience and it will save you time and probably a little money in going accross the Fal rather than driving around the Fal. More about the King Harry Ferry can be seen here. Their intentions of paying for the ferry crossing with a pot of Kea Jam was dashed when the ticket collector/man you give your money to told them he had a Kea plum tree in his garden so the last thing he wanted was a pot of jam. Expect his missus makes it all the time? Coincidentally it was his birthday too so he allowed them to cross the Fal for nothing if they sung Happy Birthday to him! Hmm… I wonder if that will work next time we are scratching around for a fiver to pay to cross the Fal?

Finally the boys go to Devoran Pilot Gig club whom I think have a new website and incidentally have a new book out called Up For Ten! The Official Devoran Gig Club Songbook. Send a text to Frannie, pay two squidders and you got yourself a copy (if you collect -postage extra!!) to get Frannie mobile number and a copy of the book click here. Back to the lads, they had a good go at racing the gig boats, a 2 mile circuits where all the teams were back on dry land with a pint in the hand whilst the boys were still bring up the rear. Gig rowing is a great spectacle and if you get the chance you must pop down to watch it in the evenings.

That’s it for tonight, Caroline Quentins Cornwall short appraisal coming up later in the week.

 

 

Three Hungry Boys in a Milk Float

Published January 23, 2012 Cornish Produce , Cornwall on TV , Food and Drink , Places to visit , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Our biggest dilemma on a Sunday night now is shall we watch Countryfile on BBC or Hugh’s Hungry Boys (Tim, Tom and Trevor!) on Channel 4. Both are on at 7pm! Tough life huh?

Well, with our Wii fully connected, not for Wii Fit but for iPlayer so we can watch Countryfile on the Beeb in the comfort of our sofa  later in the week rather than sitting in an office chair in front of the computer to watch 4oD. So enough rantings about our ‘luxury’ lifestyle (ho ho) lets talk about 3 chaps travelling around the West Country in an old milk float.

The Three Hungry Boys is now on its second episode and the boys entered the great County, home of the saffron bun last night. The idea behind the show is these 3 biology graduates are trying to get from Hugh’s River Cottage in Dorset to Land End without spending any money. Of course they have to find food, or work for their grub as well as doing some work to charge Daisy’s battery, Daisy is their trusted milk float.

Just before entering Cornwall,Tim made a call to a chap called Simon at Tamar Grow Local in Harrowbarrow (cool name hey?) who have a co-operative society called Harrowbarrow and Metherell Agricultural society or HaMAS which it is sometimes referred as, I’d strongly recommend the longer version on this occasion. The Co-op’s was formed in 2009 and is based upon the community supported agriculture model they grow vegetables as a community in a sustainable way. With six acres which is cultivated by farmer James Tanock who does a lot of the hard work making the ground ready for the planting of the crops.  To find out more about Harrowbarrow’s enterprise and to contact them please click here.

Veg is just a small part of the Harrowbarrow project, they also have an orchard, nearby allotments, an orchard and even their own pig society where 12 households are rearing 12 Oxford Sandy and Black pigs for the production of meat.

Next stop is the only solar-powered launderette in the UK, based in Wadebridge. The Wadebride Launderette (aptly named) welcomed the boys to do some work, Semi-naked launderette busking with a bit of mopping to be precise in payment for their clothes being washed.  To find out more about Wadebridge’s solar-powered launderette and about how Wadebridge has become the first solar-powered town click here. Who’d have thought it?

Next stop, Port Quin where the boys borrowed some kayaks and went fishing with handlines and spear guns with limited luck. Next morning Tom the hunter went diving with his  spear gun to bag a Wrasse and some tiddly pollock but enough for a bit of lunch. Tom and Trev rustled up some lunch in payment for the kayaks in the form of some fish fingers, they them made some sushi from the Wrasse for their guests. The fish fingers were wrapped up in some baps that the boy had bin dived from the village of Port Isaac the night before (bin diving is the act of foraging for out of date food still fit for human consumption and is generally food thrown out by hotel, shops and supermarkets).

Check  out Port Quin and St Endellion here. St Endellion is where David Cameron and his family have spent many a Cornish holiday and in fact gave baby Florence, who was born in Cornwall whilst they were on holiday, the middle name of Endellion.

Now back to Hugh’s hungry boys, next stop is Watergate Bay on the north coast and a haven for surfers. With the boys now a little stinky from their fishing and bin diving escapades they are in need of a shower. With no cash on them they have to find their next job in exchange for some hot water. Hugh arranged for them to meet a young lady called Amy, who works at one of the hotels. Amy got the boys to collect the all the compostable food waste from the local hotel which they then burn in a bio digester to make energy for the surrounding hotels. With two tonnes of food waste thrown out per week by the local hotels and restaurants there is plenty to feed the bio digester! A pretty filthy job but it did reward the boys with a hot shower powered by the bio-digester.

They finished off their day with a pint, burger and chips in The Beach Hut overlooking Watergate Bay so we shouldn’t feel too sorry for them! Watergate bay is a hub of activity and well worth a visit, full of gorgeous restaurants including Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen where we have eaten a few times now. Amazing!

Keep an eye out for more Cornwall on the Telly moments…

 

Chapel Porth Hedgehogs

Published January 17, 2012 Food and Drink , Places to visit Leave a Comment
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Children dodging the waves, Chapel Porth, St Agnes

We stepped out of the car in the Chapel Porth car park between Christmas and New Year in an attempt to walk some turkey off. The wind was blowing in off the sea and we could barely stand up let alone consider walking far on a Cornish cliff top so we settled for a short walk to the waters edge where we found many other people with the same idea. This shot was of a couple of children who were there with their parents and dog having a wonderful time in the water.

Chapel Porth is a lovely beach on the North Coast great for surfing (It has been said to produce some of the finest waves in Europe!)  and generally relaxing during the better weather. With a National Trust car park at the rear of the beach  it is easy parking once you have driven down the narrow road to the carpark (dont worry, there are plenty of passing places!) And for those that like a few creature comforts there is a great little cafe tucked away in the corner of the carpark which does a mean hedgehog ice cream. Decribed as a food to try before you die this little prickly fella ain’t for the faint hearted! He comprises of vanilla ice cream, covered in Cornish clotted cream and then rolled in honey roasted hazel nuts. We gave it a miss on this occeasion as we were still recovering from the Christmas pudding but there is always next time….

To find out more about Chapel Porth beach and to see whats going on in nearby St Agnes click here.

The Cornish Mussel Shack – King Harry, Cornwall

Published January 10, 2012 Cornwall in the headlines , Cornwall on TV , Food and Drink , Photography , Places to visit , Recipes Leave a Comment
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When we first started My Saffron Bun we also set ourselves up on twitter and facebook to see what this social networking thing was all about. Why not follow us on Twitter?

Twitter, in particular is a great way to keep our eye on wassup in Cornwall and we love following local businesses and food suppliers. More than once we have news of what’s going on before our friends and family who actually live there!

Small fishing boat going home and Norman Bridge a passenger ferry laid up in the River Fal

One of our followers is @MusselShack who sell freshly harvested mussels, ready bagged for you to take home and use in your favourite recipes. All their shellfish come from the River Fal, in the area surrounding the King Harry Ferry and Carrick Roads. They are harvested using a variety of methods including snorkeling and hand dredging.

While we were down at Christmas we planned on taking some lovely fresh fish back to Becky’s parents who, like us, are real foodies. We had planned on going somewhere on our last day to get some on the way home but fate intervened. The afternoon before we left Matt from @MusselShack tweeted that he had some beauties that were available to anyone for New Years Eve. We quickly tweeted him and arranged to meet him at the slipway of the King Harry Ferry on our way back. This was just perfect. Roger, Becky’s Dad, has a mean reputation for THE best Moules Marinere.

So there we were on a pretty miserable late afternoon in December meeting a man about some mussels. We drove down to the slipway and parked up, we could see Matt working away in his little mussel shack.

It was great to meet Matt and with our normal Cornish twist of fate found out he lives in the same village as Mark’s Mum and Dad, Budock Water. He is rightly proud of his mussels (make sure we spell that right!) and their size and quality.

Matt's lazy assistant (left) and Matt in his Mussel Shack

The majority of their mussels are snorkeled from the underside of pontoons up and down the river. Constant immersion allows the mussels to feed 24 hours a day. This allows them to reach a very large size, as well as making the meat yield from them exceptionally good. The hand diving means that their harvesting methods are really environmentally friendly too!

Their Mussels are available to purchase at either Truro Farmers’ Market, Lemon Quay Piazza every Saturday 8:00am – 2:00pm. You can either buy them to cook yourself or takeaway portions of cooked mussel with a choice of sauces. Alternatively you can buy some from Matt on The King Harry every Friday 3:00pm – 6:00pm. Yes, that’s actually on the ferry! Matt rides back and forth all afternoon selling his mussels – it’s a hard life isn’t it?

Left - Mr Mussel (Matt) Right - beautiful mussels soon to be heading up the A30

You should check out their website which has lots more info on them. We loved their descriptions on how to look after your mussels. Who knew that mussels don’t like drafts? We have an image of them all sitting their shivering!

We took them back up to Wiltshire and Roger got to work, check out the recipe and some cool photos coming up soon.

Charlie Bettinson salmon fishing in the river Fowey

Published January 6, 2012 Cornish Produce , Food and Drink , Places to visit Leave a Comment
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‘Beauty job, Cor Bloody Hell – He’s got the fisherman’s grin – he’s caught the bugger’ to quote Charlie Bettinson fisherman extraordinaire. Charlie takes a guest out Salmon fishing and after a half an hour’s fight lands a lovely salmon. Worth the 9 minute watch if you like fishing – it’s quite entertaining!

If you fancy a fishing trip with this great Cornish character check out this site, it’s a B+B that will organise a fishing trip with Charlie. Beaudy boy!

Special thanks to Cornish Voices

Great vintage footage from the British Pathé

Published January 4, 2012 A bit of history , Places to visit Leave a Comment
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The British Pathé website is a great archive for old footage of Britain over the last century or so. My mate Denzil introduced it to me as he found it whilst looking for paths on the internet.

Anyhow, here are a few great little videos I have found of good old Cornwall. Cheers Denzil!

Lovely footage of  Bob Barron going fishing from Mevagissey harbour for conger eel,  filmed in 1955 – Click here

Captain of the sunken ship, “Flying Enterprise”, and his rescuers welcomed in Falmouth. Great footage of the hero’s welcome received on the Prince of Wales pier in 1952 – Click here

And finally for now a little snippet of Obby Oss which is celebrated in Padstow on the 1st May. This footage was shot in 1932 – its brilliant! – Click here

 

 

 

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