Tag Archives: Perranporth
Amazing photo of Perranporth beach from Droskyn
2 hour exposure – paper negative shot by William Arnold Photographer
St Piran’s Day :: 5th of March
It doesn’t take long for any Perranporth resident to learn about St Piran’s landing on Perranporth beach, on a mill stone, from Ireland.
The 5th of March has a feast of celebrations with great stories of the saint and other aspects of Cornish culture such as the flag.
- http://www.st-piran.com/st-piran.htm
- http://www.cornwallcommunitynews.co.uk/2012/03/05/who-does-st-piran-think-he-is-2/
“Legend tells us how Piran, who came from Ireland and was known there as Ciran’ (the Cornish language naturally mutates the first letter to a softer P’), was cast to sea tied to a millstone on the order of the Irish King who was suspicious of Piran’s miraculous powers.
The stormy seas calmed for the would-be martyr as he floated on the millstone to Perranporth beach.”
Perranporth beach at low and high tide
Some great photos of Perranporth beach at low and high tide by Michael Marten in the Guardian on Saturday.
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/feb/24/tides-michael-marten-photography#/?picture=386293180&index=5
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/feb/24/tides-michael-marten-photography#/?picture=386293182&index=6
Perranporth, Cornwall. 29 and 30 August 2007. Low water 12 noon, high water 8pm
Perranporth, Cornwall. 28 and 29 August 2007. High water 6pm, low water 11.20am
Perranporth Beach Clean
As reported in the local newspaper, the West Britton:
Following comments by many Perranporth residents and visitors that the beach was getting in a state, a number of locals used the “Please listen Perranporth Parish Council” Facebook group to short circuit officialdom and self organise a beach clean last Saturday.
With less than 48 hours notice a Facebook event was created and over a dozen people turned up, with their own gloves and bin bags. The participants included Councillor Dave Webster, the local vet, several dogs, children and adults who walking the length of the main beach at high and low tide marks, rapidly filled over a dozen large rubbish bags. One of the ‘finds’ was an enormous fishing net which was pulled, virtually hidden, from the sand.
We popped into the Watering Hole to ask if they were OK for us to put the collected rubbish in their big bins. To which we had a fantastic “Yes, no problem and let me get you guys a drink as a thank you”.
A fun and a fantastic example of the local community solving local problems. Hopefully by keeping the beach clean (the rubbish was mostly items brought in by the sea), it encourages visitors to enjoy the beach and keep it in a good state for others to enjoy.
Perranporth Low Carbon Limited ?
Wouldn’t it be great to set-up Perranporth Low Carbon Limited ?
Attending some eco-build talks at the Eden Project, one of the speakers is involved with Hook Norton Low Carbon Limited.
It is an Industrial Provident Society, set up by Low Carbon Hook Norton members to help the community reduce its energy consumption, carbon emissions and save money, with a range of community-based schemes and individual household projects based on interest-free loans.
From the talk, it seems they coordinated getting funding and then the residents and suppliers to slowly help everybody (residents, the school, local firms ….) benefit (lower fuel bills, jobs to implement the projects …..) and move to a lower carbon / more sustainable village.
Droskyn History
Apparently:
“Legend has it that an Irish Saint came riding across the Irish Sea on a millstone which was washed up on the long sandy beach. The sun was shining, turning the sands to gold so he called the place by the name of the God of the Sun “St Pirus” and over time this became St Piran. Today one of the several chapels built as oratories may be found half buried in the sands.
Droskyn, the name given to the Western end of the bay, appears to be a derivation of “de Roskyn”, a Portuguese Count, who is said the have come over in the sixteenth century, landed on Droskyn Point and to have founded a Monastery on the site on which the Hotel pictured above is now standing and incorporates the old monastery walls.
Today the Droskyn Castle Hotel is run as a block of 14 self contained flats.
The monastery apparently had many ups and downs and one of the downs being an underground passage that ran through Perranporth on one side to a little bay across the headland. Smuggling, together with tin mining, in those days were the two principal industries; and who knows to what use the underground passage was put. The hotel was at one time reputed to be haunted and was used as an officers’ billet for those stationed at the nearby aerodrome during W.W.II.
The building fell into decay and from the ruins the 45 bedroom Hotel was later built. Owned and run by Captain William Noon Munford from 1932 until his death in 1955 aged 71.”
Source: http://users.tpg.com.au/munford4113/perranporth.htm
I’ve also heard that Droskyn Castle was at one point a fish processing plant. That it was made to look by a castle by the one time German / Bavarian owner. That when Perranporth was a seaside by train destination the Castle was the 1st class accomodation. Second class was Cellar Cove, which is now 2 large properties behind Droskyn Castle. Cellar Cove was the name of the cove at this southern end of Perranporth beach.
