St Ives Library is OPEN
St Ives Library Opening Hours: 9.30am – 4.00pm Monday – Saturday
For Click & Collect and access to computers only
Email: stives.library@LIScornwall.org.uk
Tel: 01736 796297
Our aim is to buy comfortable chairs and a stacking system for the Greta Williams Community Room
Just in case you missed the link: https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/51093
FOSIL News & Views XVII
19
th
November 2020
Co-op Local Community Fund
We’re delighted Friends of St Ives Library has been
selected to take part in the Co-op Local Community
Fund.
We are one of three causes in the St Ives community
which Co-op Members can select to support between
now and 23 October 2021. The more members who
select us and shop with Co-op, the more funds we’ll
receive.
Although we’re linked to local Co-op outlets, money
raised through Co-op Membership can be generated
anywhere in the UK, as long as each Co-op Member
is buying selected products or services from the Co-
op Group.
We need your support.
You can join online at coop.co.uk/membership or by
downloading the
Co-op app.
Use the link to our cause / profile page is:
https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/51093
Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher books has
recently announced his demise as the author of his
books and has elevated his brother Andrew to take
his place.
Born in Coventry as James Grant but now a
resident of America, it is said that one of Lee's
novels featuring his vigilante hero Jack Reacher is
sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds.
The idea of Reacher came about whilst he and his
wife were in a supermarket and his wife, Jane,
remarked:
"Hey, if this writing thing doesn't pan out you could
always be a reacher in a supermarket" - presembly
reaching high shelves for those who are vertically
challenged.
The first Reacher novel "Killing Floor" was published
in 1997. Anyone not familiar with our hero, needs
to know that he believes in justice, wants to be
untraceable and needs few of the accoutrements of
a modern man.
Andrew, Lee's brother has co-authored books with
him and wrote most of the recent Jack Reacher
novel "The Sentinel" but now he will take on the full
mantle as sole author. However there are subtle
changes: Reacher has a mobile phone and is more
chatty.
St Ives Bookseller and its Award Nomination
St Ives is so lucky to have such a great bookshop. Alice and her team are constantly kept busy. It is surely one of the
‘must-see’ places to visit in St Ives, as there is often a queue of patient customers waiting to get in, including plenty of
excited children.
Recently, the Times & Echo announced that the shop had been shortlisted for this year’s ‘Romantic Novelists
Association’ Award. Not knowing anything about this particular accolade I visited Alice a few days ago and talked to her
through the open door, to comply with the latest COVID-19 regulations.
She explained that the Romantic Novelists’ Association was set up to recognise, celebrate and award excellence in
romantic fiction. The shortlist for this particular award is put together from a list of bookshops nominated by authors within
the Association, which she thinks is lovely. She says ‘They nominate the bookshops that they think have supported authors
and have given them a welcoming atmosphere to the shops who have supported them in their books’.
This is the second year that the bookshop has been nominated. Sadly, the St Ives Bookseller did not win the prize on
either occasion. Four booksellers were shortlisted this year; three in this country and one in the United States. The winning
shop has just been announced and it is, perhaps appropriately, called ‘The Ripped Bodice’, and is located in Los Angeles,
California!
Alice was a bit surprised the first time the shop was nominated, as she would not have thought that the St Ives Bookseller
was seen as a specialist in romantic books, but she is aware that books set around the local area sometimes come into
that category. She told me she has been thinking about what actually constitutes this genre, and that the idea of a ‘romantic
novel’ has changed over the years. She believes that perhaps ‘authors may think that they are not taken as seriously, and
the books don’t get the appropriate recognition’. So she feels that the Association has been set up to help these authors
out.
I asked Alice which authors she believes had been supportive, and she said that she was not certain, but she knows that
Liz Fenwick, Miranda Dickinson and Philippa Ashley are members of the Association. ‘They are always very pleased
to have their books stocked here. They pop in and say hello when they are down here. But I think it’s just also having that
kind of welcome generally – not feeling they can’t come in or have their books here.’
Alice reminded me that not only was the bookshop nominated last year for this prize, but that it was nominated for the
‘Bookseller of the Year’ a while ago and in fact won the South West Region Award. She told me ‘To be honest, it’s
really nice just that somehow we ended up on a list of names somewhere that was put forward for it. That’s what I think
is really nice – that somebody out there was thinking of St Ives Bookseller’.
Amazingly St Ives Bookseller celebrates its twentieth anniversary next year. We look forward to having many more years
of buying books from Alice and her team. Janet Axten
More information about the Association and the award can be found on their website:
https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/awards/
October Borrow Box Charts
Last month for children’s and young adult eAudiobook titles, A
Monster Calls by Patrick Ness took the number one place
followed by The Last Human by Lee Bacon. Boyed by the
recent Netflix adaption, Enola Holmes takes the top spot in
eBooks followed by the ever popular David Walliam’s title The
Beast of Buckingham Palace.
Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club rose
through the ranks to take the number one position
during October, followed by
The Catch by T.M Logan and The Phone Box at the
Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina. The
Catch headed the eBook charts, followed by Ken
Follett’s newest release The Evening and The
Morning, and Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library.
LOUIS REGINALD JAMES MUNRO GRIER, RBA (1864-1920)
Evening, St Ives
Oil on canvas
40.1 x 91.7cms
I don’t expect you will have noticed this oil painting in the Library. Ever since the building was refurbished it has been
hanging in the small interview room on the first floor, which is usually locked. I think it is probable that Evening, St Ives
was moved from The Guildhall in 1967 and for a number of years hung somewhere on the ground floor.
The artist, Louis Grier, was one of the early painters who arrived in St Ives from overseas soon after the colony came into
being, which is generally thought to be about 1885. We know that Grier himself, from Melbourne, Australia, moved into a
large studio on the harbour beach in late 1888, although he had first visited the town about four years earlier. The space
he rented no longer exists. Called ‘The Foc’sle’, it was located where the Amusement Arcade and Harbour Pool Club are,
on Wharf Road. Several wonderful photographs of its interior appear in David Tovey’s book St Ives (1860-1930) – the
Artists and the Community, one of which was taken by William Trevorrow, whose photograph of the great St Ives Flood,
was reproduced in an earlier edition of News and Views.
Louis Grier is known for two important things. Firstly, for setting up a School of Painting in 1895, with Julius Olsson in
Olsson’s very large Porthmeor Studio. Classes concentrated exclusively on landscape and marine painting. Secondly, for
having the idea to start an Arts Club. Early convivial meetings of artists took place in Grier’s studio but, by 1890, he found
this inconvenient. And so, when the first floor of an old wooden building became available for rent at Westcott’s Quay,
despite its close proximity to the sea, this room was chosen as the artists’ meeting place. The Club, which unusually
welcomed women, originally had to be reached by a rather perilous ladder (think about those long dresses!). Many
improvements have been made to the Club over the years, but the character of the main room has not changed very
much. A notice board listing the early Presidents says ‘Founded by Louis Grier’, and his painting palette is hanging on
one of the walls.
Known to be a great socialiser, Louis Grier also became a Town Councillor. Of especial interest to readers of News and
Views, he was Chairman of the Library Committee in its early years. Apparently, he tried to interest the members of the
Arts Club to play a greater role in the life of the Free Library, but they were not very forthcoming; preferring to set up their
own specialist library in the Club Room. Grier remained in St Ives until his death in 1920. He will be remembered especially
for his maritime scenes such as Evening, St Ives, which depicts a distant view of the fishing fleet, a sight which he often
observed from his studio window. Janet Axten
Mark came across a comment not so long ago that we would like to share:
‘I hear people saying that football is the escape for the working class, or rock'n' roll is the escape for the working
class. I was always thinking: "No it's not - the library is the escape. That's where the tunnel is." You've got access
to the great brains of the world, and it's free.’ Billy Connolly
Always Bloody Dreaming
Mark Coton has been very busy
recently and has made a short
film with Morag and Alban.
Why not take a look? Follow
the link:
https://youtu.be/a6b464RHgUo
Penwith '83 - Chuck Berry joins Meat Loaf in a Splattenridden field near St Ives
Billed as “Cornwall's biggest ever open air rock extravaganza” this one-day festival took place on Tuesday 30 August 1983
at Splattenridden Farm, St Erth. Known as Penwith '83 it was headlined by “America's LARGEST Rock star” Meat Loaf,
with a “surprise guest appearance by the legendary” Chuck Berry who the Times & Echo insisted was “a folk singer”!
10cc were the “special guests” on the bill, although it had been rumoured that Joe Cocker had also been in the running
for that slot.
The rest of the advertised bill was: Aswad - vital British reggae; Rennaisance - the folky / classical prog rock band,
popular during the 1970s but now a bit past their sell-by date, who had local links to Betty Thatcher their non-performing,
long-time lyricist, who lived in St Ives / Hayle for many years; The Opposition - a post-punk London band that were due
to play the Reading Festival two days before on the 28
th
; Sid's Taxi - a St Just-based band who were to start it all off at
10.45am. Billy Bragg made an unannounced appearance, as did Felix (without his defunct Cats). Advance tickets were
£10 from the Sandwich Centre on The Wharf, St Ives, or £15 on the day at the gate.
It was a very eclectic bill but organisers Artina Promotions of Penzance stated that the seemingly contrasting acts were a
deliberate ploy to appeal to the varying tastes of holiday-makers in the area. The company's MD Simon Hick also added
that by staging it on the Tuesday following the August bank holiday they would tempt lots of rock fans to jump on a mainline
train at Reading after the huge rock festival there had finished and come to Cornwall for an extra day of more of the same!
Simon was pulling out all the stops in providing top staging previously used by WOMAD, an excellent sound system by
Turbo Sound (famed for their Glastonbury rigs) and a spectacular laser light show using cutting edge technology. He had
got all the relevant permissions / licences for the event from Penwith Council and tickets were beginning to sell, so what
could possibly go wrong....
The usual local 'invasion' rumours started with town councillors predicting chaos from vast crowds, with fears of
“motorcycle gangs and drug pushers” and “the impact of 30,000 or more people staying for at least two or three days and
probably one or two weeks, the majority without proper accommodation, being devastating”. Another councillor usefully
added that although he was not against rock festivals “Bodmin Moor would have been a better place for it. It will be
bedlam”.
What happened on the day was somewhat different to all these scenarios although accurate statistics are hard to come
by. The Times & Echo's front page of 2 September 1983 reported an attendance of 5 to 7,000 with Mr Hick speaking of a
£70,000 loss, but great hopes that it could be recouped next year by a Penwith '84. However, an Official Receivers Report
that followed stated that ticket sales accounted for only a paying audience of 3,700 and that creditors were owed well over
£200,000. So, needless to say another festival from the promoter was not very likely to happen the following year.
The weather was glorious but festival traders realised that business would be poor, so started selling off food and drink at
half-price. The punters really enjoyed the cheap scrumpy - especially those who had bought tickets on the gate, as instead
of the £15 charge as advertised, prices dropped to £10, then £5, before the energy ran out and the freebies ran in! The
facilities were good and not strained with plenty of space, topped off by a great sound and a truly spectacular laser light
show as promised. The only real hiccup was the delay of Chuck Berry, something he was legendary for, but in fact his
train ran late, although he still caused problems over the type of car that he had been lent and demanding his fee in cash
before he would go on stage - all normal Berry beefs. Chuck actually drove off site in his gold Cortina (not the contract
stipulated Mercedes automatic) to collect his band from the station but seemed to fire his road manager on the journey!
Still he appeared, if a couple of hours late, and got the audience moving a bit, just leaving it for 10cc and Meat Loaf to
finish the day with good accounts of themselves, if you were fans anyway. So, a great day for the crowd but not
commercially successful enough for another one to be staged, as yet! Phil Saward
Penwith ‘83 Festival stage and backstage picture of Meat Loaf with the current Peninsula Voice
POETRY GROUP NOVEMBER THEME – THE WIND
Not a breath of wind
The boat is old, rusting here and there,
the sails are rotten and colour fades
in places where it should protect.
Not a whiff of wind I can feel.
Motionless the mast rises into the air,
the sail flaps, as if it were a sheet
after the weekly washing has been done,
the sea is flat and still
like a pond in winter ice.
Only the current drives the boat
over invisible deep mountains.
I have no influence any more.
The compass rose is turning
from north to south and south to north,
slowly and hard to notice, but constantly.
Not even birds fly anymore
and they fall silent, and the silence overpowers
the noise of the past.
The sun is still glistening,
but leaning already towards the horizon,
it will soon be eve.
While I watch out to the west,
to where the sun is supposed to set,
iI suddenly notice with some discomfort,
how a black wall is building up
and rising ever higher
and turning ever darker
to soon swallow the sun. Max R Huber
The wind...
...furor poeticus
upsets my equilibrium
challenging
threatening
relentless
vicious
sends me into apoplexy
enfeebles me
hateful Anne Wilcox
The sea’s embrace
The sea lies calm at dawn – an empty mirror
But in its depths the waters stir,
Promising deception.
As the sun climbs higher
And the sky glows with a reddish hue
A violent wind attacks the water.
Now the sea is wailing, shouting, shrieking.
“Wind, will you not sound a softer note
As in the gleaming days of summer
Your sweet breath
Calms the frenzied wind-chimes
And the slashing lanyards’?”
“Sea, your moving waters
Cool me now and always.
So let your rippling waves
Your surging depths,
Your cold embrace,
O’erwhelm me.” Pippa Drummond
The wind...
...furor poeticus
upsets my equilibrium
challenging
threatening
relentless
vicious
sends me into apoplexy
enfeebles me
hateful Angela Diggle
Some of the crowd as seen from
the stage – try and spot yourself if
you were there!