Pink juggling octopuses, singing reindeer & Christmas squid; Cornish Christmas lights & Truro farmers market
And the madness of Montol midwinter Festival Penzance. Happy Christmas!
I hope you enjoyed my short story last week. It was inspired in some part by rabbi and much missed radio commentator Lionel Blue who said that on visiting his parishioners on Christmas Day there would often be a pause between him ringing the doorbell, and the door being opened whilst the family hid their Christmas tree/presents. Do please drop me a line or comment and let me know what you think.
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This is my last post this year. Wishing you a very happy Christmas and New Year. See you in 2025!
Minutes after arriving in Penzance, I'm whisked off to see the lights at Angarrack, a little village that features the 12 days of Christmas every December. It's a charming adventure, the path through the village accompanied by the thrill of the chase, looking out for turtle doves, calling birds, drummers drumming, swans a swimming. And bullocks mooing.
The lights at Mousehole harbour are equally famous although there is local controversy about the new addition of a pink juggling octopus.
And for those of you not in the know; Mousehole is pronounced Mowzel. So now if you ever go there you won't be laughed at by locals, what few there are still living in a village taken over by second home owners.
Not to be outdone, Newlyn has it's own harbour display including this rather fabulous mermaid.
In December when coloured lights festoon the harbour walls of South West Cornwall, squid gravitate to shore, drawn by the Christmas decorations. We were sadly too late for anything other than skate wings when we made it to my friend Chris's fish stall at Truro market. Almost sold out he said. People had been queuing since 7am to ensure they got their fish.
We’ve met up with Chris on several occasions but this is the first time that I’ve seen him selling from his stall. My friend Lesley and I had been to his house for lunch a few years ago and brought back the freshest out of the sea mackerel, so delicious that even Lesley’s son Dylan, suspicious of any fish not coated in batter or breadcrumbs wolfed it down and asked for more.
Chris Bean, has been a fisherman for over 40 years and was at one time a fishing advisor to the United Nations World Food Programme. He fishes from his day boats out of Helford and the Lizard in SW Cornwall using traditional, sustainable and environmentally friendly methods.
The farmers market was not exactly in evidence. Along Lemon Quay, the seasonal ‘Christmas market’ was selling some genuine local products. Westminster council take note. Most Christmas market products seem to be made in China or Taiwan.
We were drawn to a beautifully lit preserve stall, the jewel like jams and jellies all made in the area by the stallholder.
Where had the farmer's market moved to I asked? Up on Boscawen Street. I wanted to find local cheese. There were two cheese stalls at the Christmas market and another, The Cornish Cheese Company in a nearby undercover. None displayed any prices. What is it about stalls that don't list their prices? Are they afraid that would be customers will run away if they know the price per kilo? Apart from being illegal, having to ask what the price is, tends to be off-putting. Who wants to ask in case the price is too much, and to then have to back away in embarrassment.
The stalls run back to back along the centre of Boscawen Street. ‘they're not normally like this ‘ my friend said. White gazebos put up for the festive market. Craft stalls, art stalls, pottery, jewellery, antiques, promoted by Cornwall shop small. I'm all for promoting and supporting small businesses but where was the farmer's market?
Around the other side, a cake stall, a farm stall selling beef & lamb, a dairy farm and a pork farm. That was it. The dairy stall isn't normally here on a Wednesday, but where were all the other stalls listed on Truro farmers markets website? I was told that the organisers stick to the ‘ one only' philosophy of market organisation. One stall selling beef. One stall selling jam. So even on a regular market day I don't imagine a huge number of stalls on Lemon Quay.
We cooked the skate simply with a caper butter. served with crispy kalettes roasted with some of the market bacon, and steamed samphire. Delicious.
I was intending to end this piece with images from Montol; the wonderfully bonkers winter solstice festival in Penzance. The festival serves as a celebration of the solstice, with festivities including the lighting of torches, singing, guize dancing, and the beloved mock (yule log) and the gathering of the community to mark the longest night of the year. It’s a revival of an ancient and colourful tradition of Guise Dancing throughout the twelve days of Christmas. And the names of the Guilds and bands; the Cornmarket Revellers, the ‘Gyptians, Raffidy Dumitz Band, The Peccadilloes, The Scaleybacks, The Frolicking Fishy Folk, The Radical Ramblers, The Coddiwomplers, The Hwymm Hwamm Hyggas, The Hedgerows, The Tatty Mummers, The Sticklers.
However, I was struck down with a chest infection. Whilst the oses, musicians, singers, and various guilds paraded and made their way through the streets of Penzance, I was lying in bed, sounding like an accordion with every breath. I therefore leave you with a link if you'd like to find out more and a few images courtesy of Penzance Council
There's always next year. Here’s to the return of the sun, to the return of the light!
I read this three times, thinking I’d missed a live octopus in a Newlyn or nearby fish market. My bad.